Kiana isn't here yet...
She didn't really stand me up, did she...
Standing outside, Lumine glanced at the door from time to time, unable to shake the worry that Kiana wouldn't show up. At all.
Although Kiana had told her to wait outside for a moment, her strange behavior earlier and the topic they needed to discuss made Lumine worry that Kiana was just putting her off and didn't actually want to talk.
Maybe I should go in and see what's happening...
Tap, tap, tap—
She's coming...
Just as Lumine was thinking about whether to go inside and check, a set of footsteps suddenly echoed from the doorway, causing her to immediately focus.
Huh?
Kiana...
changed her clothes...
So that's what she was doing...
Watching Kiana, now in a different outfit, walk towards her, Lumine finally understood why Kiana had asked her to wait.
But...
Why did Kiana change her clothes?
Did she take a shower?
No...
A shower couldn't be that fast...
In the time it took for Kiana to walk over, Lumine's mind raced with thoughts. But she knew this wasn't the time to get hung up on that.
"Sorry for the wait. What did you need to see me about?"
Stopping in front of Lumine, Kiana got straight to the point, asking why Lumine wanted to talk to her.
Honestly, Kiana had initially thought Lumine was going to bring up the matter they had discussed during the day.
But then she suddenly remembered that she was Kiana, not Wendy, which she found very strange.
Although both Wendy and Kiana were her, from Lumine's perspective, that wasn't the case at all.
Wendy was Wendy, and Kiana was Kiana; they were two different people. Even so, they shared one common identity: they were both Kaito's girlfriends.
Therefore, Kiana guessed that whatever Lumine wanted to say would be related to this.
"Kiana." Lumine glanced at the doorway, then continued, "The person my brother met before... that was you, wasn't it?"
After speaking, Lumine stared intently at Kiana, as if trying to decipher every flicker of emotion on her face.
"Your brother?"
Kiana was a little surprised that Lumine would bring this up, but she didn't show it, merely feigning a bit of confusion in her question.
After all, from Lumine's point of view, Kiana shouldn't have ever met Aether. Of course, Lumine was now suspecting that she was the Sustainer Aether had seen before.
It seems my handling of it last time was too crude...
While waiting for Lumine to speak again, Kiana couldn't help but lament that her previous impersonation of the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles had been too crude, since even Lumine had seen through it.
Wait...
Why is she only bringing this up now?
Did Aether tell her to do this?
"Kiana, I know you don't like me getting close to Kaito, which is why you pretended to be that unknown god and told my brother to warn me to be careful of 'Kai,' all so that I would..."
"Wait, wait, what are you talking about? When did I ever think that?"
Kiana had just been wondering why Lumine chose this moment to bring up what happened in Mondstadt, but Lumine's next words made her lose her composure, and she quickly cut her off.
This is bad.
Could it be that my attempts to differentiate my personality from Wendy's have caused Lumine to misunderstand?
Suddenly thinking of this, Kiana was lost in thought.
Because in reality, Wendy and Kiana were both just Kaito, so to prevent the three of them from seeming like the same person, each one had a different personality in their daily interactions.
Kiana, for example, was portrayed as someone who didn't like others getting close to Kaito. But in reality, this was just to distinguish herself from Wendy; otherwise, it would look strange if their personalities were the same.
But...
I've rarely acted that way...
And my interactions with Lumine have always been normal...
Sometimes I even treated her like one of Kaito's girlfriends...
Thinking it over, Kiana genuinely couldn't figure out when she had given Lumine that impression.
"Well... anyway... I just feel like you... you're like that..."
As she spoke, Lumine herself seemed to lose confidence, since what she had just said was really just her own interpretation.
In fact, on several occasions, Kiana had seemed to treat her as one of their own—that is, as one of Kaito's girlfriends.
But at the same time, Lumine also felt that Kiana didn't seem to like her getting close to Kaito, which left her utterly confused about the situation.
So, using the incident with the unknown god that Aether had seen, she decided to confront Kiana properly and see how she would react.
This Lumine...
Is she suspecting that I'm the Sustainer Aether saw...
or does she think I don't want her getting close to Kaito?
Which one is she more focused on?
Kiana genuinely couldn't figure out what Lumine was thinking right now.
But it was obvious that the previous incident had aroused Lumine's suspicions, so going forward, she would definitely have to change her plans.
But before that, she had to clear up Lumine's wild thoughts.
"I don't think that way, so don't let your imagination run wild. Besides, I haven't done anything to you, have I? If I really thought that way, then how would you explain Wendy? And how would you explain the others you haven't even met yet?"
After letting out a helpless sigh, Kiana fired off a series of counter-questions at Lumine.
Since it was highly likely that more 'splits' would occur in the future, Kiana was hinting that Kaito had other girlfriends besides just Wendy and herself.
Wendy...
Wait...
Others I haven't met yet?
Just how many girls does that Kaito guy know???_DELETED_!_DELETED_?_DELETED_!_DELETED_!_DELETED_?_DELETED_!_DELETED_?_DELETED_!_DELETED_!
As Lumine processed Kiana's words, she suddenly realized that Kiana was implying that Kaito had other girlfriends, and her attention immediately shifted.
Although she had suspected as much after Kiana's appearance, a suspicion was just a suspicion. As long as it wasn't confirmed, she could pretend it wasn't true.
But now, coming from Kiana's own mouth, her earlier suspicion had been validated.
"Anyway, if you like Kaito, you should just tell him. I won't mind, and if you're too shy, I can even help."
Looking at Lumine, who was lost in thought, Kiana spoke again.
Wait...
The topic seems to have gone off track...
After speaking, Kiana realized that both her and Lumine's focus was no longer on whether she was the Sustainer that Aether had seen.
But regardless, the plan would indeed have to be changed.
Of course, right now, she had to deal with Lumine's situation first.
_____
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