"Why are you still here so late? Hurry back to your room."
Late at night, Durandal, hugging a pillow, looked at the uninvited Venti and said.
"Really? Do you really want me to leave, Durandal? If you truly wish it, I'll go right now."
Facing Durandal's request, Venti made no move, still sitting in her original spot, smiling at her.
Do you really want me to go? If you truly think so, then I'll leave now, without a moment's hesitation.
She felt like she had seen this scene somewhere before. Wasn't this what Venti had said when she first made her move?
At the time, she had said things like, "If you hate me, I'll leave now," but when Durandal actually said she hated her, Venti not only didn't leave but took further action.
Of course, she didn't really want Venti to leave. It was just her personality that made her blurt out those words at the time. She should be telling her to leave now, just like then, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
After a long period of back-and-forth, even Venti wondered why Durandal had been silent for so long. Durandal buried her face in the pillow, not wanting Venti to see her current state, nor wanting to see Venti's face, which only made her mood more chaotic.
"How cute, Durandal."
Looking at Durandal's unprecedentedly cute behavior, Venti's smile grew even gentler.
Before, her tsundere personality would have made her force herself to tell her to leave, but now she couldn't do that.
Why? Probably because the thought of not wanting her to leave had surpassed her tsundere personality, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, so she chose this method of hiding her face, not wanting her to see her "embarrassed" look.
"What's wrong, Durandal? Suddenly hiding your face, we can't continue our conversation like this, you know."
As she spoke, Venti closed the distance between herself and Durandal, reaching out to try and remove Durandal's pillow. She pushed gently, but failed.
"Don't... don't take it off."
Because her face was buried in the pillow, Durandal's voice was muffled.
"Don't look at me now, Venti. Let me calm down, give me time to calm down."
"But... I want to see what Durandal looks like now. Is that request too much?"
She wanted to see more of Durandal's cute expressions. The expression Durandal was hiding behind the pillow must be absolutely adorable. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; how could Venti miss it?
Although there was a certain chance it might make Durandal angry, Venti enjoyed doing such bold things. She reached out again and grabbed one side of the pillow.
This time Durandal didn't resist, she didn't even exert any force. Venti easily removed the pillow and, as she wished, saw Durandal's expression... a very cute expression.
"Don't... don't look at me. I must look strange now."
She must look so embarrassed now, her expression must be terrible, and Venti would definitely dislike her.
She tried hard to cover her face with her hands, but how could her small hands hide it? Besides, her action of covering her face out of shyness was also quite adorable, making Venti feel as if her heart had been struck by an arrow.
"No, not at all strange, Durandal. On the contrary, you are very cute right now, so much so that I'm a little captivated."
Venti gently held Durandal's hands, not with force, but by guiding her to slowly lower her hands.
Maintaining the hand-holding posture, Venti smiled at Durandal, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and said, "Truly... no matter what, you're always so cute. Why didn't I notice it before?"
Venti suddenly felt a bit of regret, wanting to run back in time and question her past self, asking why she hadn't discovered Durandal's cuteness.
If she had discovered Durandal's cuteness earlier, she wouldn't have had to wait until now to be with her, and they would have had more time together.
Of course, this was just a thought. At that time, Durandal hadn't opened her heart. Let alone feelings, even getting close to her was quite difficult. If it weren't for the appearance of Klee and Lumine, Venti wouldn't have been able to turn years of affection into friendship.
As she thought, Venti slowly leaned closer to Durandal, her cherry lips touching Durandal's eyes, kissing her tear ducts, wiping away her tears.
"When you're with me, you don't need to think about these things. In my eyes, Durandal is cute no matter what, and there's absolutely no such thing as'strange.'"
"...You, you only say such sweet things."
Durandal was a bit overwhelmed by Venti's series of moves. She wanted to resist, but the touch on her hands and the constant sensations made it impossible for her to act as she normally would.
Here it came again, this useless state of hers. Venti had also grasped this strange state of hers, which was why she could, and dared, to do strange things and say strange words to her.
When did this lazy Anemo God become so cunning?
Durandal frantically broke free from Venti's hand, pulled something random from her storage space, and shoved it onto Venti's face, wanting to curb her arrogant demeanor.
Venti was thrown backward by the action. She picked up the fluffy object and examined it carefully.
"This... isn't this the gift I gave you during the Lantern Rite Festival?"
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