Sometimes life changes for no reason. The interesting thing is whether these changes are good or bad.
Does waking up in an unknown world with many people who develop a crush on you count as a nice thing?
I hate that moment when I have the concept and the whole dialogues for multiple chapters ready in my head, am excited to write that shít, only to realize that I am story wise not there. T.T
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"Such a good boy. Yes, you're such a good boy~"
"...(Y/N)? Are you... okay?"
"Look at this good little angel." You show Aether Taroumaru who clearly enjoys being pet by you.
"You can't tell me that you can resist this face."
"..." In reality Aether finds another certain face irresistible but keeps that opinion to himself.
"If you want to you can take Taroumaru to our room. He hasn't met someone so keen on petting him for quite some time now. Just remember not to feed him anything we eat.", Thoma says.
"Got it!"
Inside the more private room you all sit down at the table to discuss your next steps. Taroumaru and Rosa sit in your lap and cuddle with each other.
"So, what is you plan Miss Kamisato?", Aether asks.
"Ayaka is fine. Well... A direct offense is rather counterproductive so we have to help at least where it is possible. A method to prevent your Vision to be taken away is to hand over a fake one instead. There was one man who produced such counterfeits but the Tennryou Commission got wind of that and arrested him. It would be a great help if you would get him out oft prison. We as a part of the Yashiro Commission aren't able to do this ourselves due to a possible uproar if we were caught."
"You want us to break into a... prison?!" Not even Paimon seems to be convinced of the idea.
Ayaka shakes her head lightly. "Of course not alone. I would recommend asking for a girl called Yoimiya at Naganohara Fireworks. I am certain that she is willing to help."
"...Alright." Your friend stands up to leave. You want to follow him but he stops you. "I don't think that it is wise for you to come with me. If we get caught and you end up in prison too... I don't even want to imagine that."
"But we won't get caught - I am certain of it. And besides do you remember what happened the last time we followed that logic?"
An existential crisis spreads through Aether's body. He stays silent and frozen in place. Looking at Thoma and Ayaka, Aether calculates the risks of leaving you with those two. "...If I were to leave (Y/N) with you, would you be able to guarantee me that they are still safe and sound once I return?"
"Yes, why shouldn't they?"
"Good. If not, I will find a way to call you to account for that. Come Paimon. Until later." Aether leaves with the emergency food.
Thoma seems to be somewhat hurt and confused. "Ouch, what was that?"
"A deep distrust towards others he got during our stay in Liyue. Even if he overreacts a bit, I can kinda understand him."
"...Since he threatened us to keep you safe and sound, is it right to assume that that wasn't the case back then?"
"Yep. And another point would be the fact that I occasionally ended up in places where it was hard to find me to begin with. Don't question it all too much. Everyone has talents. Mine just happened to be one that... affects me negatively...", you sigh.
"Would doing something more fun and relaxing lighten up your mood?"
"If you don't have any more pressing matters to attend then yes, it would be nice..."
Thoma smiles. "Alright then, what do you want to do?"
"I guess I didn't get the chance to explore the city yet, so maybe we could just walk around, see some nice places and... ehh..." You think intensely about what Thoma would probably like to do. "...pet some cats?"
"Sure! Put Taroumaru back on his counter and we can go. Miss Ayaka, do you prefer to stay here and wait for the Traveler's return or would you like to come with us?"
"I think to prevent a misunderstanding I should stay here. Losing the Traveler's trust wouldn't be beneficial to our situation. And I don't want to ruin the time that was meant to be relaxing for you with my presence. Most people keep their distance from me out of respect but some... do the exact opposite." Ayaka's voice is unchanged in comparison to before but her expression tells you that deep down in her heart she would like to go too.
"Why do I suddenly feel guilty even though I didn't do anything..?" You clear your throat. "I am sure that you wouldn't ruin anything but the first part might be true. Maybe we can hang out later then? During the late evening hours or something - when there are less people on the streets."
Ayaka's eyes lit up. "I am looking forward to it!"
"...The last time I promised something like this... No (Y/N), stop that thought. What are the odds that things will be the exact same way here? Extremely low, right? ...Right?"
Together with Thoma and Rosa you leave the teahouse. Despite the fact that Rosa was really sad about leaving its cuddle partner, it immediately starts to chase after falling sakura petals. It appears that after its long nap the Seelie is fully recharged again.
"There are so many places we could visit~"
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