It's so quiet in here...
Could they be asleep?
The possibility occurred to Miko as she stood in the middle of the courtyard, eyes drifting toward the rooms belonging to Lumine and Kaito. She hesitated, unsure whether to just call out Kaito's name directly.
After a moment's thought, she decided she would — but rather than shouting from where she stood, she stepped back out through the courtyard gate first and called from the entrance.
Knock knock knock—
"Kaito? Are you in there?"
She rapped lightly on the door and called his name. No answer came from inside — not even the faintest sound.
Knock knock knock.
"Kaito?"
She knocked again and waited. Still nothing.
This guy...
What on earth is he doing?
Miko stared at the closed gate with barely concealed irritation.
She could've stepped straight inside and knocked on the bedroom door — that would've been easier — but she was worried she might walk in on Kaito and Lumine in the middle of something. That would be mortifying.
Which was precisely why she'd retreated to the outer gate to knock, rather than calling out from the courtyard itself.
Hmm... wait.
What if he's gone out?
The thought struck her, and she instinctively glanced down the street outside, half-expecting to catch Kaito wandering back at just that moment.
Naturally, there was no sign of him — just the usual scattered foot traffic of Liyue locals drifting past.
Haah...
If that little brat Wendy had come with me, I wouldn't have to worry about any of this...
Wendy crossed Miko's mind unbidden.
She knew perfectly well that if Wendy had tagged along, the girl wouldn't have spent a single second overthinking it — she'd have marched straight inside and dragged Kaito out without a second thought.
Tap tap tap—
And just then, the sound of footsteps drifted out from inside — growing steadily louder as they approached.
Finally woke up, did we...
Or finally got dressed?
The footsteps drew closer, and Miko couldn't help the thought from slipping through.
Creak—
The door swung open. But the face peering out from behind it wasn't Kaito's — it was Lumine.
"Oh, it's Miko. Kaito seems to have gone out."
Lumine stepped out from behind the door, sounding a little uncertain as she said it.
In truth, she'd woken up at the very first knock — it had just taken her a moment to get dressed, and she'd swung by Kaito's room on her way, only to find it empty.
"Do you know where he went? I need to talk to him about something."
Lumine was clearly just-woken — hair slightly mussed, eyes still a little soft with sleep — and the sight of her made Miko's earlier suspicion feel just a bit more plausible.
Not that she would ever say so out loud. She kept that speculation firmly to herself.
What mattered more right now was getting to Kaito and telling him about Mobius.
Though she also suspected that Kaito's absence might itself be because of Mobius — that Mobius had come looking for him, and he'd stepped out to meet her.
For now, that was still just a guess.
"I wouldn't know — I just woke up from a nap, and then I heard your knocking." Lumine shook her head slowly in response to the question.
"Alright, I'll go look for him outside."
Thinking that Kaito might already be meeting with Mobius at this very moment, Miko moved to turn and go.
But before she could take a step, Lumine spoke up.
"Is it something important? Let's look together."
Seeing the look on Miko's face, Lumine got the distinct sense that this was urgent — and there was no way she could just stand there and do nothing.
"It is, actually — fairly important. I'll fill you in as we walk."
Miko had no reason to refuse. She had no desire to be misread, and there was nothing about this that needed to stay hidden from Lumine anyway.
"Alright." Lumine nodded, pulled the gate shut behind her, and fell into step beside Miko as the two of them set off.
"There's a girl in Inazuma — her name is Mobius. Well... I'll go with 'girl' for now, though the word doesn't quite fit." Miko caught herself mid-description, realizing it wasn't quite right — but decided to press on rather than get snagged on the details. "She's not so much trying to find Kaito as — no, that's not it either. Let's say: it's highly probable that she's come looking for him. She was in Inazuma up until recently, and then she suddenly left. Which is why I came to Liyue to check on things."
"Mobius? So she's also Kaito's..."
"No. She's just someone who keeps pestering him. That's all."
Miko knew exactly where Lumine was going with that and cut her off before she could get there.
"I see. Someone clinging to him like that — that's definitely something Kaito needs to know about." Lumine nodded, feeling like she had a handle on the situation now.
In her mind, it wasn't anything too alarming — just another girl who was probably in love with Kaito, harassing him for one reason or another. Hardly unheard of.
"He absolutely does — because Mobius is clearly dangerous. And what makes it worse is that she's been around for tens of thousands of years, and yet she still looks like a little girl. Even I was fooled at first." Miko could tell Lumine wasn't grasping the gravity of it, so she filled in a few more details.
"Wha — tens of... tens of thousands of years?! And she looks like a little girl?!"
Lumine was genuinely stunned.
To put it in perspective: even a few thousand years was considered ancient in this world. Tens of thousands was something else entirely — it was almost incomprehensible.
She couldn't begin to picture what kind of being lived for that long, let alone one who still appeared as a small child. And the more she thought about it, the more curious she became about what exactly had happened between Kaito and this Mobius.
"That's right. She looks even younger than Wendy."
Miko gave a small nod at Lumine's reaction.
"That small?" Lumine said, unable to stop herself — she was still thoroughly shocked. Then she pressed on: "So what's she coming to find Kaito for this time?"
"That I don't know. She was in Inazuma this whole time, and then she just... disappeared. So I came to Liyue to see what was going on."
Miko shook her head again.
She'd have loved to know the answer herself — but there was no way of finding out. Mobius hadn't said, and in all likelihood never would.
"I have a feeling... Kaito might already be with her right now." Lumine had woken up to find him gone, and it wasn't hard to put two and two together.
After all, Mobius had just arrived in Liyue — and Kaito had just happened to step out. The coincidence was hard to ignore.
That said, it was still only a guess. They'd need to find him first.
"It's possible. Either way, let's find him first — who knows where that guy wandered off to."
____
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