Wait!
If I let Wendy, Acheron, or Kiana ask...
Wouldn't that be exactly the same as before?
Recalling what had happened previously, Lumine immediately realized this.
After all, Wendy and Acheron had already treated her as Kaito's girlfriend before, yet right now, the two of them were still in an awkward situation where nothing was clearly defined.
Forget it.
I'll just ask Miko later first...
Deciding not to think about it anymore for now, Lumine planned to ask Miko later.
And after asking Miko, she also intended to ask Acheron and Kiana. As for Wendy, she wouldn't ask her; their personalities were too different.
No!
I should still say something!
Feeling that she really had to seize this opportunity to speak up, Lumine said, "If there's anything, just ask me directly. You don't necessarily have to ask Acheron or Kiana... We've been together... for quite a long time too, right?"
When saying that last part, Lumine felt a bit strange and couldn't help but pause for a moment.
However, she ultimately finished saying those words and didn't change what she wanted to say at the last minute.
Anyway, the meaning of her words was pretty vague, so she didn't need to worry about any awkwardness.
"No problem."
Not expecting Lumine to say something like that, Kaito nodded to indicate it was fine.
Although on the surface he seemed to have a bunch of girlfriends, each very outstanding, in reality, only he himself knew what the situation was.
So regarding girls' minds, he didn't understand them; if he understood anything, he only understood the thoughts of his other selves.
"Yeah, yeah, we've been together for a long time," Paimon chimed in from the side.
Because from Mondstadt back then to Inazuma now, quite some time had passed; no matter how one looked at it, it counted as a long time.
Then, feeling Wendy should think the same, Paimon continued, "Don't you agree? Wendy, out of all of Kaito's girlfriends, you were the first one we met, and at the start, we didn't even know you were Kaito's girlfriend."
This Paimon...
Why ask Wendy...
But she shouldn't mind, right?
Not expecting Paimon to actually ask Wendy this question, Lumine felt a bit like hitting someone.
Any other question would have been fine, but Paimon just had to ask this one, making it look like she was joining Paimon in provoking Wendy.
Although it was highly probable that the time since she met Kaito in Mondstadt until now was definitely not as long as the time Wendy and Kaito had been together, Paimon asking like that could still easily cause some misunderstandings.
Even so, she couldn't really stop Paimon, since the words were already out.
This guy...
Next time I definitely won't let her eat so much...
Anyway, eating only causes me trouble...
Sighing helplessly, Lumine thought this silently.
Regardless, she still needed to get along well with Wendy, Acheron, and the others.
After all, in the time to come...
"Yes, we've traveled through three nations together by now. Though, you guys often stay inside the inn and don't come out to do anything," Wendy answered just as Lumine was thinking about things.
Eh?
She actually didn't think that way?
Lumine, who was deep in thought, was surprised after hearing Wendy's words. She hadn't expected that Wendy wouldn't misunderstand.
Even though neither she nor Paimon meant it that way, it was really easy for people to misunderstand.
"Eh... well... maybe it's because of laziness..."
Confused internally or not, Lumine still answered Wendy quickly.
No matter what, since the other party didn't misunderstand her, she naturally had to answer their question quickly.
But because she was a bit surprised just now, her answer to this question wasn't very good.
It could only be said that laziness was just one aspect, not the whole reason.
Of course, she was also trying to find a solution now.
"It seems you've been led astray by Paimon, haven't you?" Regarding Lumine's answer, Wendy looked at Paimon and said this.
"Huh? How is that possible!"
Hearing Wendy say she led Lumine astray, Paimon hurriedly retorted.
Although she was lazy, true, she hadn't corrupted Lumine, and she couldn't even if she wanted to.
After all, usually, she was the one being called lazy by Lumine quite often.
"Eh? Actually, it has nothing to do with Paimon."
Smiling somewhat awkwardly, Lumine indicated it wasn't Paimon's fault.
But if she had to state the real reason, she wouldn't know how to say it properly.
Right...
Kaito, you guy, say something...
Suddenly realizing that Kaito had been silent by the side the whole time, Lumine looked at him with some resentment.
Regardless, he ought to say something.
"Because in the beginning, Lumine felt we were doing something important, so she didn't get involved."
Just as Lumine was feeling dissatisfied about Kaito's silence, Kaito spoke up.
This guy finally decided to speak...
But...
Is that what I thought?
Regarding what Kaito said about her, Lumine couldn't help but think this in her heart.
But it didn't matter. If Kaito said so, then so be it; she wouldn't say much more.
"So that's how it is. Indeed, it's hard to get involved in things when bringing Paimon along."
After listening to Kaito, Wendy seemed to come to a sudden realization, while Paimon stomped her feet—or rather, stomped the air—at the side.
"What?! Am I that useless?"
Paimon knew she was useless, but she felt the 'uselessness' Wendy described was clearly even more 'useless' than she herself admitted, and that, she could not accept.
No matter what, she wasn't that useless.
"Alright, Paimon, save some energy for meeting the Raiden Shogun later. Don't go getting so scared you fall right out of the air when the time comes."
Seeing Paimon like this, Kaito said this with a bit of teasing.
He knew Paimon was definitely very afraid of the Raiden Shogun; she certainly wouldn't refute that point.
"Raiden Shogun... Uh..."
Just as Kaito thought, upon hearing 'Raiden Shogun', Paimon immediately cowered and didn't continue to refute.
She had no choice; if she refuted further, she'd give herself away.
After all, whether she was useless or not was up for debate, but the Raiden Shogun they were about to meet was very real, and on this, she couldn't say much more.
"As expected, the moment the Raiden Shogun is mentioned, you get scared witless, Paimon."
Seeing Paimon like this, Lumine was in a good mood.
Paimon had almost pitted her just now, but now she had quickly regained the upper hand.
Although she wasn't the one who did it, it didn't matter; as long as she could see Paimon like this, it was fine.
"Fine, I'm useless, okay? You guys have to help me later. Since I'm so useless."
Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Paimon admitted she was useless at light speed.
No choice; in this situation, she'd better bow her head.
____
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