"Ei… why hasn't Su Ran returned yet?"
Seeing the way Raiden Ei kept glancing toward the entrance with growing anxiety, Raiden Makoto finally pieced together the reason behind her unease.
"He said the dreamscape still needed adjustments… that he needed time to improve it. He told me to come back first."
Ei repeated Su Ran's words almost mechanically.
"Then why are you panicking like the sky's falling?"
"…"
Makoto's gentle, amused smile only made Ei stiffen even more.
She lowered her head like a child caught misbehaving.
"You're afraid he'll run away?" Makoto guessed.
Ei nodded.
Because he had been gone too long.
Because this dream, this fragile "eternity," this borrowed reunion… all of it was balanced upon Su Ran's whim.
If he truly left—
if he left her—
finding him again in all of Teyvat, let alone beyond Teyvat, would be nearly impossible.
"You've never cared about any man like this before," Makoto said softly.
To her, the Ei of the past was like a child— obedient, stubborn, clinging to the shadow of eternity with no opinions of her own.
But now?
Now Ei fussed, feared, longed, worried.
She had truly changed.
Though honestly… Makoto thought dryly, Ei isn't looking for a partner. She's looking for a dad figure.
But she tactfully kept that thought to herself.
"You know why," Ei murmured.
"If not for this fragile… foam-like eternity… I would never rely on him so much."
"I understand. But you don't need to be this anxious, right? Kamisato Ayaka is still here. And you're here too."
Makoto's tone was teasing, almost sour.
She remembered all too well how doting Su Ran had been toward that Ayaka.
Even she felt jealous at one point.
"Those reassurances only work if he's actually here," Ei muttered.
And he wasn't.
And in Liyue, that Qixing woman was managing his finances.
Ei wasn't stupid.
Of course she overthought.
"Then treat every day as if it's the last. Be happy, be satisfied. If the dream breaks, go find him again. I'm just a dreamself anyway. In the next dream, I'll still exist."
That was meant to comfort— but it had the opposite effect.
"Absolutely not."
Ei grabbed Makoto in a tight hug.
"Even if there's a next dream— it won't be you. Makoto, I only want this you."
It didn't matter what Su Ran said about time machines or alternate timelines.
What mattered was—
This Makoto was real to her.
And she wouldn't let her disappear.
"Fruit's here~!"
Yae Miko strolled in with a fruit platter— only to find the twin sisters embracing emotionally.
"…Did I miss something?"
She'd only stepped out for ten seconds.
How did things become this dramatic?
"Ei, don't tell me you were crying and throwing a tantrum again?"
Ei shot her a murderous glare.
Ever since Makoto returned, this fox had become even more annoying.
She wanted Yae Miko gone— but also… not gone.
It was complicated.
"If you keep teasing her, she really will cry," Makoto giggled.
Ei frowned.
The two of them were ganging up on her.
Again.
"Tell me, Yae Miko," Ei said coolly, picking a fruit and popping it into her mouth.
"Do you think Su Ran would be interested… in a fox-fur coat?"
Yae Miko froze.
"…I feel like… he absolutely wouldn't."
That was not an answer— that was pure, primal survival instinct.
"Are you him? How would you know what he likes?" Ei said coldly.
Yae Miko immediately countered:
"And you're not him either. So how would you know?"
A pink fox-fur coat?
Would any man even wear that?
Especially if the fur came directly from her own hide?
Ei's smile sharpened.
"When he gets back, I'll ask him."
Knowing Su Ran's sense of humor, even if he didn't want it, he'd definitely encourage Ei just to watch Yae Miko suffer.
Even if it was a useless pink coat.
"C-cough—no need for that!"
Five hundred years as a cunning kitsune, and she knew exactly what kind of bastard Su Ran was.
For the sake of a good laugh, he'd absolutely egg Ei on to pluck Yae Miko bald.
Dream or not, it would hurt.
And worse— if word ever leaked out, what dignity would she have left?
How many pink foxes existed in Inazuma?
Just one.
Her.
"Anyway, Ei," Yae Miko tried to change the subject.
"What if Su Ran actually did run off with another woman? Hm?"
The joke was light— but the effect was catastrophic.
Ei's expression darkened instantly.
Yae Miko's smile froze.
"…You're not telling me I hit the mark… right?"
Had he really run off?
Left Ei behind to return alone?
That was… honestly tragic.
Most women would be screaming "heartless bastard!" at this point.
"So who's she?" Yae Miko asked, still digging her own grave.
Makoto winced.
Yae Miko was even more reckless than Fushizome.
Ei didn't hesitate.
"The Water Archon. From Fontaine."
She refused to lose to the Tsaritsa.
If there was a threat, it had to be someone else— that rowdy "child" of a Water God she'd heard about.
A little brat who already knew how to abduct men?
If she grew up?
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
"W-wait, wait—Ei, I was joking! You don't need to get that upset!"
"I'm not upset. I'm just… guessing."
She inhaled.
It was only speculation.
Su Ran was probably just improving the dream.
Probably.
Meanwhile—In the Inazuman Prison
Sangonomiya Kokomi was panicking.
Truly panicking.
She had been locked up for… she didn't even know how long anymore.
Not that she wasn't grateful—
Zhongli's knowledge was deep and vast.
She'd learned a lot.
But—
"When are they letting me out!?"
Kokomi clutched the bars, eyes welling with strategic despair.
She was a general, not a political prisoner!
How long had it been!?
Why was no one coming!?
~~--------------------------------------
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