Paraiso {Yae Miko x MALE!OC x Signora}

Chapter 20

Ichiro entered Third-Round Knockout to see Morax or, as he now recently go by, Zhongli sitting down and already enjoying his tea.

"Zhongli." Ichiro greeted as he sat down on a chair near him. The man put down his tea and pushed it aside.

"I've already made preparations and have given the Tianquan a... little nudge to the right direction. The Rite of Descension will start later this noon where I will fake my death." He said making Ichiro scoff.

"Jeez, straight to the point. Here I thought we were going to catch up a bit." Ichiro muttered as he sat comfortably in his chair.

Zhongli sighed. "Ever since you visited me 500 years ago, I knew that this was inevitable. You somehow always get what you want. How?" He asked as Ichiro leaned back into his chair and smirks.

"Easy. Always chase after things that you know you're going to get and a whole lot of patience." Ichiro answered as Zhongli hummed in thought.

"Excuse my manners. How are you, Ichiro? I've heard that over the years, you've gained a wife again?" Zhongli asked as Ichiro flinched at the word "again" before chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, she's one of the Harbingers I've assigned to take care of the Gnosis. Signora is her alias, I assume you've heard of her? She has quite the reputation." He explained as Zhongli nodded along. "I've also heard that you've gotten close to another one of our Harbingers. Childe?" Ichiro asked.

"Ah yes, the adventurous youngling. He's quite the eccentric individual and seems to have taken a liking to Liyue's culture." Zhongli told him as he remembered that one time, or rather, multiple times he tried to teach Childe how to use chopsticks.

Ichiro glanced at a nearby wall clock as he read the time and stood up.

"It's nearly noon. It's time to get ready, don't you think?" He asked as Zhongli nodded and stood up as well.

"Yes, let's hope everything goes to plan." Zhongli told him. "Yes, let's hope so."

Meanwhile at Yujing Terrace, Paimon and the Traveller arrived to witness the Rite of Descension where she hopes to meet Morax and ask about her brother.

They were looking around the venue, trying to look for a certain blue eyed friend of theirs. Since Ruichiro never specified where he was travelling next, they hoped that by some miracle, he would show up to witness the Rite of Descension as well.

A woman in the middle with a long white and gold dress stepped forward as the Rite of Descension begins.

"The hour is upon us." The woman spoke as her companions bowed and stepped away from her. She then used her vision to perform the ritual as the people awed at the sight.

Unbeknownst to them, Ichiro or rather, Ruichiro was looking at the ritual from afar at a nearby mountain, to observe and see if everything goes to plan. Ichiro had preferred it if Ruichiro was the one present in case they accidentally bring attention to themselves.

The sky quickly turned dark and red thunder began to strike. The woman was shocked to see Morax's body falling from the sky, landing right in the middle near the woman as she jumped back. The woman stepped closer to the dragon and inspected it closely as the people whispered to each other.

The woman slowly stood up before quickly turning back to the guards by the entrance. "Rex Lapis has been killed! Seal the exits!" She shouted as the people gasped and a commotion broke out. The Millelith soon surrounded the people to lockdown the venue to investigate for suspects.

In a state of panic, Lumine escapes the venue with Paimon following closely behind her. Not wanting to be questioned by the Millelith about her identity, they escape Yujing Terrace with the Millelith following behind them.

Ruichiro moves further into the mountain to get a good view of Lumine as she gets cornered by the stairs.

"There's nowhere to run!" One guard yelled as he pointed his sword at her. And Lumine, being Lumine, summoned her own sword to protect them against.

"Hey girlie- hold still." A voice behind them said as hydro arrows shot through the Millelith making them drop their weapons.

A ginger haired man jumped from behind them to position himself in front of them. He then turned his sword into water-based daggers and he attacks his way through the Millelith as he creates a hydro slash in different directions, knocking the Millelith back as he tried to impress a certain someone.

He quickly glances to a nearby mountain to Ichiro (who he doesn't notice is actually Ruichiro because of the distance) for a sign of contentment as Ruichiro hummed in approval and turned back. He could barely see it, but he swore he could actually see him smirk before walking away.

Either way, he knew Ichiro approved.

He always did.

He looked up to see more Millelith coming. He looked back to the Traveller. "Come with me." He told her as he ran off, with Lumine and Paimon following closely behind him.

Meanwhile, Ichiro, who was now back in his own form, was seated at one of the tables outside Third-Round Knockout with a menu covering his face as he pretended to read it.

"So everything went according to plan then? What are we doing here now?" Ruichiro asked.

"Zhongli asked to meet up after he fakes his death. It was when you were asleep." Ichiro quietly muttered as he explained.

A hand soon lowered Ichiro's menu as he looks up to see Zhongli sitting across him. "What are you muttering on about?" He asked.

"Nothing. Just... Reading through the meals. The cuisine is so familiar yet so different from back then." Ichiro lied to him. "Hm, yes. Their chefs change but the style of Liyue in the dishes never truly leave. Wanmin Restaurant has some very unique dishes that their chef makes. I have volunteered a few times to help her out in some of her dishes." Zhongli shared as Ichiro nodded along.

"So, everything went exactly as you had hoped?" Ichiro asked as Zhongli nodded. "Yes, how about on your side?" He asked.

"Everything went according to my plan. Nothing to worry about." Of course, Ichiro decided not to mention the traveller as he expects them to be out and moving on another nation sooner or later once they get a closure on Rex Lapis' supposed death.

"Good." Silence soon surrounds them as they no longer had nothing to say.

Ichiro may be an honorary adeptus, but Zhongli is far from his master. His contract with him is proof of that.

The contract states that Ichiro is free to explore outside of Liyue and will only be called upon should Liyue ever be in danger.

The tattoo by his neck (description in Chapter 1/Act 1 chapter) is an element to this. The tattoo will begin to irritate and possibly cause pain to Ichiro should he ever ignore Liyue's plea for his help.

"So..." Ichiro broke the silence. "Zhongli..." He trailed off as Zhongli hummed, signaling him to continue.

"You're old and knowledgeable, right?" Ichiro asked as Zhongli flinched at the word "old" and silently died at Ichiro's bluntness but sighed as he knew that this was just how Ichiro had always been.

"Yes, I am." Zhongli said as one of the waiters served Zhongli tea while Ichiro had sake, informing them that their order would arrive later than usual as he soon went back in.

"How much do you know about... Pregnancy."

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A/N: Dear me, looks like my finger slipped and accidentally pressed the publish button, how clumsy of me.

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