But first, a well-deserved break

By the time we left Yuehai Pavilion, the sky had turned dark, illuminated only by the twinkling of the distant stars and the Earth's equivalent of the moon.

And yet, the soldiers are still dutifully doing their job as they patrol the surrounding area. With their posture straight and one hand tightly gripping their spear, each and every one of them have their vigilance raised to an all time high.

On some of the makeshift tents around the terrace, I can see that some of the attendees of the ceremony are still present – both foreign and local – and are currently being asked the details of what happened during the ceremony.

Their names, where they're from, their purpose of visit, their version of the events that transpired; standard questions, really.

While the guard, who maintained his professional attitude for what must be hours by this point, continued to parrot the same set of questions to each and every new person, the attendees looked positively bored out of their mind. Some struggled to stay awake, while others looked like they're one step away from just booking it regardless of the consequences.

Those are the sights that we passed by as we made our walk back home.

In my case, after having squeezed the last of my brain juice trying to get as much profit as I possibly could, it was less of a walk as it was me stumbling forward like a drunkard as the other two supported me by the shoulders all the way.

"Should've kept my fucking mouth shut." I grumbled as I trudged forward through the stone road, the only sound accompanying our group being the clicking of heels and sandals. "Seriously, why did I even think doing that is a good idea?"

"You did a good job though." To my left, Lumine confidently said so as she squeezed my hand in reassurance. "A really good job, might I add. Just look at Xinyan, she's positively over the moon right now." As she pointed towards the rockstar's glowing visage, she moved closer towards my ear. "Honestly, I'm kind of surprised you even remember."

"I'm sure even if I didn't, she'll gladly make her case known."

"Damn right I would!"

A sudden shout from the rockstar in question interrupted our hushed conversation.

To my right, having stopped whatever animated discussion she had with Paimon, Xinyan suddenly playfully smacked my shoulder as she pulled me closer. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for the ministry to send me a letter back? Months, I tell you! Months!"

Once again, I was reminded just how passionate she is when it comes to her music. That bright flame burning constantly behind her fervent gaze whenever her fingers ran across the strings of her guitar, especially that one time she nearly burned her house down, was always an exciting thing to see.

How envious.

"Seriously, if they'd just do something about it, I wouldn't have to constantly keep my eyes out for the Milleliths, and they wouldn't have to deal with me either since everything would be legal!" Admittedly, just thinking about it brings back bad memories. Her expression would've made it obvious, but the feeling of being unintentionally choked by her arm made it all the more clear. "I swear, if it wasn't for Kun, I would be hard pressed to perform at all!"

"Well, it's a good thing that you got what you wanted then!" Paimon chimed in, floating right next to Xinyan as she balled her fist in excitement. "Paimon can't wait to see you perform live after everything blows over!"

"You bet!" With her free hand, she ruffled Paimon's hair, causing the floating fairy to giggle in response. "I'll make sure that it's extra special for you guys!"

"Just make sure you're doing it outside, yeah?" I said as I thought back to her impromptu concert. "Can't have you burning the house down. Again."

And just like that, her excitement was gone at the reminder. "Ahaha… yeah… I'll keep that in mind." She answered, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as she did so. "Thanks, by the way. For not letting the house burn down. God knows what my parents would do to me at that point."

"No more rock and roll, that's for sure."

"Ugh, don't say that. Even as a joke. " She scrunched her brows, letting out a groan as her body shuddered. "I wouldn't be myself without it."

"You'll find ways to cope. We all do, at the end of the day."

"I'd rather not."

As we idly chatted the whole way back, we finally crossed the bridge back to Chihu Rock and followed the familiar route back towards her house.

With a turn of her key, a clear click resounded towards the quiet atmosphere. And with a slight turn and a gentle push, we stepped inside the house, its warm temperature driving away the cold seeping into our bodies.

"Home sweet home."

"Finally, some peace and quiet." The two girls slowly guided me towards the landing, releasing their hold once they saw that I was able to stand properly.

"You can say that again." Lumine replied, raising both hands as she stretched her body backwards until a satisfying crack sounded from her back. "First a dragon attack, now it's a dragon killed. I really hope this doesn't become a constant thing."

"The dragon? Probably not. The constant problem popping out here and there however? That might be something that won't be stopping anytime soon."

"Hmm. Things are never that easy, huh?" She hummed in response as we made our way towards the living room before letting out a contented sigh as she collapsed into the sofa. "Speaking of dragons, you don't seem to be too bothered about this whole thing, Xinyan."

"What do you mean, leader?" Xinyan asked as she mirrored Lumine's action, patting her legs as she motioned for Paimon to come closer.

"Well, Liyue just lost its god, so I thought you'd be a lot more… I don't know… distraught? Upset?" Lumine explained, not sounding quite sure herself. In the end, she simply shrugged. "Seems like a big deal to a lot of the locals here."

In response, Xinyan let out a thoughtful hum as she pondered her question, her eyes drawn to the ceiling as she continued to play with Paimon's hair.

"It's like… whatever, I guess?" She answered, after thinking for a bit. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not making light of it or anything. It's just that… it doesn't really affect me in any way, you know? Whether Rex Lapis is dead or not. Sure, there's the fact that he made sure Liyue continued to prosper with his guidance, but I think that, even without it, Liyue would be just fine, so it's not like my circumstances would change that much."

"Hmm… so it's like he has no direct influence on you that you don't really care too much?"

"Basically."

Nodding her head, Lumine crossed her legs before leaning back towards the sofa. "I guess it's the same here as everywhere else, huh?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I was just reminded of something."

"Is that so?" Though she looked curious about it, Xinyan ended up dropping the subject as a smile appeared on her face. "Anyway, after all the stress that Yunyun went through, don't you think it's appropriate for us to celebrate his success?"

Hearing those words, I, who was on the verge of falling asleep, pretty much lost any semblance of sleepiness as I shot up straight. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?"

"Don't worry, there'll be no alcohol this time around." In response to my sudden outburst, Xinyan immediately raised her hand in a placating manner. "Just regular old food and drinks. I learned my lesson, you know?"

"Uh huh. I'll believe it when I see it."

Xinyan stood up and waved away my worries as she moved towards the kitchen along with Paimon. Meanwhile, I could just hear the sound of a disappointed whine coming from a certain blonde sitting next to me.

Turning towards the source, I was immediately greeted by Lumine, who quickly replaced her expression into a pleading one as she clasped her hand together and threw her best puppy eyes at me.

It would've worked, honestly, if not for the haunting image of a house reduced to ashes. I sure as hell don't want to be held responsible for that in any way.

"No."

Not looking discouraged in the slightest, she instead scooted over and pushed her face closer towards me, her eyes widening just a bit as it let out a drop of tear. "Please? Just a tiny sip?"

"I'm putting my foot down, Lumine."

"Pretty please?"

At this point, she's practically breathing down my neck with how desperate she made herself seem. Honestly, a part of me wanted to cave in and simply go with it. I mean, just looking at her acting all cutesy like this is really not good for my heart.

But alas, the thought of potentially wasting money for repairs triumphs over cuteness.

"No."

We stared at each other for a bit, with her still with those dangerous puppy eyes, while I simply crossed my arms and waited patiently for this little stalemate of ours to break.

"Tch, such a stick in the mud."

And it did, finally, with her letting out a huff as her eyes, looking oh so innocent previously, suddenly turned into a glare as her mouth curled into a pout. With her cheeks puffed up, Lumine turned away to the side, arms crossed as she refused to look at me.

It really does feel like I am babysitting sometimes.

"Don't give me that attitude, princess."

Another huff was all I got in response.

"Lumine?"

Silence.

"Sigh. Quite the handful, aren't you?"

Shaking my head at her antics, I manipulated the surrounding wind and wrapped it around her waist before carrying her towards me. Not expecting me to do something like this, Lumine let out a yelp as she flailed around in the air.

Once I lowered her into my lap, I reached my hand towards her head and slowly pulled out the hairpin holding her hair together and let it unfurl into its usual style. A bit messy, admittedly, but that's an easy fix.

"Come on, give me the brush."

As Lumine realized the new position she found herself in, she looked back towards me, her eyes narrowed in scrutiny as she processed my words.

Before a new staring contest could start once more, she once again crossed her arms and looked away to the side, gracing me with a brief glimpse of the same pout and huff in response.

"Pretty please?"

Glancing at me through the cracks in her eyes, she silently observed me before turning away once again.

Before I could sigh in defeat and began wracking my empty brain for something else to coax her with, I felt her body shift on my lap.

Looking up, I saw her sitting straight this time around, her head turned towards her front as I felt a small weight being deposited into my right hand.

It's the same white brush I used way back in Wangshu.

"What are you waiting for?" Lumine demanded, not even bothering to look back as she kept her gaze straight.

As I moved my gaze between the brush and her messy hair, I couldn't help but chuckle in amusement as I began grabbing a handful of her blonde hair. "Right away, my dear princess."

Running my fingers through the tangle, I carefully began to comb her hair from top to bottom just like I did back then. Slowly, I began to find my rhythm and continued brushing as I felt my body gradually start to relax.

'It's not what I expected, but….'

The comfortable silence was suddenly broken by a loud metallic clang coming from the kitchen, followed by a panicked Xinyan and an apologetic sounding Paimon.

Despite the interruption, the two of us merely glanced towards the kitchen before looking at each other. The brief eye contact was soon broken by a fit of giggle coming from Lumine before I followed suit with a laugh of my own.

'...it's not a bad way to end such a stressful night.'

___________________________________

'The stars hanging upon this fake sky are as bright as ever.'

Having finished our small and surprisingly quiet celebration, each of us went to our respective rooms before I immediately passed out the moment I changed into something more comfortable and felt the soft fabric of the bed hitting my skin.

With all that transpired, I was looking forward to a comfortable sleep.

Unfortunately, there are still things I needed to do before retiring for the night.

'Looks like it's not as empty as it was this time around, huh?'

As soon as I stepped inside this place, instead of the usual set of table and chair, I was instead greeted by the sight of a two-storey house that looks positively out of place from the old traditional houses that dotted the streets of Mondstadt, or the traditional chinese houses that has become a familiar sight whenever we went to explore Liyue Harbor.

Stepping through the front door, I was greeted with a relatively minimalistic design. Clean white walls, a few monochromatic abstract painting here and there, a large bookshelf that is filled to the brim with books, and–

"I see you've been busy while I was away."

Sitting on the reclining sofa was the mirror image of the person that I have become, leaning back comfortably as he stretched his legs while munching on popcorn as his focus was solely on the big screen in front of him.

Hearing my call, the freeloader in question turned his attention towards me, the show playing on the TV pauses as he did so. "Oh hey, you're here!" He stood up, licking the caramel sticking on his finger as he beckoned for me to come closer. "Come, come! Sit down and make yourself at home!"

"'Make yourself at home' you say…." I stepped onto the large carpet, its soft texture immediately apparent as my bare feet touched it. "Funny you say that, cause this house looks strangely like the ideal home I've been thinking about for a while now."

"And you'd be right!" Kamiyama happily admitted, not bothered by the glare I directed towards him. "I must say, you have some interesting taste in terms of decor. Everything seems so… barren? No, that's not right…."

"I think the word you're looking for is minimalistic."

"Ah, that's the one!" He exclaimed, snapping his fingers in realization. "Minimalistic. Mmhm. Gotta admit, not really my taste, but hey, you do you."

"You say that but you seem awfully comfortable just lazing around."

"I mean, what do you expect me to do? Gotta keep myself entertained somehow." He shrugged his shoulders before pointing towards the television. "And man am I glad that this thing exists! Endless entertainment crammed into one giant screen. You people really know how to indulge yourselves, huh?"

"Lots of things exist for us to escape our mundane everyday life." After making myself comfortable, I pulled the small lever on the side and raised the leg rest before stretching my body. "God knows some of us have had enough of reality."

"Hmm… speaking from experience?"

"You already knew the answer, Kamiyama."

"That, I do, my friend."

"I'm not your friend."

"Not yet." He confidently said, as he started browsing through the channels. "And this is just step one to our everlasting friendship! Nothing like a good show for us to bond over, don't you think?"

"Depends on what you have in mind."

"Aha! Not a rejection! That's a win in my book!" Suddenly, the sweet smell of caramel began to permeate throughout the living room. Having conjured caramelized popcorn out of thin air, Kamiyama happily handed some to me. "So glad for you to be willing to give me a chance!"

"Not like I have a choice." Taking a piece of the sweet snack, I threw it into my mouth, feeling the temperature to be just right before devouring a handful of them. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm stuck with you for the rest of my life. Might as well play nice and get along, right? No use in antagonizing someone that wouldn't ever leave me alone."

"Look at you, being all nice like that." Kamiyama suddenly scooted over and wrapped his hand around my shoulder. "The ever cynical you, willingly making friends after god knows how long… it almost brought a tear to my eye."

"I am going to punch you in the face if you keep this up."

"Alright, alright! Let's not get violent on our first get together, yeah?" Distancing himself from me, Kamiyama put his hands up in mock surrender, before his lips curled into a smirk. "Unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing?"

"Just play something you damn know-it-all."

"As you wish!"

While he was busy browsing through a long list of shows, I sat back and once again observed the interior of the room.

The familiarity of such modern design honestly made me miss the old world. Sure, I've found some semblance of footing in this fantastical world, but I don't think it would ever erase this feeling of homesickness that pops up every once in a while.

Honestly, I'm tempted to simply lock myself away again. Ways away from the problems of my new reality, surrounding myself with the things I like, doing the things I love, bask in the comfort that comes with being one of the few that exists in this isolated place.

'Such a dangerous temptation.'

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, that would never happen. Not only because I couldn't bring myself to leave Lumine alone, but I'm pretty sure that Kamiyama would not allow me to do such a thing. He needs me for something, and he would never let his means of interacting with the outside world rot inside the cages of his own mind.

"And there we go!"

Thankfully, before my mind could go to the negatives again, Kamiyama's cheery voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"I thought it's best if we start with the show that started your journey into the deep rabbit hole you call 'anime.'"

There, plastered on the screen, is a familiar duo of a girl and a boy, each wearing white and black clothes respectively as they hold out a sword on their hand. Behind them, is the giant black castle, floating amongst the clouds.

"Really? 'Sword Art Online?'"

"What? You love this show!"

"I like it, but even I know how bad it is at times."

"And that makes it all the better! You can shit on it, and I can listen in on you making fun of it. A win-win!" Without delay, he immediately selected the first episode and hit play. "Besides, I do find it interesting. A device that makes it so you could live in a virtual reality… sounds awfully close to what the Akasha Terminal is capable of."

'That's a confirmation if I've ever heard of one. Thank you for that, Kamiyama.'

"If you put it that way, I guess I can understand why you'd want to watch it. Not sure if they ever explain much of how it works though."

"That's fine. Just drawing my own comparison is enough." He said, waving away my explanation.

"Whatever, I guess." In the end, since he's quite insistent on it, I'm not really inclined to discourage him. "Just don't say I didn't warn you. It gets particularly bad on the second arc."

"Why, what happened?"

Looking at his clueless expression, I was actually quite surprised. It seems that, despite knowing a lot of things, he ended up skimming through the less important part. Not surprising, I suppose. Who would be bored enough to want to experience twenty something years worth of memory in its entirety?

'Oh, I am so going to enjoy this.'

"I'm not spoiling anything." I couldn't help but chuckle. "If I have to experience the shitshow that is Fairy Dance, then so do you."

"Well that's not ominous at all." Kamiyama briefly looked unsure, but ultimately, he shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, I'm sure it's not as bad as you remember it to be. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Your funeral."

As the show began, and the screen began to pan towards the boy that would end up becoming the template for generic black-haired harem isekai protagonist, Kamiyama suddenly spoke up.

"By the way, what's the reason for your visit this time?"

Tearing my gaze away from the nostalgia in front of me, I calmly responded. "What? Can't I just visit every once in a while? I distinctly remember you're the one that wanted me to do so."

"And I very much appreciate it." He replied with an equal tone. "But let's be honest, you wouldn't be here if you didn't really need to. Besides, it's not the day for our usual meeting yet, so I doubt this is a simple welfare check."

The screen that was showing the typical Japanese scenery suddenly changed as a multitude of colors flooded the screen. The previously mundane household has suddenly turned into one filled with large structures with roads paved with cobblestone.

"I need your help with something."

"See? It's not that hard to simply be honest, Yuu." Kamiyama chuckled as his gaze remained glued to the screen, showing the scenery of the first floor within the castle Aincrad. "But I did say that I wouldn't do much that would affect the outside world, right? Surely you haven't forgotten about that?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing too big. I just wanted to ask you to do something simple."

"Well if it's nothing major, then go ahead. Ask away. As long as it's within my ability, I'll do my best to lend a hand."

"Thanks."

The screen now shows a pair of adventurers, in which a man was asking for a girl to party up with him. If I remember correctly, this is the one character where she's not actually a girl, but a man posing as one. Ah, the memories.

"You said that my body was made to be as close to a human as possible, right?"

"Mmhm."

"But despite that, I am still, at the base of it, a puppet, right?"

"You got it."

"I see."

The more he answered my questions, the more the somewhat shoddy plan I came up with did not seem as shoddy as I thought it'd be. I still hope I don't have to resort to it because of how much of a pain in the ass it could potentially be, but really, when has the world ever graced me with that kind of convenience?

"Then… is it possible for you to disable my pain receptors?"

Suddenly, Kamiyama looked towards me, his brows scrunched as he did so. Slowly, however, realization began to dawn as his eyes began to grow wide.

"Aha. So that's what you're going for, huh? Not bad, not bad." He once again closed the distance between us before he began patting my shoulders, laughing while he did so. "Something simple and to the point. I like it."

"Just answer the question, Kamiyama."

"Of course I could. It'll take some time, and it's not something that can be permanently turned off, but it could be done."

"I see."

With the reason for my visit out of the way, I finally let myself relax as I enjoyed our movie night, chewing caramel popcorn while drowning in the nostalgia of the things I could no longer enjoy if not for his existence.

"Thanks, Kamiyama."

In response, Kamiyama let out one final amused laugh, before he turned the volume of the television up.

"That's what friends are for, Yuu."