"No wonder you ducked back inside so fast — I thought you were being shy."
Replaying the image of Lumine suddenly poking her head out and then retreating just as quickly, Kaito couldn't help teasing her about it.
He had to admit — she'd looked pretty cute in that moment. Popping her head out, then pulling it right back in, like someone who wanted a peek but didn't want to get caught.
"Shy? How could I possibly be shy? We've known each other for so long." Lumine blinked, thrown off — she hadn't expected Kaito to interpret what she'd just done as shyness.
After all they'd been through together, getting flustered over a simple glance seemed a little hard to believe.
"Knowing someone a long time doesn't mean you stop getting shy around them."
After hearing what Lumine said, Kaito offered his own take on the matter — then picked up his chopsticks and tried the stir-fried greens Lumine had just finished cooking.
When it came to vegetables of all kinds, Kaito was actually quite fond of them.
That said, meat was naturally a must as well — he was no vegetarian.
"Mmm, yeah, not bad at all." After trying the greens, Kaito nodded repeatedly in approval.
He had to hand it to her — Lumine's stir-fried vegetables were genuinely good.
"Oh good, I was worried I'd cooked them too long." Hearing Kaito say it was good, Lumine breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
If it had come out badly, she would've had no choice but to go back out and buy more ingredients and start again.
Because if it tasted terrible, you certainly couldn't just force it down — that simply wouldn't do.
"Hey, you two — and neither of you thought to let me have a taste?"
At that moment, Miko walked in, carrying the vegetables she'd finished washing.
"Ah… well, Kaito came in first, so I had him try it." Lumine looked at Miko a little awkwardly as she explained.
Honestly, she hadn't thought much of it — Kaito had walked in right as she finished cooking, so she'd just had him try it on the spot. If Miko had been there too, she would have absolutely let her taste it as well.
"I think it's really good — Miko, come try some." As he said it, Kaito held his chopsticks out toward Miko.
But before she could take them, something seemed to occur to him and he pulled his hand back, adding, "Oh — wait, I already used these. Let me get you a—"
"I don't mind."
Before Kaito could even finish the sentence, Miko reached out and plucked the chopsticks right out of his hand.
What she really wanted to say was that she didn't even mind him in general — so she certainly wasn't going to fuss over a pair of chopsticks he'd used. But with Lumine standing right there beside them, she thought better of it. No need to make things awkward for everyone.
Speaking of which…
Had Lumine ever…?
The thought surfaced suddenly, and Miko genuinely wanted to ask. Because if both of them had, then there'd be nothing awkward about it at all.
But now wasn't the time to bring up something like that. She'd save it for later — next time Kaito wasn't around.
After that, Miko tried the stir-fried greens Lumine had cooked.
"Mmm, yeah, not bad at all."
Having tasted them herself, Miko agreed — they were good. The thing was, the words she used were exactly the same ones Kaito had said moments before.
"Are you copying what I just said? Miko, were you eavesdropping on us out there?" Not expecting Miko to say the exact same thing he'd said, Kaito threw out the accusation with an amused grin.
He knew perfectly well she hadn't been eavesdropping — but the coincidence of them saying the exact same thing was kind of funny.
"Eavesdropping? When did I eavesdrop?"
The moment Kaito accused her of eavesdropping, Miko instantly put on a baffled expression.
She'd just walked in normally — there was no eavesdropping of any kind involved.
"Kaito's just joking, Miko — and besides, what you said just now is exactly what Kaito said too. What a coincidence." Lumine quickly chimed in with an explanation.
Whatever the case, she had no desire to watch Miko and Kaito actually get into an argument — even if she wasn't entirely sure whether they actually would over something like this.
Either way, she still wanted to make sure everyone knew what she knew.
"What are the odds?"
Hearing Lumine's explanation, Miko found herself genuinely surprised by the coincidence.
She'd said what she said purely based on how it tasted — there was nothing deliberate behind it whatsoever.
"Looks like we're on the same wavelength, Miko." Kaito laughed a little and said it with a smile.
"That we are."
Miko nodded along readily at that.
"Miko, is that everything washed? I'll go and—"
"Hand it over to me. You've already shown off your cooking — it's definitely my turn next." Knowing exactly what Lumine was about to say, Miko cut in before she could finish.
Lumine's stir-fried greens had come out this well — there was no way Miko was going to let herself fall behind.
"Alright."
Hearing that, Lumine stepped aside and let her take over.
"You two, head out for now — once I get going in here, the smoke and splattering oil won't be pleasant." As she prepared to show off her own culinary skills, Miko shooed Lumine and Kaito out of the kitchen.
After all, once she really got into it, the kitchen would be full of smoke and steam — not exactly comfortable conditions to be standing around in.
"Alright then, Miko — good luck!"
Since Miko had said as much, Kaito didn't linger.
"Oh, cheering me on now, are we? You're making it sound like I'm about to go do something incredibly difficult." Miko hadn't expected Kaito to actually cheer her on before leaving, and it gave her the odd sensation of being sent off on some great undertaking.
"Well, cheering you on for the cooking, of course — what other way is there to cook?" Kaito said from the doorway, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Miko: "..."
"Right, I'm cooking now." Deciding it was better to just get on with it, Miko drew a line under the conversation with Kaito.
After that, Kaito and Lumine left the kitchen.
"Come to think of it, it's strange that Wendy hasn't come by — and the same goes for Kiana and Acheron."
Out in the open air, Lumine realized she hadn't seen Wendy or the others in several days now.
And given that none of them were exactly ordinary people, Lumine found herself wondering why they hadn't made their way to Liyue.
After all, travelling from Inazuma to Liyue should have been trivial for people like them. Even if the others weren't particularly fast, Wendy's speed was something else entirely — she could easily have brought them along.
Wait…
Could it be a numbers problem?
It suddenly occurred to her that if Wendy and the others all came at once, there simply wouldn't be enough room here for everyone.
Well — they could always squeeze a few people into one room, though it would be a bit cramped.
"Them, huh." Not expecting Lumine to bring it up out of nowhere, Kaito found himself quickly thinking through how best to answer.
He understood — Lumine was curious about why Acheron and the others hadn't come by to check in on what he was doing here. Wendy in particular, given how fast she could move.
"It's because this is how it's been before — sometimes I head off somewhere on my own to handle things."
After thinking it over for a moment, Kaito gave his answer.
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Samsara Game: Starting with Shirogane Kei
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!