"Alright, let's head back — it's getting pretty late," Kaito said, tilting his head back to look up at the sky.
They'd been talking the whole way, so the group had been walking at a leisurely pace.
"When we get back and go to sleep, Lumine and I are definitely going to kick you out of the bed," Miko announced, watching Kaito gaze up at the sky. She'd already decided: tonight, she and Lumine were teaming up to boot him out.
The reason, of course, was that this guy went around collecting hearts left and right.
Sure, Kaito claimed that Mobius was the one who'd come looking for him — but that was still his fault. Who told him to rack up so many girlfriends in the first place?
And now there were even more. Not that any of that had anything to do with her. It was entirely Kaito's fault.
Yes. Absolutely his fault.
"Uh... I can't really control what I do when I'm asleep," Lumine said. She didn't actually want to do it, but she couldn't bring herself to refuse Miko outright, so that was what came out.
And honestly, it was true — once she crashed, she was out cold and had no idea what was happening around her.
"Then I'll just sleep on the floor tonight," Kaito said.
He could tell Miko was a little put out over the whole Mobius situation, so he figured he'd just take the floor.
Not that it made much difference to him where he slept these days. Things were different now — he wasn't the same as before.
"No — first you get in the bed, and then I'll kick you out after you fall asleep," Miko said immediately, the moment Kaito suggested the floor.
She didn't know whether she'd end up nudging him off the edge again like last night, but she did know that Kaito had to be in the bed for her to have the option. If he went straight to the floor, there'd be nothing left to kick — and that simply would not do.
"Sure, sure, whatever you say, Miko," Kaito agreed quickly with a nod.
"No!" The word came flying out of Miko's mouth the instant Kaito finished speaking, making both him and Lumine turn to stare at her.
"What changed all of a sudden?" Kaito asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Maybe Miko changed her mind about kicking you," Lumine guessed.
"That's not it at all." Miko shook her head and continued: "Tonight Kaito sleeps in the middle, and I sleep on the outside — that way we can keep squishing him the whole night. If we just kick him out straight away, there's nothing left to squish."
Lumine: "..."
She hadn't expected Miko to think of it that way. Lumine was genuinely at a loss for words.
She had to admit — Miko's strange, creative schemes were completely beyond her ability to predict.
Hmm...
Should I come up with some creative schemes of my own?
She thought back to that earth-shattering thing she'd said to Kaito that afternoon, and decided that after blurting that out, nothing else she did could possibly be more embarrassing. The psychological barrier was basically gone at this point.
If she'd already said something like that, she had nothing left to feel shy about.
Though she still had no idea how she'd ever match Miko's particular brand of scheming.
"Sure, sure, no problem — just make sure you two balance it out. Don't end up kicking Miko off the edge or squishing Lumine into the wall," Kaito said, nodding along as if he hadn't a care in the world.
And genuinely, he didn't.
He knew Miko would, at most, give him a few good shoves. She wouldn't actually boot him out for real. And even if she did kick him, it would be a gentle tap — nothing like going all-out in a fight.
And so the group walked and chatted their way home.
Meanwhile, on Childe's end, he was saying his goodbyes to Zhongli.
"See you tomorrow then, Mr. Zhongli." Childe gave a little wave at Zhongli's retreating back, then turned and headed out of the city.
It was already pretty late, which was perfect — he'd head out and see if he could track down where Mobius was. Or rather, see if Mobius would take the initiative and come find him.
There was also the added bonus that the Millelith didn't patrol outside the city walls at night.
Give me a little luck, Your Majesty...
Wandering aimlessly across the open fields outside the city, Childe quietly thought that to himself.
The randomness of the whole situation was enormous. All he could do was hope the Tsaritsa would bless him with a touch of fortune — enough to let him cross paths with Mobius, or for Mobius to come find him first.
He had a lot to say to her, after all.
"How did the task I gave you go?" Just as Childe was quietly hoping the Tsaritsa would throw him a bone, Mobius's voice suddenly came from directly behind him — and he nearly opened his mouth to thank Her Majesty on the spot.
He couldn't help it. Mobius's timing was absolutely impeccable.
In the end, though, Childe managed to swallow the impulse. He still had business to attend to. He could thank the Tsaritsa later, back at camp — she surely wouldn't hold it against him.
"Good evening, Mobius." Childe turned around and greeted her first.
After the greeting, he glanced around at the surrounding area.
He couldn't help himself — he was still quite interested in that pet of Mobius's.
"What are you looking for? Worried the Millelith tracked you down?" Seeing Childe peering around, Mobius tilted her head slightly in puzzlement.
"Ha, of course not. I was just wondering if that little pet of yours was around — I'm still quite curious about it," Childe said openly, not bothering to hide his thoughts when she asked.
"You'll have a chance to see it eventually." Mobius gave a small smile at the mention of her supposed pet, and left it at that.
Though, speaking of pets — Mobius suddenly remembered something: she still hadn't seen Miko transform into her little fox form. Not even once.
It would be so amusing to hold her in her hands and play with her in that form.
Of course, now wasn't the time to be thinking about that.
And after everything that had just happened, it was clearly far too soon to make that kind of request on Kaito's end. Miko would definitely refuse right now. Better to bring it up later.
Oh, right...
If I end up officially joining their side...
I wonder if transforming first would stir up a little competitive spirit in Miko...
But then again...
Would doing that make Miko and Lumine think Kaito had some peculiar taste in... that department?
Thinking it over, Mobius decided that was probably not a good idea.
"Ha! Well, I'm already looking forward to it," Childe's laughter rang out, cutting through Mobius's train of thought.
____
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