Diluc was here.

My step faltered as I entered the library, but I quickly recovered as a relieved smile bloomed on my face. Of course, Diluc would be here. I don't know why I had worried myself so much. Yesterday's absence was probably due to something he couldn't avoid, and I'm sure it was completely reasonable. He hadn't seen me come in yet—his back faced me—so I took a quick moment to reason away any lingering doubts.

It was just him, me, and the librarian tonight. She was sitting far off at the reference desk, so it was as though we had the whole space to ourselves. As usual, he was sitting at our table. As usual, the chessboard was already set up. And, as usual, Diluc's face was set with a slight frown. The corners of his lips lifted by a mere fraction as I approached, and he offered a small nod.

"Good evening, Lumine," his brows knitted. "First, I want to apologize for my absence yesterday. I hope you didn't wait in the library for long."

I pressed my lips together into a tight smile and shook my head, sitting down. "I only hung around long enough for the guards to snuff me out."

"You were here for that long?" His face fell, twisting into shame. "Until curfew?"

I shrugged. "I didn't want to risk leaving just before you showed up."

"I am sorry." Diluc's forearms rested on the edge of the table, and his hands spaced on either end of the chessboard clenched into fists. "While I knew beforehand that I wouldn't have made it to our match yesterday, I should have at least left a note for you. There was a unique circumstance I had to attend to urgently. Otherwise, I—"

"It's fine, really," I reached out to grab one of his hands. "When you didn't show up, that meant extra time for me to strategize for today."

Lie. I had been just as worried as he looked right now.

Diluc's hands relaxed. "Is that so?"

"You bet," I winked. "You're going to regret taking your one-day vacation once I pluck your king away. Though, I can't help but be a little curious. Where were you last night?"

"Ah," he sighed. "I want to hear about you."

"What about me?" I released his hand and leaned back in my seat. "You're the one being mysterious."

"How did your midterms go? Were you able to get past your differences with Childe and succeed in Physical Combat?" he paused. "Has anything interesting happened? Are you still only eating Almond Tofu? You need to diversify your diet, Lumine. Nutrition is important."

"Okay, Okay," I laughed. "I wasn't expecting all of that."

"I want to know how you're doing. Regrettably, we do not get the chance to see each other often."

"This is true," I sighed. "Alright, as for your first question—my midterms went well. They were great, actually. I feel confident for once that I aced everything—even Physical Combat since making up with Childe."

Diluc's eyebrows raised slightly. "You're on speaking terms?"

"It's a long story," I shrugged. "What you may find even more interesting is that no, I am not just eating Almond Tofu."

"Does this have anything to do with the almond shortage?"

He got me. "Obviously not," I rolled my eyes. "A girl can only take so much Almond Tofu."

"Of course," he smirked. "And…anything else particularly interesting?"

Anything else? Yes. Quite a few things, actually. The real question was how I should tell Diluc and in what order. There was the incident with Signora that didn't technically end with me, and there was my big secret. The former was far easier to get through than the latter, which is crazy since a near-death experience would normally be ranked as the most important news. Despite it being on my mind for the past twenty-four hours, I was still at a loss for how exactly I should reveal my secret to Diluc. He looked at me now, expectant—no—it was anticipation in his eyes. Why did it seem as though he knew something interesting had happened?

"Well," I cleared my throat. "It's pretty big news all around campus that Signora got expelled."

"I did hear something about that," he hummed. "Please, tell me more."

Diluc was all ears, and I went through the still-vivid memory of being outwitted by Signora. Finding myself in the gazebo surrounded by trees. Signora essentially making me look like a fool for the sole audience of her own self. How I was too weak to stop her attacks until it was too late—almost too late. Once I got to the point where Childe, Kaeya, and the task force showed up, my words were rushing from my mouth as building anger took over me. Signora really had some nerve. I couldn't believe she was able to get so far. How many other students had she cornered just like she did to me?

"She should have been expelled years ago," I seethed. "No one was expecting the mysterious attacker that got Signora at the docks. I know it looks like villainous behavior to a lot of people, but I think they're a hero to everyone who suffered at her hands."

"Thank you," Diluc said. "For telling me everything. It must not have been easy to revisit those memories. Watching you share your story—it brings me immense joy to know you have this level of trust with me."

I clasped my hands together. "If I'm being honest, it feels good to finally tell someone who wasn't involved. I could have told Amber, Bennett, and Xiangling, but they've been so high-strung lately with testing and restrictions, I didn't want them to worry about it. After sharing it with you, though, it might be a good idea to bring it up eventually."

"That is something to think about." He cleared his throat. "Allow me to also be honest. I already knew."

"You…what?"

Diluc sat up straighter, and a steely look crossed his features. "I knew what Signora did the morning after it happened—all of it. I was never a firm believer in the quality of the task force's members. The guards are loose-lipped, and while that does undermine our security, it also allows me to source my own information. Though, I have to admit, when I heard that Signora fell into a trap staged by other students, I didn't believe it at first. She has been an incessant thorn since the moment I was aware of who she was."

I couldn't have said it better myself. A small part of my brain made a connection between Diluc's mode of information collecting and Kaeya's tactics. They weren't so unalike in their clever attention to detail and swiftness of putting a plan together.

"If you knew what happened the whole time," I pressed on. "Why didn't you ask me about it? I don't want to make assumptions, but I thought you would have been concerned."

"Trust me," he chuckled hoarsely. "From the moment I found out it was you who was involved in this plan, I wanted to go to you directly. Immediately. When I said the guards are loose-lipped—they really love to gossip. I know you got hurt." His words quieted in that last sentence. "But I didn't want to overwhelm you. What you experienced was what I can only imagine as unfiltered terror, and I wanted you to have the chance to process it without me being overbearing on top of it. And…" he trailed off.

"What is it?" I frowned. "I don't think you would have been overbearing, Diluc. Anyone would have reacted with a lot of concern."

"I wanted to see if you would come to me." His eyes met mine. "I told you I would be here for you, and yet, two days have passed. Why didn't you reach out?"

I tried to find my words, but I couldn't get past the injured look in his eyes. The Signora incident felt like a lot longer than two days ago. So much had happened since then, but Diluc was right. Even though I was busy, even though I had Childe and Kaeya to sort things out, I shouldn't have waited for a convenient time to tell Diluc. I had been so wrapped up in my own feelings that I didn't stop to think about who else might have cared—who else would have been worried. After the words we exchanged in our last meeting, I could understand why he was hurt, and that made me even more nervous for my second reveal of the night.

Diluc turned away. "I should have known. The fault lies with me."

"What? No," I inhaled sharply. "You couldn't be further from the truth."

"It was too much, wasn't it?" His throat bobbed. "I will admit that I am not the best when it comes to personal interactions and strong…emotions. I understand if my words from last week pushed you away. It was unbecoming for me to expect anything at all."

I reached over to take hold of his hand once more. "Listen to me, Diluc. You didn't push me away. That day, you thought of me as brighter than the sun. The sun, Diluc. Do you know how it made me feel to be compared to the sun? Elated. Treasured. Adored. I felt all those things then, and I still feel them now. When I'm with you, everything is clear to me. I know who I am. I know who you are. When we're not in this library—when you and this chessboard aren't here grounding me to the present moment, I feel like I'm all over the place, and I worry so much that I forget the important things."

"What are you worried about?" Diluc turned over his hand so he could hold mine back. "Signora is out of the picture now. I made sure that she'll never even dream about going after you like that again."

"I'm worried about—wait, what?" My brain stuttered as his words fully registered. "What do you mean you 'made sure'?"

"The mysterious attacker people are talking about," he toyed with my fingers. "It was me."

I nearly dropped his hand out of surprise. "You were the one who," I lowered my voice. "You attacked Signora at the docks?"

He nodded curtly. "It was the reason why I didn't show up last night. I needed to make the proper preparations and get there without use of the teleport waypoint in time. My constitution would not allow for her to get off so easily. Expulsion is a mere slap on the wrist."

"Vengeance," I recalled Mona's divination. "That was…you did that for me?"

Was it wrong for my heart to flutter at the idea of a violent attack on my behalf? I didn't care. This whole time, I was worried that Diluc's absence meant he wanted to distance himself. In reality, he had taken up his greatsword and actively hunted down my tormentor in the name of justice. I couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto my face. It was sweet—romantic, even.

"My only regret is that we were by the water," he grumbled before his eyes widened, and he let go of my hand. "Again, if my behavior is too overwhelming—"

"Thank you," I beamed at him. "She deserved that."

Diluc hesitated for only a moment before returning my smile. "That she did. So, am I right to believe you do not find me too forward? You still wish to…are you alright with me as I am?"

"Yes, Diluc," I nodded. "And I have to tell you something. It's even more important than Signora, so I'm glad we got her out of the way."

After clearing the air of our misconceptions, I was feeling marginally better about telling Diluc my secret. The look he gave me now was slightly wary, and I couldn't blame him. In this case, there were no amount of Pyro attacks he could put out to alleviate this predicament.

"A while ago," I began in a hushed tone. "I found out I could use Anemo without a Vision. It came to me suddenly one day, and we think the origin might have come from Venti—er—Instructor Barbatos, the gliding instructor. There's also a slight chance of me being able to wield Geo, but that's yet to be confirmed. We only think so because I was also exposed to Professor Morax's Geo shield, but we don't know why it's happening to me."

I paused, waiting for a reaction. There was more to say about the Abyss Order and my dreams, but Diluc's flat expression planted a seed of uncertainty in my mind. For the second time tonight, I thought of how he and Kaeya were similar. Kaeya was also quite doubtful when I told him. Even after demonstrating my powers, he had questioned if I was certain I had no Vision.

"Lumine," Diluc's lips were set in a firm line. "Did Signora hit you in the head?"

"No, it was just a cut on my—" I stopped once I saw his eyes darken. "Nevermind that. She didn't hit me in the head, and I'm not crazy."

"You said 'we' more than once." He eyed me. "Are you hallucinating other people?"

I wiped my face with my palm. "No head trauma, really. I said 'we' because, well, there are three other people who know about this."

"And they all believe you?"

"Yes, because I showed them. Well, Thoma believed me without a demonstration."

"Thoma," Diluc said the name slowly. "He's in the year above you."

"One of my closest…" I blushed. "Um, we're close. The two other people who know—I don't intend to tell anyone else after you—are Childe and Kaeya."

Diluc snapped from calm wonder to sharp attention. "Kaeya? You can't trust him."

"I can," I asserted. "What happened between the two of you, anyway? I know that you're—that you used to be brothers. Did Kaeya do something to mess that up?"

I couldn't understand how anything would break a bond between siblings, adopted or not. Family was family, and I knew Kaeya would want to have his family back. Hopefully, based on Diluc's answer, it would be revealed that he did, too.

"That is for him to say and me to never forgive," Diluc grumbled.

Okay, I'll add ask-Kaeya-about-family-drama to the list. The subject was obviously sensitive for Diluc and not at all productive in our current conversation. Regardless of that, my fear of Diluc being offended for being told last has been greatly undermined by his immense skepticism. I should have known he would have been the most difficult to convince, especially since I couldn't just use my Anemo right here and now. Even though the librarian was in her own corner of this space, it was too open. Too risky.

"Are you sure you can trust him with this information?" Diluc's nose wrinkled. "Assuming what you say is true—"

"It is."

"Why even keep it a secret?"

I sighed. "This is when I ask if you're busy after class tomorrow."

"Why is that?"

"Kaeya, Childe, Thoma, and I will be meeting in the student council room to discuss it all. Everything from my powers to the Abyss Order."

Alarm flashed on Diluc's face.

"If you're free, I promise I can fill you in then." I nudged my head in the direction of the librarian. "Privacy concerns."

"After classes tomorrow?" he sighed. "This is a rather sudden proposal. I normally have other responsibilities to take care of, but I can move them around for you." Diluc rubbed his jaw in thought.

Silence overcame us, and I could tell Diluc was still thinking about everything I'd just told him. Even though it was my fourth time revealing this secret, I was still quite hesitant myself. Diluc may be doubtful now, but there would be no denying my power once we got straight to it tomorrow.

Diluc adjusted his gloves and gestured to the chessboard. "In the meantime, why don't we get started? These white chess pieces aren't going to get captured by themselves, you know." A slow smile found its way onto his face, and my heart lightened.

A laugh escaped me. He melted away my budding stress like it was nothing. "I won't hold back, Diluc Ragnvindr."

"I ask that you never do, Lumine."