The 12th Fatui Harbinger

Nothing

He was driving her crazy. The way he walked into battle as if he owned the world. The way he called her "pretty girl" and "sweetheart". The way he had taken care of her at the restaurant yesterday and the way he always teased her. The way he always smirked at her with that stupid, stupid pretty face. With him, she never knew what to expect, and this moment wasn't any different.

As Yuria lost her footing on the boxes she was on, her lips met his and she fell right into his arms. His hands wrapped around her tiny waist, steadying her from falling, holding her tightly against him. Against all her inhibitions, all the alarm bells going off in her head, she kissed him back.

Her lips moved against his, enjoying the tenderness of the kiss as Childe momentarily processed what he just ignited. A bright flame.

Their kiss began to get more heated. Her hands found themselves in his hair, tugging on his nape to bring him closer. He sucked on her lower lip and bit it playfully as their tongues soon became intertwined.

He had to have more of her. He wanted her. He wanted her to scream his name in pleasure. His mind raced rapidly at the thoughts of where this could lead: he could fuck her right here against the wall, or bring her over to the mirrors over there to watch every single expression as he ruined her.

Suddenly the doorknob to the chamber jingled. Childe thanked the archons that he locked the door because he never liked being interrupted during his sessions.

He heard an all-too-familiar voice through the door. "Tartaglia, you had better open up." The voice threatened.

Recognizing the voice as well, Yuria almost leaped out of his arms and straightened herself. She glared at him to behave and went to open the door. She tried to ignore her racing heart and the swirl of emotions going on in her head as she smiled. "Onii-sama."

Scaramouche walked in. "Hey Yuri-chan." He said as he grinned. Childe didn't realize Scaramouche could smile like that, and his jaw dropped open in shock. Scaramouche was always annoying, condescending, two-faced, cunning and above all, a big dick. Here he was smiling at his sweetheart like some love struck fool.

Scaramouche turned his attention to Childe. "You better be teaching her right, Tartaglia." He hissed.

Childe was annoyed. Scaramouche always knew how to press everyone's buttons. Before he could even respond, Scaramouche continued. "And you better be treating her well." He said as he took a look at Yuria. "Why is your hair so messed up?" He wondered aloud as he straightened it for her.

Childe rolled his eyes. "What the hell are you here for anyway, midget?"

Yuria shook her head furiously behind Scaramouche, signaling to knock it off.

Electro energy started to crackle around the 6th harbinger, and suddenly a huge bolt had missed Childe by an inch. Yuria stood in front of him, having re-directed it out of his way.

Yuria fidgeted. "Sorry onii-sama, I still need him to be in one piece to finish my training." She chuckled nervously.

Scaramouche sighed and handed something over to Yuria. "I came by to deliver a letter for you from your okiya."

Yuria accepted the letter from him and glanced through it quickly.

"I'm also on my way back to Inazuma and I can help take care of this instead if you would like." Scaramouche offered.

Yuria's eyes brightened. "That would be great, thank you so much!" She gave him a quick squeeze as he stroked her hair.

"Alright then, I'll see you soon." Scaramouche paused as he glared at Childe once again. "You best better behave while I'm gone. Don't cause any more messes and dump trouble on Yuria." He hissed. "We won't always be here to clean up your messes like the one in Liyue."

Childe looked like he was going to snap his long-bow in half. Yuria noticed and quickly escorted Scaramouche out.

Childe leaned against the wall and huffed. Leave it to Scaramouche to find new ways to make him pissed off. He was livid that Scaramouche mentioned the Liyue incident again, but even moreso, he was angry that the two of them seemed so close. It was a stark reminder that Childe still didn't know anything about her.

As soon as she saw Scaramouche off, a bunch of bricks hit Yuria. What the fuck had she just done? Why did she kiss Childe back? She wasn't sure. She was always in between wanting to knock the daylights out of him or wanting to kiss him. It was just at the moment their lips met, her thoughts turned off in bliss and she just simply kissed him back. But there were consequences to think of. For one he was her senior, her colleague and comrade. And she couldn't fuck this up.

Just as she entered the chamber again, she found herself slammed to the wall. She blinked in confusion. Childe's arms were on both sides of her head, preventing her from escaping.

"What's up with you and Scaramouche?" Childe seethed. There was a dark energy radiating off of him, and while it was kind of hot, Yuria had to focus.

She raised a brow. Was Childe serious? Had he seriously not heard about her background yet? "You mean you don't know?" She asked deadpanned.

Childe was clearly jealous. But Yuria didn't want to acknowledge whatever was going on between the two of them. This was her last chance to come to her senses. 

Childe was frustrated. Not only did they get interrupted, the way Scaramouche babied her infuriated him to no ends. "You're mine." Childe growled as he tried to kiss her again.

This time, Yuria pushed him off. While his fit of jealousy might have been amusing under the right circumstances, a bit of rage bubbled up underneath her. Why were men always seeking to control her? Why were they always seeking to own her heart and soul for so little in return? Why was she always a trophy to be won and claimed? She barely knew anything about the man in front of her, and here he was doing the same shit men always did. Immature. Possessive. Pea-brained idiots.

"If you must know, Scaramouche was the one that saved me from being sold as a sex slave." She seethed. Scaramouche was often misunderstood, she knew this from the days she worked her way up the fatui, but he was genuinely a good person. To her at least.

"My own father sold me to become a geisha when I was eight." She hissed as tears began gathering in the corners of her sky blue eyes. "The women who raised me at the okiya then sold me to bidders to have their way with me. He saved me, Childe... and told me I could do whatever I wanted with my life."

Scaramouche was the first one to tell her she didn't have to do this or that. He was the first one to be there for her in her time of need. All her life she lived controlled by others. He gave her freedom, and she used that freedom to pledge loyalty to him and his goddess.

"He has raised me since then, and I don't appreciate you talking about him or to me that way either." Yuria hissed as she poked his chest. She needed to set boundaries with this dangerous man. She had been careless. She joined the fatui for a greater cause. And Childe was but a distraction. 

"And just to clarify, you don't own me. You do not get to question my relationship with others, Childe. We are nothing and we will remain nothing."

There were blue sparks igniting around her, warning him against testing her. Yuria slammed the door and left as Childe palmed his face. That couldn't have gone any better.

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A/N: Ah, we finally get to know a little more about Yuria's backstory! There's a lot of Japanese terms thrown around this chapter since Inazuma is based off Japan.

As mentioned in previous chapters, her father was a merchant, and thus she immigrated to Inazuma from Snezhnaya at the age of four. His business went bankrupt, and he sold her to become a geisha. Which is a Japanese term for courtesan trained to entertain men, (usually not sexually, but rather through dance, poetry, music and conversation).

Okiya is the lodging house/drinking establishment to which geisha are affiliated with.

Onii-sama would be a respectable way to call someone older brother in Japanese.

(Name)-san: a general suffix for addressing someone

(Name)-chan: a suffix for addressing someone you are close to, who is generally younger than you