The End of a Contract - Xiao X Reader

2 : Saved

Y/N'S POV

The sunlight drags me out of my dreams as I wake up to a peaceful scene, the golden rays of the sun fill the small yet cozy room. Despite the calmness of my surroundings I can't help but remember the mysterious person last night... why does someone who looks so young have a tattoo ? Why did their hair glow green ? And why do I maybe kinda sorta find them a little bit... cute ? Just a little bit though I swear !

I get out of my bed and change into my adventurers guild uniform and make my way downstairs. Maybe I can ask Verr Goldet about the green person.

"Good morning Y/N, by the way, someone saw you left your clothes in the shower last night and washed them for you, they left them over there on the counter."

"Oh my archon, that's so embarrassing... I totally forgot to wash them myself... do you know who might have washed them for me ? I should go and thank them at least..."

"Ah well... I can't really tell you his identity but... if you see a man with green hair, it was him."

My jaw suddenly drops at the mention of green hair.

"Is the man with green hair named Xiao, by chance ?"

Verr looked shocked.

"You've already seen him ? AND he told you his name ? That is quite an achievement actually... usually it's hard to get him to say anything even if you bribe him with his favorite food..."

"Which is...?"

"Almond Tofu."

"Thanks ! I'll go and cook him some, maybe then he'd talk to me some more ! Thanks for the info Verr ! Or uh... should I call you Goldet ?"

She looks somewhat surprised at my plan, then she lets out a tired sigh. "Just call me Verr, oh and... good luck." 

I nod with a stupid grin on my face before running off into the kitchen.

I'm quickly served by the one and only, Smiley Yanxiao ! His food actually tastes so good that I'm surprised he doesn't work at Liyue Harbor, heck he should be world famous ! Speaking of cooking... maybe I can ask him to help me cook Almond Tofu ! It'd be good to learn dishes from other regions to broaden my culinary skills ! Yup, that's my reason. I'm not doing this just  to impress Xiao, I'm doing this to be a better chef ! Yeah !

I finish eating before I ask Smiley... or maybe he likes being called Yanxiao more ? Ah, regardless, I ask him if he'd help me cook almond tofu to which he agrees ! But, I have to get the ingredients myself. Easy enough for me ! I'm an adventurer, I was born to scavenge. 

I could probably buy all the ingredients from Verr herself, but I might as well look around the area, see if I can find any chests so I can get a bit more Mora to get me to Liyue Harbor, then, I can start taking commissions !

I quickly say bye to Verr before I go down the elevator and run south to Guili Plains. I'm sure this area has already been completely explored by adventurers before me but who knows ! Maybe they left behind some mora or a sword for young adventurers like me !

Eventually I do find a couple of chests and I get some pretty nice things. I got enough mora to get me through another week, and a new fancy sword to replace this dull blade I've been using since I was training at the Knights of Favonius.

I sneak past Hillichurls and Abyss Mages as I try to go back to Wangshu Inn when suddenly, I am distracted by a mora weasel. 

You see... I wouldn't call myself greedy... but mora is mora. So I chased after that weasel like my life depended on it. It was a slippery one, it kept dodging and weaving and right as I jumped to catch it, it dug underground... never to be seen again...

I would never let a minor disappointment like this break my soul though ! I am a dignified adventurer ! Despite my failure... as long as I can stand back up again, that is all that matters !

As I stood up and wiped all the dirt off of me, I could hear the sounds of gears turning and machinery whirring behind me.

That... that sound isn't what I think it is... right...?

I turn around to see my worst nightmares coming true. Of course, after sneaking past every enemy on the way I accidentally wake up a Ruin Hunter ! Of all things ! Bennett you were a good friend but I swear to Barbatos if you're bad luck is rubbing off on me I will--

The Ruin Hunter suddenly slashes forward, it sliced off some of my hair and scratched my arm a bit before I could dodge, it's not giving me any time to think, all I can do is run...

I take out my sword and try to look for openings for me to attack but all I can do is dodge. It lunges towards me again but I block it with the blade of my sword. To my surprise, the blade of my sword ends up shattering from the strength of the Ruin Hunters slash.

I scream in terror.

"What am I meant to do now ?! Dad ! If you're up there listening to me, please talk to archons of Celestia to let me live ! I don't wanna die here ! Not before I can talk to Xiao at least !"

As I'm running, I suddenly feel like I'm lifted off the ground, I open my eyes to see I am on top of a rock far away from the Ruin Hunter. I look to my left to see... Xiao ?

He suddenly disappears leaving only a cloud of dust on where he used to stand, I look back at the Ruin Guard to see a green flash appear behind it. In one fell swoop the Ruin Hunter is slain. Xiao moved so fast I couldn't even see his slash.

No words could describe my shock right now. My heart is beating so fast... I was attracted to Xiao before but now he seems so much hotter...

I... probably shouldn't be thinking about that right after I narrowly escaped death thanks to Xiao.

I thought ruin hunters were strong but this guy is probably a hundred times stronger...

"You should be more careful next time. If you didn't call my name I probably wouldn't have shown up."

I try to stand up again with my feet still shaky and look Xiao in the eye.

"How did you do that ? Aren't you a bit... short to reach that high up ?"

Xiao is taken aback by my comment and seems to get angry.

"Oh, I'm sorry that's not what I meant—!"

"It's fine. The owner of the Inn teases me about my height too."

I chuckle at his words.

"I'm leaving."

"No wait ! I wanted to thank you... for washing my clothes."

"You're welcome."

I saw a hint of a smile before he disappeared, leaving a green flash behind him. I'm still not satisfied though, I've gotta get him to talk more ! But by now the sun has set and I run back to the inn in fear that I'll get ambushed by hilichurls if I stand around there any longer.

"Verr... Goldet !" I mutter her name between pants.

"Oh ? What happened this time ?"

"Can you... give me the.... recipe for... almond tofu ?" I say, still exhausted from running here.

"Alright, but first, tell me what happened out there"

"I-I woke up a Ruin Hunter and-and Xiao ! Xiao saved me !"

Her eyes widen.

"Xiao ? That loner... saved you ?"

"Yes ! Man he's stronger than I thought... he went all like wOOSH ! and then he went slash ! And— uh... ehem, may I have the recipe now ?"

Verr stifles back a chuckle.

"Sure, you earned it, after all, Xiao isn't normally this friendly with anyone. You must be special."

She winks at me as she hands me the recipe. I quickly take it from her and go to my room. I leave the recipe on the table beside my bed and take a quick shower before going to bed.

Xiao better be ready for the most delicious almond tofu he's tasted in his life !