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Déjà vu. That's what this was.

It felt like so long ago when Childe had walked me back from dinner only to find Kaeya waiting outside of my room, but I clearly remember how that interaction went. Today was the same. We entered Visionless House, and Kaeya was leaning against my door. A metallic ping rang in the air as he flipped his coin, and I kept a close eye on Childe's reaction. Much to my surprise, he didn't seem at all bothered by Kaeya's presence.

"Look who we have here," Childe walked ahead. "If it isn't Kaeya Alberich."

Kaeya quirked a brow. "We're on full name terms, now? What happened to 'pirate boy'?"

"After everything we've been through in the past twenty-four hours, I've decided you aren't so bad after all. Anyone working in the best interests of Lumi is someone I can respect to a degree."

"Good to know," Kaeya chuckled. "In that case, you surely wouldn't mind that I talk with her alone. I can assure you that our conversation will be in her best interests."

They were actually getting along. Could it be that these two finally learned how to coexist?

Childe folded his arms. "Alone? That won't be necessary."

Nevermind.

"It's probably about the Signora situation," I sighed and looked at Kaeya. "The Raiden Shogun made you file a report, right? They'll probably want to talk to me to confirm the narrative. It'd be a good idea for us to agree on the same story."

"I was there too, wasn't I?" Childe looked around. "Why don't I join in?"

He had a point. Kaeya's expression pinched with slight annoyance, and I worried what he actually had in mind wasn't related to Signora at all. Besides her, there was the Abyss Order situation and my untapped potential with Geo energy. No developments in either of those areas had been made, so it wouldn't be much of a productive conversation.

Kaeya cleared his throat. "Actually, I wanted to see how you were faring, Lumine. The commander in chief took me away so quickly that I didn't get the chance to approach you until now."

"She's fine."

"I was talking to Lumine, not you."

"Thanks for checking in, Kaeya," I smiled. "The only damage Signora did was a scratch to my neck. Honestly, that was on me for provoking her in a situation where she clearly had the upper hand. If I tried to appease her, maybe she wouldn't have resorted to such violence."

"No," Kaeya's jaw tightened. "Don't fault yourself for something she did. While I would prefer you didn't poke the bear, there's not much anyone could do to stop Signora from being what she is. In filing the report, I was able to glean some details of her expulsion."

Childe grumbled. "She hasn't been shipped back yet?"

"The administration is still pulling together the evidence."

"What more evidence do they need?" Childe's face twisted with vexation. "She was caught red-handed."

"Yes, but these things take time especially with affairs considering Snezhnaya. I'm sure you recall the multiple petitions to have you expelled, Childe. The Sneznhayan administration interfered each time to save face," Kaeya tsked. "However, there's no way to cover this up, and it looks like she'll be officially expelled within the next day or so."

"Good. I can't wait to see what sort of punishment they've dealt her once I return to Snezhnaya over winter break. Oh, how amusing it will be to see La Signora revoked of her status."

"Besides that," Kaeya went on. "Lumine, you make a valid point. We need to go over exactly what happened last night and tweak our responses to match. I'm sure the general gist of things is easy enough to formulate, but we should work on a few specifics in case they ask deeper questions. Such a sensitive topic should be taken elsewhere."

By elsewhere, he meant my room.

Childe looked between us. "I've got time."

How was it that this was my room, yet those two looked more comfortable than me? Kaeya lounged on my bed, as usual, hugging one of my pillows to his chest as we went over our story for the final time. Childe paced around the entire time, inspecting the brightness of my lamp, tugging at my rug, and even patting my walls. I wasn't sure if this was a briefing or a home inspection sleepover.

"That's all easy enough to remember," Childe hummed. "I like this rug."

"Doesn't everyone get a rug in their room?" I frowned.

Kaeya's rug was far more extravagant and fluffier than mine, so maybe Childe was referring to its quality.

"They took mine away after I accidentally injured a student with it."

I stared at him with unfiltered bewilderment, and he laughed.

"Hear me out. You know how the gliding instructor conjures up his Anemo currents all over the place during class? I thought it'd be a cool idea to ride on those currents with a rug. It'd be like surfing waves on a surfboard, but flying through the air on a carpet. How was I supposed to know that simply tossing the rug into Anemo wouldn't be enough to effortlessly lift it into the air? The next thing I knew, it went careening into some poor guy's head. Let's be real, that mistake could have easily been made by anyone."

"Anyone without common sense," Kaeya chuckled and Childe turned on him.

"I've been meaning to ask, why are you in Lumi's bed?"

I waved off the notion. "He does that all the time."

Kaeya smirked.

"All the time?" Childe narrowed his eyes.

"Sometimes, I even let her join me."

I rolled my eyes. "Kaeya complains that he's overworked."

He pouted in jest. "Because I am."

"So, I take pity on him."

Kaeya snorted.

Childe slapped a hand into the wall with such force, I thought it would crumble on the spot—again. He eyed the two of us, and I expected him to cut Kaeya some snide remark. For the most part, he'd oddly been tolerating Kaeya this whole time, but I guessed Childe was at his limit. I readied myself to intervene and preserve the state of my room.

Instead, his simmering eyes squeezed shut, and he sighed. Upon reopening them, Childe's face melted into open curiosity. "So, this is the wall behind all that fuss a few weeks back?"

I blinked in surprise. "Yeah."

Childe slapped it a few more times, and it appeared he was just checking its structural integrity. "Seems like it'll hold. I heard the previous one broke apart randomly, and nobody knows how. Not even you."

"Not even me," I nodded with a tight smile. "Not a clue."

Maybe one clue.

"It's pretty odd for one of these walls to break just like that." Childe snapped his fingers. "Even if a casualty of the monster attack, strange that none of the other rooms were affected. These walls are thick, made from the hardest rocks. The support beams should have prevented such a dramatic fallout."

"You sure know your carpentry," I commented.

"I wouldn't say that." He patted the wall once more. "I do know my elements, though."

Kaeya and I shared a look.

"What do you mean by that?" I eyed Childe quizzically.

"It would take something of elemental substance to knock this down. A physical blow is also a possible cause, but only with multiple hits from a heavy weapon. You wield a sword."

"Why does it matter what I wield?"

"Because I know you," Childe stated. "And you're far too calm for what happened here. If you truly had no idea what caused the wall to cave in, you'd be more concerned. Girlie, you're too stubborn to not demand answers."

I held a breath. Of all the things we could have discussed, I certainly didn't expect Childe to mention the wall. We weren't on speaking terms when it happened, but it was naïve of me to think he wouldn't have been interested. Somehow, Childe managed to catch on to something neither the task force nor the Academy had been able to figure out. Not even Timaeus, the one other person directly impacted by the wall incident, thought to piece together the logistics. Above all, Childe factored my personality into this, and he was right. If I truly had no idea what happened, I wouldn't have let it slide as quickly as I did. My instincts would have driven me to crack down on the cause as soon as possible.

Kaeya gave no reaction to Childe's words, and I also tried my best to not let anything show.

"As for which element I believe to be the culprit," he continued. "It's obviously Geo."

I pressed my lips together.

"Now, then. Who at this school has a Geo Vision?"

"Ningguang," Kaeya supplied.

"Not her," Childe shook his head. "She's too stiff for something like this. Isn't she on the student council, too? Sounds like you're trying to throw her under the bus, Alberich."

He shrugged.

"Professor Morax?" I wrung my hands.

"Not a faculty member, either," Childe tsked. "Which also rules out Kreideprinz. There's no motive for a professor to cause such property damage. As far as I can tell, there's no motive for anyone—making enemies isn't a pastime of yours. This leaves one final option."

I hesitated. "Which is?"

"It was an accident. One that you caused."

"That's ridiculous. I don't have a Geo Vision. I don't have any Vision, remember?"

Childe watched me dubiously. "So you say."

"Because it's true, right Kaeya?"

Kaeya bobbed his head, still hugging my pillow. "This is correct."

"Interesting how you refer to him for confirmation," Childe mused. "Almost as if he's in on the secret."

I began to sweat. "There is no secret."

"In which case, your frequent meetings make sense. I'll admit Kaeya is very knowledgeable. Reaching out to a trusted upperclassman is a wise decision, Lumi. What I can't wrap my head around is why you choose to hide your Vision. Why not embrace it?"

I couldn't embrace a Vision I didn't have, nor could I embrace my power without being carted away. Childe was very, very close to uncovering everything—almost everything. It was only Geo that he'd caught onto, and he couldn't possibly make a connection with the Abyss Order's actions.

The Abyss Order.

An idea flickered in my head. Childe fell into the Abyss when he was just a boy. He'd been there, to where I'd been sucked into while dreaming. He had his nightmares, and I had mine. In that sense, our circumstances weren't so different. Unlike me, Childe had been aware of the Abyss' powers for years. I wasn't sure how much he knew or how far he'd be willing to probe into his memories, but there's a chance Childe could help us figure out the Abyss Order's ploy.

Just like me, Childe would stop at nothing until he was satisfied with an answer. I knew lying about having a Geo Vision wouldn't get me anywhere, not when he'd ask for proof. Besides, I didn't want to lie to Childe. Initially, I'd only divulged my secret to Kaeya because it was helpful in our investigation, and I trusted him. Childe, on the other hand, had been a wild card up until recently. There wasn't much I could say about his integrity, but that was then.

With his extra intel on the Abyss, and with my newfound confidence in his character, I considered letting Childe in on my secret. The only thing holding me back was knowing I also planned to tell Thoma tomorrow. Having three people know what I could do was risky. Looking to Kaeya for guidance, I found that he was already staring at me with a speculative expression.

His head tilted by a slight degree as if to say, Whatever happens next is up to you.

That was that. Childe proved he had a knack for picking out information. A skill like that would undoubtedly help with our treasure hunt and subsequent Abyss Order research. Childe spent enough time with me anyways—he was bound to find out eventually. After reaching my final decision, my body lightened. Hopefully, he wouldn't overreact. I couldn't expect everyone to handle this news with as much composure as Kaeya did, and this was Childe of all people. Yet, in the time it took for me to think this through, he'd remained silent. Patient.

"Okay," I breathed. "You're right."

"About you having a Geo Vision?"

"Not exactly," I shook my head. "We don't know for sure yet, but it's definitely not a Vision."

"I don't understand," Childe frowned. "Are you saying you used Geo energy without a Vision?"

I shrugged. "There is a strong possibility."

"How are you so sure of this possibility?"

"Because I can do this."

Without further explanation, I raised my arm with an upward palm and extracted the Anemo energy from my body. It came naturally to me, contained in my hand and shining just as bright as the day I first discovered this power. After confirming that Childe properly witnessed my feat—his eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets—I dispelled the energy and waited for a response.

"You don't have an Anemo Vision," he stated.

"I don't."

"You can control Anemo anyways."

"After some practice."

Childe swiveled to look at Kaeya. "You knew?"

"I was the first she told," he smirked.

"Am I the last?"

"You're the second." I cut in. "Listen, Childe. I'm not telling or showing you this only because you figured out the real reason behind the wall collapse. I'm trusting you with this information even though it'd jeopardize my position at the Academy and put me at risk with the Abyss Order."

"What does the Abyss Order have anything to do with this?" He drew in a sharp breath and moved from the wall to stand by me. "They're the real deal, Lumine. You know about my past. Please, don't tell me you've gotten yourself involved with them."

This was going to be a long night.