Inazuma.
Time to head to Liyue...
In the room that belonged to either Kiana or Kaito, a girl slowly closed the novel in her hands and set it on the nightstand.
Then she drifted toward the door.
Hmm...
Just head straight to Liyue like this?
Once she stepped outside the inn, Mobius came to a stop and turned the question over in her mind.
She wasn't as fast as Wendy's body when it came to travel — but getting to Liyue was still no great challenge. It wouldn't take long at all.
The real question was: before she left, should she let Miko know?
I wonder if Miko even still remembers me at this point...
She lingered where she stood, that thought surfacing unbidden.
She still remembered, perfectly well, how Miko had once promised to take her out and show her around — and yet, to this day, Miko had never once come looking for her.
Well... I do know what Miko's been up to lately.
In a way, she's technically spending time with me right now.
After all — Kiana was her, and she was Kiana. Miko simply didn't know that.
Whatever...
I'll just head straight to Liyue.
She'd sort out the details later — once Miko got around to asking, she'd just have Kiana's side tell her that Mobius had left.
As for where she'd gone... well, that would naturally be unknown.
Wait...
Come to think of it, Miko hadn't actually asked Kiana anything about her yet.
If she did ask later...
What would be the best way to answer?
The thought struck her suddenly, and Mobius fell into a quiet contemplation.
Back when she'd been in Kaito's room, she'd only been thinking about getting herself over to Liyue first — she hadn't actually worked out how to handle the rest of it.
Play it vague? Imply a closer relationship?
Or just go with 'I don't know'?
'I don't know' is probably the cleanest answer...
Except — Kiana had already made it fairly obvious earlier that she knew who Mobius was. So claiming complete ignorance wouldn't quite hold up. There had to be some degree of familiarity acknowledged.
Vague and ambiguous it is, then.
After turning it over for a moment, Mobius settled on that as her answer for Miko — if Miko ever asked.
Of course, that was all contingent on Miko asking Kiana directly. If Miko never brought it up, then there was nothing to address.
Though Mobius was fairly certain Miko would ask eventually. She clearly had other things on her mind right now, which was the only reason she hadn't gotten around to it yet.
With that much sorted, Mobius turned and began making her way toward Liyue.
-----
The Shrine.
So they actually went and made a puppet in the Shogun's likeness for Makoto...
Stepping out of that room, Miko couldn't help but glance back at the puppet Shogun sitting inside with her eyes closed.
Given her own history with the real thing, she had to admit it felt a little strange.
Still — she understood. Makoto being able to come back at all was already nothing short of miraculous. She couldn't ask for more than that.
I wonder if Ei will ever be able to return to the way she was before...
Somehow, that seems like a lot to hope for...
She turned those quiet thoughts over in her mind as she made her way toward the kitchen.
The food Kiana had made with her own two hands was waiting somewhere in there, and Miko felt a mild but distinct sense of apprehension about it. Still, she had to go check whether Kiana and Mei were still around — she couldn't just avoid the kitchen entirely forever.
Dangerous as the road ahead might be, she was going to have to face it.
Oh... they're still here.
As she made her way toward the kitchen, she spotted Kiana and Mei coming from the other direction.
She had to admit — not having to actually go inside the kitchen was a genuine relief. She really, truly did not want to attempt that stir-fried chili pork again.
"You two are still here — I figured you might have already left," Miko said, coming to a stop in front of them.
"Had to wait around for you, didn't we? Leaving without a word would be a bit rude," Kiana replied simply.
"Oh, don't worry about that — if something comes up and you need to go, that's completely fine." Miko laughed it off; she genuinely didn't mind.
There was, however, something she'd been wanting to ask. She was just a little afraid of what asking might bring down on her.
"You look like you're trying to say something. Is there something on your mind, Miko?"
Acheron had caught it — the tell-tale hesitation plain on Miko's face.
She noticed, did she...
Fine, I'll ask.
After all, Kiana wasn't going to force her to finish off the rest of that stir-fried chili pork. Probably.
With that reassurance in mind, Miko spoke up: "I was just curious — did you two end up eating that... that stir-fried chili pork? It seems like it wouldn't go down well without rice."
What she really wanted to say was that it wouldn't go down well with anything — but she held that back. She'd already told one polite lie when she'd tasted it earlier, so telling another one now was hardly a stretch.
"Oh, that? Mei ate it all," Kiana answered, entirely matter-of-fact.
Miko: "...???"
That was not the answer she had been expecting, and she couldn't quite keep the shock off her face.
She couldn't help it. It was genuinely staggering. She could not, for the life of her, imagine what state Mei must have been in to finish off all of that stir-fried chili pork on her own.
She'd assumed the answer would be something like "we left it for later" — not that Mei had single-handedly cleaned the whole plate. That was extraordinary.
Miko had only managed a single piece before she'd very nearly been done in by it.
You absolute legend...
Mei...
I knew you were something else!
Gazing at Mei standing there in front of her looking for all the world as though nothing had happened, Miko felt a deep and wholehearted admiration. There was simply no other response.
"Why are you staring at me like that? It was just a little stir-fried chili pork. Hardly a significant amount," Acheron said, her voice even, catching the evident surprise in Miko's expression.
"...Fair point," Miko said after a beat, unable to think of anything better, and gave a small nod.
Right...
Mei did mention before that she doesn't really have much of a sense of taste...
So that's why.
The memory surfaced — something Mei had told her not long ago.
Ah. That explains it.
But even so — is it actually safe to eat that much of it?
Even if you can't taste it...
It still seems like it could do some damage to the body...
Even now that she understood why Mei had been able to eat the whole thing, Miko still couldn't entirely shake her concern. What if it ended up causing some kind of problem?
Anyway...
Better to change the subject.
If she kept bringing up the stir-fried chili pork, Kiana was going to keep making it for her — and that was a fate she very much wished to avoid.
Besides, just because Mei could finish it didn't mean she could. And frankly, she was genuinely worried about what it might do to her stomach.
____
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