"There's something I want to say first."
After the waiter Childe had summoned led them to the table, Kaito looked at Childe and Zhongli already seated and spoke.
He was going to be leaving Liyue for a while tomorrow, so he needed to let them know — Childe especially, and Zhongli.
"Oh? Don't tell me you've already found Mobius, friend."
Childe cracked the joke the moment Kaito announced he had something to say.
It was possible, technically — but Childe doubted it was about that. More likely it had something to do with her, which was fine; he was happy to hear it.
Truth be told, Childe was desperate for any news of Mobius right now.
He could technically report back to his superiors at this point, but the problem was he had no idea where Mobius actually was. That made things extremely awkward.
"Of course not." Kaito shook his head slowly at the joke, then continued: "Though it does involve her."
"Don't tell me Mobius has... mm... passed some kind of message to you?"
Childe's heart skipped a beat — he'd almost blurted out 'Miss Mobius' just then.
The title would have been perfectly reasonable, but it was far too easy to make it sound like he'd already met her in person.
Just as well he caught himself. That would have been mortifying.
"No." Kaito shook his head again. "It's like this —"
He paused mid-sentence and glanced toward the door of the private room, then turned back and continued: "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to pretend to leave Liyue."
"What? You're leaving Liyue?"
Childe asked immediately, visibly caught off guard.
But then it clicked.
"Wait — pretend to leave? Why? Are you trying to use that to draw Mobius out?"
"That is actually a sound strategy." Zhongli, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
Mobius wasn't Kaito's enemy — quite the opposite, she had feelings for him — yet she refused to show herself. From that angle, Zhongli thought the plan made a great deal of sense.
Since she had come to Liyue because of Kaito, learning that he was about to leave would almost certainly provoke a reaction from her.
Perhaps she would follow him out. Perhaps she would try to stir up some kind of incident to lure him back.
Either way, Mobius would be forced to act.
That said, Zhongli still had his concerns. For instance, Mobius might respond to Kaito's departure by making a very loud scene right here in Liyue — and there was no telling what she'd choose to do in that case.
But letting things drag on indefinitely was no better. No one knew what Mobius might do if they simply waited. The only real option was to draw her out.
And more importantly, Kaito was right here. This was the moment to talk it through with him.
"But what if Mobius does nothing at all? Or... what if she doesn't follow Kaito out of Liyue?"
Childe had to admit he was genuinely worried Mobius really would follow Kaito out of the city.
If that happened, his plans to cooperate with Mobius would almost certainly fall apart — and worse, Kaito might find out about it. So the last thing Childe wanted was for Kaito to go through with something like this.
Still, if Kaito truly intended to try it, there wasn't much Childe could do about it. His best move for now was to say something here, at the table, and hope to talk him out of it.
Ugh...
How was he supposed to get Kaito to drop this idea?
While he waited for Kaito to respond, Childe turned the problem over and over in his mind.
Hmm...
Got it!
"If nothing happens at all, then I'll simply come back, obviously. But you two need to keep this between us — if she finds out in advance, of course she won't react."
Just as Childe landed on a reason to talk Kaito out of it, Kaito answered.
Right...
I could just tell Miss Mobius about this...
The only problem is figuring out how to actually find her...
Hearing Kaito's answer, Childe had already thought of a better angle — but it hinged on knowing where Mobius was, and without that, the so-called brilliant plan was worth nothing.
Even so, he'd find a way to try it.
And before any of that, he could use the argument he'd just come up with to nudge Kaito away from this idea right now.
"But, friend..." Childe looked at Kaito with a hesitant expression, as if choosing his words carefully, before finally pressing on: "If you just leave like that, couldn't it enrage Mobius? Like you said before, she has feelings for you. Leaving this way might make her feel like you're ignoring her entirely. And if that's the case..." He paused. "...I have a feeling Liyue could be in very real danger."
Childe knew that the moment he framed it as a threat to all of Liyue, Kaito would have to take it seriously.
"That is indeed a genuine possibility." Zhongli nodded as Childe voiced his concern, affirming it was plausible.
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