"That Kaito guy?" Miko decided she needed to correct Lumine on that. "It's this Kaito guy, or that Kaito guy — just 'Kaito guy' on its own sounds strange, don't you think, Lumine?"
"Then… that Kaito guy!" Lumine immediately revised herself after hearing Miko's correction.
But Miko still wasn't satisfied. "You'd say 'that Kaito guy' when he's not around," she explained patiently, "whereas 'this Kaito guy' is what you'd say when he's right here in front of you. Understand, Lumine?"
"Oh, I see. Got it."
After being corrected twice in a row, Lumine confirmed that she understood.
Kaito: ???
Standing quietly to the side and listening to the two of them go back and forth, Kaito could only watch as a string of question marks slowly materialized in his mind.
Bad enough that Miko calls me that herself.
But now she's teaching Lumine to do it too…
She is absolutely getting it later.
"The two of you are asking for it, aren't you?" Kaito looked between them, affecting his best expression of wounded dignity.
He obviously couldn't actually do anything to them. But a little menace never hurt anyone.
"Yep. Absolutely asking for it," Miko replied without missing a beat, and somehow managed to drag Lumine into it as well — earning a distinctly baffled look from Lumine in the process.
Kaito: …
He hadn't expected Miko to just roll with it like that. He had no idea what to say next, because he obviously wasn't going to actually do anything to Miko.
As for Lumine — she'd simply been pulled into this mess by Miko. That was all.
Right, actually…
A perfect idea for getting back at Miko suddenly came to mind — though now wasn't the moment to say it out loud.
And more importantly: Lumine was here in Liyue right now too. He absolutely couldn't be two-timing.
Ugh…
How was he even supposed to manage this going forward?
He couldn't exactly sneak around about it.
Was he supposed to alternate days or something?
Turning the problem over in his mind, Kaito fell into a contemplative silence. He had no experience with this sort of thing whatsoever — not that he could blame himself for that.
To anyone looking in from the outside, he had a whole collection of girlfriends and clearly had all of this down to a fine art. In reality, only he knew what the situation actually was.
Now, at last, things were starting to look more or less like what everyone had always assumed — and he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.
Still, no matter what, he couldn't let that show.
"I'll deal with you properly later then!" Since standing there in silence was getting awkward, Kaito finally declared that he'd settle things with Miko at a later date.
The reason for later was, naturally, that the whole business with Mobius still wasn't resolved.
"And what about Lumine? She's asking for it too, you know." Miko immediately pointed a finger at Lumine beside her, annoyed that Kaito had left her out.
"Wait, why am I getting dealt with now?"
Lumine finally spoke up to voice her confusion — and she was genuinely curious what "dealing with her" even meant. He wasn't actually going to hit anyone, was he? Or did it mean something else entirely? No matter how she thought it over, she couldn't figure it out.
"Well obviously, I can't have you just standing there watching while I get dealt with," Miko answered, as though this were the most self-evident thing in the world.
Lumine: …
"Alright — tonight, do you two want to come out to dinner with me? Childe said he's treating me and you both." Glancing between Miko, who clearly understood exactly what "dealing with her" meant, and Lumine, who looked thoroughly lost, Kaito decided to shelve the topic for now.
"Sure, why not. Though — does he just really love treating people to things? He seems to do it an awful lot." Miko wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but Childe really did seem unusually enthusiastic about picking up the tab.
"He really does — he's out here treating someone to a meal practically every day."
Kaito couldn't help letting out a small laugh at Miko's jab. But Miko had her own theory about it.
"It's got to be because of you, Kaito. I doubt he'd be like this with just anyone." The Fatui's way of winning him over, she figured. A dinner here and there didn't cost much — but sometimes small gestures did big work. Simply put, Childe was trying to build goodwill through the little things.
"I'll come too," Lumine added, giving her own answer.
Since both Miko and Kaito were going, she'd obviously go as well. Staying behind alone with nothing to do didn't appeal to her.
Besides, she was still very curious about what exactly "being dealt with" was supposed to mean. Somehow she had the nagging feeling that she was the only one who didn't get it, while Miko and Kaito both understood perfectly well.
I'll just ask Miko about it later.
She decided she'd wait until it was just the two of them and ask Miko what was going on.
"Great, we'll all go together then." Seeing that both of them were in, Kaito gave a small nod.
Oh, right.
Might as well have the Mobius side go and show her face in front of Ningguang.
They haven't met yet, after all…
The thought struck him, and he acted on it immediately.
[Image: tuzhi.jpg]
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