Wait, when did you turn straight?? ✔

Chapter 8

It's needless to say that their second match is harder than the first since both sides are all too serious about beating another, rather than fun and reward.

"Argh! We were so close", Childe groaned while running a hand into his sweaty hair.

"Why did you two have to taunt Dain?", Aether scolded them while grabbing a water bottle.

"Because it's no fun without challenge?", Lumine answered with a pout.

"Ayaka, how are you doing?", Amber asked her.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't managed to cover my side", she apologized with a bow.

"No, no. It's fine. This is your first game after all", Amber reassured her.

"That's right, Oujo. They understand so don't feel bad. We will practice together for future", Thoma put his hand on her shoulder. She gave him a smile.

"Well, well, if it isn't the two runts who taunted us before the game?", Scaramouche teased with a smirk.

"Runt? Are you sure that's the word for us? I think it suits with you even more", Childe replied with a snort.

"Were you happy with the result? We beat you guys this time, didn't we?", Keqing asked Lumine with crossed arms.

"Humph, we will beat you next time", she grumbled.

"It was fun! Let's play again sometimes!", Barbara's cheerful tone stopped their banter.

"Why are you still wearing a hoodie? Take it off already", Rosaria asked Lumine.

"Oh yeah, I should-", she was interrupted by Childe, "No! You are wearing my hoodie. There are other people than us here. They have been paying extra attention to us since we were playing the game."

"What's wrong with my swimsuit? I'm hot", she complained.

'Yeah, you are', he thought to himself.

"Yeah, you are", he blurted out with a straight face that made everyone look at him. It took a moment to realize that he just spoke out loud and stuttered, "I-I mean, I can see you sweating. Fine, you can take it off. Then, we are having a swimming match."

A competition got her attention from his previous statement and she took off his hoodie, "oh, you're on."

He turned his face to the side for a moment to calm his blushing face and took off while shouting, "the last one to the water has to treat ice cream!"

"Hey! You cheater! I wasn't ready!", she yelled and ran after him.

Scaramouche sighed, "that idiot is so obvious. Why haven't they figured out yet?"

"Because both of them are dummies", Rosaria answered for him.

"Come on, let's get some tan", Signora lead them away.

~

"You cheated!", Lumine glared at Childe as he's giving her a cheshire cat grin from water. She gave a splash when she got close to him.

"Hahaha, chill. It's just an ice-cream", he grinned, wiping water off his face.

"No, it's not just an ice-cream and you know that", she's still giving him a stink glare.

"Well, yeah. Thanks for mentioning it. We're now at 11-10, I'm leading. I wonder, what order should I give you when I won for this month. Hey, Oww!", he rubbed his arm when she punched him.

"Fine, I'm just going to beat you again to make it even", she gave him a smirk.

He couldn't help but chuckle at their competitiveness against each other and she joined in with a giggle. They smiled and stared at each other with a satisfied emotion in their eyes. 'She really looks beautiful. I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but my blue color on her swimsuit makes me grow even more possessive. Like I want to show off that she is wearing my blue, but at the same time, I don't want others to see her like this as well. Am I always that greedy when it comes to you, Lumi?' His thoughts stopped when he found her looking down and frowning.