Haters (ChiLumi) (Genshin)

Chapter 9: Her Death

It was on a Friday morning three days after Lulu's death that I came to know of Ayaka's death. She and her entire family had been murdered by the murderer who left notes of 'snow' on the people they killed. The same murderer who'd killed Lulu. Childe had not spoken to us for days, he'd remained locked in his room, so we couldn't exactly ask him either. In fact, I didn't want to ask him. I had no right. Kazuha had been with Thoma at the station for hours, trying to help out the police. Thoma and his family had inherited Ayaka's family's property and wealth, and all of them had expressed their grief at the funeral of the Kamisato family.

It could have been them, but the police had found no evidence. In fact, their finger prints didn't even match those of Ayaka's family members'. It could have been an employed mercenary, so investigation was still being carried out. The servants had all been on strike that day, so there were no witnesses. It was horrible. I just hoped that they could somehow catch the culprit.

Thoma and his family members had been put under house arrest, and were being carefully questioned. Kazuha had loyally gone to Thoma's place to stay, to study the legal procedures and help in the Kamisato family's murder investigation as he was a student of law, kept for intern reasons (he'd requested to help out, and the police inspector had agreed after much persuasion). Leaving me and Childe awkwardly alone in the house.

I picked up his lunch from the table and went upstairs. I knocked on his door. No reply. No door opened. I sighed and spoke his name.

"Childe?" No reply. But after a short while, he spoke.

"You never waited for me, huh." he sounded like he'd been crying.

"I'm sorry." was all the apology I could word. He laughed bitterly, a sound I wished I'd never hear again as it was so painfully heart wrenching.

"You're sorry, huh? You're sorry? You've never cared about others. You just do things your way and end it. And now, ever since you got together with that white haired f*cker you've even lost the ability to regret. You threw me away like trash. You just moved on without thinking. If only-" he didn't speak any more.

That hurt. It was all so true that it hurt. Kazuha was a great person, but I wasn't. But this wasn't his fault. It was all due to my own arrogance. I apologized again, but no reply came from the other end. I placed his food down, and turned to leave. I glanced at the door one last time before I left, reality stinging my heart like poison. When would Kazuha come back? I needed him more than anything now. I should've asked him to stay. It would have been selfish, but I needed him.
Desperately, I sent a text to him.

Kazuha? I need you, can we talk?

It was shown as read, and a small reply came.

Call.

My heart thumped with joy as I pressed the 'call' button. He immediately picked up.

"What happened?" his voice was weary, and I felt guilty for calling him out of the blue in the middle of his work.

"How long have you been working?" I asked. Maybe not too much. Maybe he was just chilling since he was off from college these days.

"Since last night. I slept for a bit, I don't remember how long, maybe half an hour? New lines to check keep coming up." he spoke tiredly, as if he was going to collapse. Okay, I was definitely guilty now. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Nothing special . . . just . . feeling a bit down." I chuckled lightly.

"Don't feel too down. You don't need to regret your decisions. I know Childe said something, but I don't regret us. And if you're feeling guilty, just try to make up with him, I'll be back in a few days too, hopefully, and we'll sort it out together. Okay?" he said gently.

"Okay. Thanks. Take care. Try not to overwork yourself. Love you." I spoke.

"I won't. Take care. Love you too." he cut the phone call. Talking to him had made me feel a bit better. Hopefully, I'd be able to sort it out with Childe.