These two...
Watching Zhongli and Childe file out one after the other, Kaito was at a loss for words. He'd assumed they were just saying it — and yet they'd actually gone and done it.
Still, this was more or less a public place. It wasn't like he could do anything with Miko and Lumine here anyway.
Besides, they'd already had one very thorough exchange at noon.
"The Geo Archon's the good one," Miko said, still watching the doorway. "If it were that homebody, she'd just be sitting there right now without saying a word."
"What about Makoto, then?"
The question slipped out of Kaito before he'd even thought about it.
"Oh, she'd say something like 'my, you've grown,' and probably add that she never could have imagined I'd turn out like this. Something along those lines."
Miko considered it for a moment before giving her answer. Makoto wasn't here right now, but Miko was fairly sure the real thing wouldn't be too far off from her guess.
"I imagine the Raiden Shogun couldn't have pictured it either." For Kaito, the idea of Miko being like this was the kind of thing Ei would never have seen coming.
"True — though she wouldn't say a word about it. She probably wouldn't even answer if you asked her directly."
Miko knew exactly what Kaito meant, but she also knew that Ei would never let it show the way Makoto would.
"So... what are we supposed to do now?" Lumine spoke up.
Not being particularly familiar with the Raiden Shogun, Lumine decided to just ask what was on her mind. This was at least a semi-public place — it wasn't like they could get up to much here. Though she was curious what Kaito would say.
"Right — Kaito, what exactly are you planning to do with us?" The moment Lumine said it, Miko immediately turned and posed the same question to Kaito, her tone carrying the distinct implication that whatever he had in mind was perfectly fine with her.
"It's not like we can do much out here, can we?"
It hadn't occurred to Kaito that either of them was actually angling for something. He couldn't help but say it out loud — he'd honestly been about to go call Childe and Zhongli back.
After all, what was he supposed to do out here?
"Whether you want to or not is entirely up to you, isn't it?" Miko tilted her head, genuinely curious whether Kaito had anything in mind.
Fine...
Alright, then...
Glancing at the two of them — who both appeared to be perfectly serious — Kaito hit on a solution.
"Here. One each." He leaned in and gave Miko a quick peck, then immediately turned and did the same to Lumine.
"There. That's that," he said, and headed for the door.
"What a half-hearted effort."
Miko murmured it as she replayed the moment in her head — the way he'd barely grazed her lips before moving on, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of water. If he was going to do it at all, she felt, he could at least have put some feeling into it.
"Agreed," Lumine said with a nod.
"Ha! Done already, friend? Couldn't spare a little more time?"
While the two of them were still complaining, Childe's voice rang out from the doorway. A moment later, Kaito, Childe, and Zhongli all filed back into the private room.
"Food first. Everything else can wait." Back in his seat, Kaito answered Childe's teasing with that.
Stealing a kiss outdoors was already rare enough — anything beyond that was out of the question.
"Ha! Fair enough — you do need to eat your fill before you've got the energy for anything else." Childe laughed again and started in on his food.
He was talking about Kaito, but he needed to fill his own stomach too.
Either way, before tomorrow he'd have to make another attempt at finding Miss Mobius. If he could get word to her about what Kaito planned to do tomorrow, the odds of her agreeing to cooperate with him would only go up.
He'd already handled her last task quite well — but the more insurance he could get, the better.
More importantly, the last thing he wanted was for Mobius to leave Liyue with Kaito just like that. Even if she wasn't necessarily going to, he had to at least try before it came to that.
"Mm. Let's eat, then."
Zhongli gave a small nod and began eating as well.
Kaito almost couldn't help but say something. He'd just laid out his entire plan, and Zhongli had sat through it all without a word — as though none of it had anything to do with him.
Then again, Kaito was used to it by now, so he let it go. Besides, he was hungry. Food first.
And so the group settled into a meal, eating and chatting as they went.
"Speaking of which, is there anything you'd like the Fatui to help with, friend?"
Childe was eager to get himself — and the Fatui — involved in whatever was going on between Kaito and Mobius. Anything would do: running errands, playing a supporting role, it didn't matter. He just wanted in.
"Nothing yet. Let's see how tomorrow goes first." Kaito could read exactly what Childe was after, and told him to wait and see.
"No problem at all — the Fatui are ready to help you anytime, friend."
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👻🔥+40 ch: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Oshi No Ko: Co-starring with Kana Arima
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