Izanami broke through the water's surface as she felt the balethunder stinging her skin. Although it was a struggle with her injured leg, she swam downstream to escape the area. Eventually, she reached the sea and hauled her body onto the sandy shore. Laying on her back, she whimpered in pain when she tried to move any part of her body. She stared up at the sky and waited for the balethunder's effects to wear off.

When it did, the shinigami was able to move her arms and upper body without jolts of pain. She pushed herself up into a sitting position to examine her injured leg. The bolt lodged into her right thigh was still intact. Grabbing the bolt, she held her breath and yanked it out. The scream that threatened to erupt from her throat was quelled by her biting her bottom lip.

Tossing the bolt aside, Izanami watched the bloody hole in her thigh heal. As she did, she was reminded of the time when the Fatui surrounded her in Liyue. Their multitude of bullets pierced various parts of her body, resulting in some heavy bleeding. Unlike bullets, bolts were much easier to remove and the wounds left behind were easy to heal. She also didn't have to worry about removing any metal fragments.

The moment her injury was healed, she sighed. "Guess being immortal isn't all that bad..."

Carefully, she stood up and stretched her newly healed leg. No pain was present, meaning the injury had healed perfectly. With her leg back to normal, she proceeded to wring out her hair and shake off her tail and ears. She did her best to brush off the sand that clung to her body, but that would be impossible since she was still wet.

As she wiped some sand off her face, the sound of rustling leaves caught her attention. The second she turned around to check what was causing the noise, her body was enveloped in a warm embrace. Her face was buried in a toned chest with two arms wrapped around her. She stumbled slightly from the abrupt hug but kept her balance. She gradually reciprocated the hug by winding her arms around the adeptus' torso. "Xiao," she whispered his name.

"You're too reckless," he remarked. He held her tighter, cheek pressed against her hair. "When will you learn to be more careful?"

"I'll admit I was careless, but Gorou needs to know about the spies." She pulled away from him just enough to peer up at his face. "If we tell him to not alert his soldiers, that'll give us the time we need to search for any other spies. Speaking of spies, what did you do with the men?"

"Nothing. Finding you was more important than disposing of them." He glanced down at her leg to see her wound was gone. "You've healed."

"Just one of many perks of being immortal." She looked away from him and eyed her once injured leg. "Thank the Archons it wasn't a bullet this time."

Xiao grabbed her chin between his thumb and index finger to tilt her face upward to reconnect their gazes. "Although immortal, you aren't invincible."

"A death spirit dying..." She mumbled. "Sounds poetic, but I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"Good." He released her chin and freed her from his grasp. "If you truly desire to inform the general about the spies, I won't stop you."

Izanami could tell he didn't like the idea. She knew he didn't want to argue and that's why he wouldn't convince her to back down like he did earlier. She wondered if the small argument weighed heavily on him. "Xiao?" She placed her hands on his cheeks and stared deeply into his golden eyes. "Do you blame yourself for what happened to me?"

He looked away for a brief second and sighed. "What if I said I do?"

"Then I would tell you it's not your fault. I'm the one who stormed off and got hurt."

"You wouldn't have left if I hadn't sparked an argument."

Out of the blue, the shinigami ruptured at the seams with laughter. She lowered her hands from his face to hold her sides as they started to ache. She didn't stop laughing until she saw the yaksha's befuddled expression. "S-Sorry, it's just... Arguments in relationships are normal. We both like to play the blame game, but many people blame others. The two of us have a bad habit of blaming everything on ourselves."

He crossed his arms. "What is wrong about admitting one's mistakes?"

"Nothing. I just think we blame ourselves for everything, even the things that are out of our control. It's not a bad thing per se, but it isn't good to keep blaming ourselves." She tapped her finger against her chin. "To be frank, most couples who get into arguments blame each other and it becomes an endless loop. It's the opposite for us."

Xiao, after having been lost in thought for a few seconds as he absorbed her words, remembered a question he wanted to ask her. "You were once mortal therefore human. I am aware your memories are in shambles, but I must ask you this: were you in love with someone?"

The question stumped Izanami. She searched the very few fragments of memories she had from when she was once mortal. The only faces she could remember were of her predecessor and her so-called "friend." "I...don't know. If I was in love, I've forgotten who they are entirely. I can't remember a name or a face." She decided to mess with him. She shrugged her shoulders while suppressing a grin. "Maybe I had a boyfriend or perhaps I was engaged."

Xiao's eyes widen. He learned about marriage and engagement from her about a year ago. He knew all the details and his body tensed. "Engaged..." Looking away, he cast his gaze to the ground.

Seeing he was taking this seriously, Izanami interrupted him before his thoughts could take him too far. "I'm just teasing you."

"Your memories are in disarray. How would you know if it were the truth or not?"

Her teasing smile faltered. His words carried the truth. She didn't know if she was engaged or had a boyfriend. Maybe she did have a loving fiancé who she no longer remembers. Regardless of the past, she wouldn't allow it to affect her current relationship. "Even if it were the truth, there is no point dwelling on the past. I want to focus on what we have and not on what I possibly had in the past."

Her answer made Xiao happy. He didn't express his joy, but the small smile that tugged at his lips was just enough to display his merriment.

Izanami was going to comment on his minuscule smile, but her attention was drawn to a group of men dashing towards them. For a moment, she thought it was the spies from earlier. The thought perished when she saw Gorou was with them and they lacked the crossbows engraved with the Shogunate's insignia.

"Izanami!" The canine general shouted. Seeing she was fine, he sighed in relief. "I'm glad you're okay. We apprehended the soldiers who invaded the shore and one of them told us about the spies. He was rather confident their plan had worked."

"Plan?" She parroted.

"The Tenryou Commission has known about your return to Inazuma for quite a while and sent spies to infiltrate the resistance to monitor not only our troops but to check if you were among them. Their plan was to distract us while the spies attempted to capture you."

"Wow," the shinigami gasped. "They move fast."

"It appears they've been waiting for your arrival for some time now."

"Xiao mentioned the possibility of there being more spies we aren't aware of," she said. "I don't mean to question you or your army, Gorou, but looking into your soldiers will be the best way to find all the spies."

"They're disguised like the rest of the soldiers. How will we find them?" One man asked.

Izanami glanced at the adeptus standing behind her before replying, "Look for the Shogunate's emblem on their attire. Also, check their weapons. The men who attacked me were wielding crossbows with the electro insignia engraved on the side."

"Then that's where we'll start," Gorou said. "We will question all soldiers, even the ones who have proven their loyalty. Sometimes people use loyalty to hide their deception."

With a smile, she grabbed Xiao's hand and pulled him forward. Her tail swished back and forth. "Could we help?"

"Your help would be most appreciated. It would make the process much quicker."

The group returned to Fort Fujitou and began questioning the soldiers one by one. Of course, the men were growing suspicious and started mumbling among themselves.

After all the soldiers were questioned, Gorou, Izanami, and Xiao checked the tents where the men rested. They checked the weapons and belongings of various individuals.

Izanami was checking one the tents alongside Gorou while Xiao kept an eye on the soldiers who occupied it. He glared sharply at the men when he noticed them beginning to sweat nervously. The moment he took a step forward, one of the soldiers revealed the dagger he was concealing and charged towards the shinigami. He was about to intervene and stop him when azure flames erupted from thin air and knocked the soldier down. Looking towards the girl, he saw her with a single fan drawn.

Lowering her fan, Izanami eyed the soldier. "So there really were more of you. At least your buddies were smart and escaped when they failed to apprehend me."

The man began to tremble in fear as she stalked towards him. He tried to crawl away, but his escape was blocked by Xiao who had subdued the other soldier.

Gorou found two crossbows hidden under the soldiers' cots. Seeing the Shogunate's emblem, he frowned and turned to face the men who were under his command. "So you two are spies as well."

"G-General Gorou, we were just—!" The soldier tried to think of an excuse.

"Don't even try to lie," he quipped, silencing him. "I can't believe I didn't notice this sooner."

"What will you do with them?" Izanami inquired.

"I'll have them interrogated. In the meantime, I'll have them detained while we keep searching for more spies."

Just as Gorou said, the spies were detained while he, Xiao, and Izanami continued to search the soldiers' belongings.

It was another hour before they were finished. They only found the two soldiers that were part of the Tenryou Commission.

Gorou dismissed himself to interrogate the two spies that were detained earlier.

Izanami was escorted to a tent Xiao had been told was the one they'd be using. When they entered the tent, she saw the shells scattered across one of the cots. Her tail swayed back and forth with joy. "I almost forgot about the shells!" She sorted them into two piles with a smile. "I can't believe I left them in the watchtower."

"You were quite ecstatic about making a charm," he said. "That is why I retrieved them while you and the general were checking the last tent."

She casted her smile in his direction. "Thank you for bringing them here."

Xiao felt a small blush creep onto his cheeks at her cute expression. He cleared his throat and looked away. "Of course."

Seeing as the rest of the day was unoccupied since Gorou was busy interrogating the spies, Izanami decided to work on the charm. While Xiao was patrolling the area around the encampment, she searched for materials. She found string, tools, and even small crystal shards that complimented the shells perfectly. With everything she found, she returned to the tent and began crafting the charm.

Hours passed and Izanami finally finished the charm. She examined it to make sure it wouldn't fall apart. Testing the string, she was satisfied with its robustness. Now all she had to wait for was Xiao to return. She laid down on the cot and decided to take a brief nap.

━━━━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━━━

A strange yet gentle sensation stirred Izanami from her slumber. She sighed dreamily with eyes still closed as she turned her head to lean into the palm that pressed against her cheek. Slowly awakening from her nap, her eyes fluttered open and found themselves gazing into a pair of golden pools. She lifted a hand and placed it over the one resting against her cheek. She smiled kindly as the haze from her eyes vanished. "Welcome back, Xiao."

The adeptus sat on the edge of the cot with his upper body turned to her. His face hovered a few feet from her own as the hand on her cheek pressed gingerly against her porcelain complexion. His thumb caressed her cheekbone absentmindedly. "The encampment is safe now."

"Huh?" She hummed in confusion.

"The spies have been dealt with."

She blinked in shock. "How long have I been out?"

"Half a day."

Releasing his hand, she flew up into a sitting position with a gasp. Her quick movements startled the yaksha and he pulled away from her a little ways. She didn't feel exhausted when she laid down to take a nap, but perhaps she was slumbering so long because of the healing her body had to perform after being injured. If her body required healing, a lengthy nap was in order to regain her energy. "I didn't plan on being out that long," she muttered to herself.

Then, she remembered the charm. "Oh!" She grabbed it from under the pillow and held it towards him with a smile that was a mix between pride and nervousness. "I finished it while you were patrolling. I hope you like it."

When she placed the charm in Xiao's hand, he stared at it in awe. He admired how the blue crystal shards complimented the blue and purple shells well. He wanted to thank her, but he was dumbstruck at the beautiful charm she made specifically for him.

Izanami giggled at his expression. "I'll take it you like it based on your expression." She then pointed to the shells. "Seashells are able to withstand the test of time and the rage of the ocean for millenniums. That is why they often symbolize eternity."

Xiao met her gaze, wondering if their symbolism is why she chose them. "Eternity?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She looked away as her own blush came forth. She clutched the hem of her kimono dress. "I chose seashells because of their symbolic meaning. Would it be selfish of me to ask for you to remain by my side for all eternity?"

A rare smile blossomed on his face. "No, because I want to spend all eternity with you as well."

Izanami wound her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I wouldn't ask anyone else to spend my life with."

Xiao wrapped his arms around her smaller frame and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Nor would I."

She trailed her fingertips through the hair along the back of his neck, earning a shudder from him. She felt his arms tighten around her as she continued her ministrations. However, her entire body froze the moment his lips latched onto the side of her neck. "H-Hey—ah!" She shrieked when he sucked on her skin. Unconsciously, her fingernails dug into the back of his neck. The small sting created from her nails only caused him to suck harder on her neck.

Another shriek fell from her lips as Xiao used his weight to push her down on to the cot. He kept his lips attached to her neck as he pinned her down. She then felt his lips being replaced by his tongue.

The sudden change caused her to moan which took not only her by surprise but also Xiao. He removed his face from the crook of her neck and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He saw her crimson cheeks and figured it was because of him. "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

She shook her head before looking away. "N-Not at all. I'm just sh-shocked." She lifted her hand and traced the now tender area of her neck. "Did you l-leave a mark?"

Xiao analyzed the red spot he left behind on her neck just above her choker. "Yes."

"Where did you learn to give a hickey?!"

"From the book."

"Book?" Izanami searched her memory and remembered the romance novel Verr gave her before their picnic. She forgot Xiao had gotten ahold of it and read some of the steamy parts. "I'm afraid to ask this, but...what else did you learn from that book?"

"There was a descriptive scene of intercourse that—"

She quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. "Okay, I regret asking." With a groan, she threw her head back. "Authors these days..."

Xiao grabbed the hand placed over his mouth and removed it. He took it within his own and threaded his fingers through hers. Holding her hand gently, he leaned down and nuzzled his nose against her collarbone that peeked out from underneath the collar of her kimono dress. He latched on to the skin located by her vision and left a second hickey.

Izanami's body tensed at the small stinging sensation from his lips. She released the tension in her muscles when he licked the bruised skin. "A-Another one...?" She whimpered. "I'm gonna have to try to hide the marks now."

"Could you not simply heal the skin?" Xiao asked.

"My healing abilities do not extend to bruises since they aren't actually wounds, but that's okay." She squeezed his hand. "Even though you learned it from a book, it's nice to see you act this way."

"Then perhaps I should behave in such a manner more often."

She snorted with laughter. "Just don't get too carried away."

He pressed their conjoined hands against the cot beside her head. "I will not do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

She smiled. "I know you won't. Thank you, Xiao."