Chilumi Week

Day 5) Birthday

A/N: This one is a bit more of an emotional one which I've written in other fanfics in the past and they are probably one of my favourite types of stories to write if that makes sense so I'm excited to write my first (and definitely not last) one for Chilumi!

I know I've said this about the other chapters but I also apologise again if Childe is too possibly OOC in this.

That's all I say for now though lol. I hope you like it! (Spoilers for Childe's story quest)

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Childe claimed victory in the weekly match he had with Lumine today but...

It didn't take any difficulty to notice that Lumine was clearly not giving it her all in their battle.

In fact when Childe reflected on their battle and her in there, she seemed rather bothered about something...

Or even sad about something...

And he was also confused on why she wanted to fight today of all days...

Especially since she mentioned in the past that today was her birthday.

Yet she still wanted to fight with him but she didn't even give it to her at all or even enjoy proving strength at all.

When they both left the golden house, it was dark but Lumine still had that same facial expression.

He wanted to cheer her up...

It hurt to see his rival like this especially on a day she shouldn't be upset on...

So...he finally spoke and put something for his pocket. "So...Comrade."

Lumine tilted her head to look at him.

He handed her a wrapped present. "I got you something!"

Lumine seemed surprised and blinked a few times at the wrapped present. "Oh...But I didn't win the match." Lumine

"I was going to give you a present regardless if you won or not. It is your birthday after all." Childe chuckled.

"Wha..How did you- Oh. That's right, I already told you a little while back." Lumine facepalmed when she interrupted herself.

Still she clearly appreciated the fact that he did that. "Well thank you Childe, I appreciate it."

She started to unwrap the present but as she did that, she suspiciously looked back up at Childe.

"Please don't tell me this is a prank present. Hu Tao gave me a birthday cake earlier claiming it was made by Xiangling and then it exploded in my face." Lumine crossed her arms.

Childe laughed at that thought of something like that happening and immediately shook his head. "Haha, no don't worry, I didn't do anything like that."

"You Teucer pinky promise that?" Lumine furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yes!" Childe laughed again.

Lumine had no choice but to take his word for it (however she did stay cautious just in case thanks to that cruel Hu Tao incident earlier) and unwrapped the paper and opened the small box.

There was a silk flower necklace in there.

Lumine put it out of the box and had a good look at it.

It was...beautiful. She really liked it.

"Thank you Childe, I love it." She says as she puts it over her neck.

However, she still couldn't stop feeling...the way she did.

And Childe was very quick to notice it.

"Lumine...Are you ok? I've noticed you've been...a bit bothered by something." Childe couldn't help but ask.

Lumine opened her mouth to lie and say that she was fine but...she couldn't.

When she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Just silence.

She closed her mouth then opened it again to sigh. She turned away from Childe and finally said something. "I guess it was that obvious..."

Lumine felt her eyes sparkle but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "This is my first birthday without my brother...and this is also the first time that I don't get to celebrate his birthday by his side too."

Lumine continued. "This is also why I wanted to fight with you today, to get my mind off my brother and him not being here today but it didn't work. Nothing really worked."

Lumine felt the tears from her eyes fall down and she tried very hard to control them...but she couldn't.

"I-I'm worried...Aether might be...I just want to find him!" Lumine clenched her fists and continued to try and hold the tears back.

Childe quickly hugged her gently. "It's ok Lumine..."

And just like that...Lumine could no longer hold back.

How ironic she felt like she could let her guard down about something like this in front of a harbinger and her rival nonetheless.

She just felt she could cry in front of him...because he most likely could understand how she felt.

He had a family back home who he cared about and was very protective with.

She hadn't cried even about Aether for a long time...but she hadn't cried in front of anyone for a really, really long time.

In fact Aether was the last person she cried in front of.

"Childe he might be dead for all I know... Maybe he's forgotten who I am..."

"He isn't and he hasn't."

"Do you promise that Childe?" Lumine looked up at him.

"Yes."

"...Teucer pinky promise?"

Childe softly chuckled and nodded. "Yes it's a pinky promise."

Lumine continued to cry in his arms for a while that night.

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