Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Wise felt… lonely.

He hated this feeling… It was stupid. He was stupid. Shun’Guang had all these responsibilities now. For the first time, the Qingming swordmaster was making her own decisions and living life.

…And he could be happy for her… but now almost a month and half had passed since assisting her in the Qingming sword realm, and their relationship felt strained. The only thing that had happened was apparently she had dropped off some osmanthus cakes at their store. He hadn’t been in at the time, but he had decided to leave them for his sister to scarf down.

He couldn’t bring himself to eat one, and had been glad that Belle had always had such a sweet tooth.

He kept trying to tell himself that she was just busy, but there was a deeper part of him that was afraid that the truth might be that she… didn’t want him to be big part of her life now.

He felt like a teenager.

The proxy stared into the mirror again. The bags under his eyes were getting more noticeable… and he couldn’t remember the last time he had slept well.

“Master, Second Assistant has requested your company to view the movie, More than One Truth. Would you like your superior assistant to make a recommendation based on your own tastes?”

It really was a testament to how accustomed he had gotten to living with Fairy that he didn’t even flinch when her synthesized voice called out.

“No. That’s fine. Can you tell Belle that I’ll be down in just a little bit.”

“Affirmative, Master.”

He turned on the facet, running the water over his hands before splashing some on his face.

The gray haired man sighed heavily, before finally getting ready to go down stairs. The movie store was closed and it was dark out now. Belle had taken over doing a lot of their proxy work and had just finished for the night…

…And it had been a while since he and his sister had time to just chill and enjoy time together. He still had been a little hesitant about taking Ben’s advice… but maybe after tonight he would feel ready.

It didn’t take him long to reach the bottom of the stairs and to slide into the open back door.

“Wise! I made some popcorn.”

Her smile made Wise relax a little. A reminder that despite everything, The two of them had made it through it all. He sat down next to her, taking a the bowl from her to grab a handful of the essential movie watching snack before handing it back.

Immediately, Wise could tell that she was watching him more than the movie.

“So when are you going to tell Zhu Yuan about our teacher?” Belle called out suddenly, he turend to look at her. The other proxy had a hand to her chin. “We told Miss Hoshimi. I don’t see a reason why we should tell her…” His sister shifted, a guilty expression crossing her face. “I always felt bad about how we lied to her.”

The pair sat on their couch in the backroom, More Than One Truth playing on a low volume in the back as they spoke. “I think… that you should have been a little more proactive with talking to her before.”

“Me?” He felt a little offended, “Did you not lie to her just as much as I have?”

Wise raised a challenging eyebrow, watching his little gremlin of a sister pop a piece of popcorn into her mouth. The other proxies' small smile was a front he knew all too well. It was the same one she gave him when they were kids and she was trying to talk him into helping her clean her room.

“Yeah you, duh. You two seemed to hit it off before. I mean she saved me from that car, but I don’t have a friendship with her like I have with Ellen or Grace.” Belle took another handful from the bucket between her legs, crunching on the treat before handing it over to the other half of Phaethon. “...and she came to talk to you. That means something.”

Wise took the bowl with a small sigh, taking another handful of the buttery treat himself before handing the bucket back.

“If you think so. I was thinking if seeing if she wanted to hang out tomorrow.” He added after a moment. “I was thinking it’s time I start getting out a bit more—besides going fishing with Ben—I feel like I’ve been a bit of a hermit.”

“Maybe more than a bit.” His sister teased while looking pleased. “I don’t think Senior Xiao’Guang would mind you hanging out with other friends.” Wise internally flinched at the remark, turning his eyes back to the movie. “Come to think of it… I haven’t seen you two around at the same time…”

Yeah well… he was well aware. Bitterness started to well up in him again at the memory of that sweet smile. Belle hadn’t seemed to notice, as she too had turned her attention back to the screen. “She came by the other day to drop off those cakes, but she seemed really busy. She didn’t even stay long enough for me to thank her!”  Then after chewing on some popcorn for a moment she added. “Sometimes she sends me these cute videos of cats she finds on the Inter-Knot.”

Wise didn’t answer, he tried to focus on the movie instead of stewing in Belle’s words.

“Our senior probably has a lot to do. She is a Void Hunter… and remember how many errands the mayor sent Shifu on while the crisis was going on in Wafei?”

“Yeah , you’re probably right…. But still, I wish she would take a break. I want to hear about all her adventures!” The movie was getting harder to pay attention to. Wise took a deep breath. He needed to steel himself to make it through it. It didn’t help when Belle playfully poked him in the side. “I’m sure she tells you all about it with how close you two are~!” He almost didn’t feel her finger from the void that was starting to from in his chest. “What happened to my hopeless older brother who didn’t know anything about girls~?”

“Yeah…”

He hoped she would drop the topic… all of the sudden he really didnt’ feel like watching a movie.

He didn’t believe his own words… his own placations and justifications. Had he done something wrong? Did he say something that offended her or maybe…

…maybe he had been right when he had thought that their time together didn’t mean as much to her as it did to him. Those things she had said… he must have read it wrong.

After all he was Wise Arna, the man who was absolutely hopeless with women. It was only natural that he would misread the entire dynamic of their friendship.

“Yo, Wise you there?” Belle snapped her fingers in front of his face. “I didn’t notice it before… but are the bags under your eyes getting worse? Should we take you to the doctor-?”

“I’m fine!”

He snapped out with more heat than he meant too, causing Belle to recoil like she had been burned. Immediately, guilt pierced the numbness in his chest. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to bite out like that… I’m just… tired. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

Belle’s wide eyes only made the shame inside of him weigh heavier. Like a steel weight attached to his ribs. “I think I’m going to go to bed early.” He plastered a fake smile on his face and began to stand up and made haste to the door.

“Wise!”

He ignored her call and made his way up to his room. He was suddenly exhausted… the strain was getting to be a bit too much… but if he actually got some sleep he felt like maybe he could sort it out in the morning.”

He didn’t bother changing out of his street clothes. Wise just fell into bed… not even bothering with the covers. Maybe it was all the stress catching up to the proxy that made him finally conk out, or it was the fact that he had finally found some reason why his love acted so cooly.

____________________________________________________________________________

When Wise awoke the next day he felt more rested than he had in a while. He stared up at the ceiling of his room blankly for a moment before sitting up slowly. He reached out to grab his phone.

Shepard congratulated the pair on a job well done… Belle had already had responded to him so the gray haired man felt no need to continue that conversation, there was a flat “You’re welcome” from Xiao’Guang, but he didn’t even bother opening it to reply. He scrolled down to Zhu Yuan’s message history… near the bottom of the list.

Had it been that long since they had messaged each other?

He typed out a message, murmuring aloud as he typed.

“Hey, would you want to hang out today? I promised to talk to you about Belle’s and my goals.”

He hit send, and placed his on the table and got up. Now he needed to talk to his sister. The numbness in his chest had improved and maybe it was a strange sense of closure that he had finally given himself. It wasn’t all better… but it was a start… and it was enough that he needed to apologize to his baby sister for yelling at her.

He stood up with more purpose than he had in a while. Slowly, he made his way to his door, finger combing his bedhead away as he opened his door with one hand and stepped out into the hallway.

“Wise.”

He heard his sister’s call, just as he stepped out of his room. Still clad in her Astra Yao brand pink pajamas, she stood. Belle’s face was etched with worry. She was playing with her fingers; something she always did when she didn’t know what to say.

“Belle.” He let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I’m sorry…”

She sniffed, her eyes starting to water.

“You never yelled at me like that before…even when we were kids.” She said quietly. “You’re not okay.”

It was a statement, and not a question. Wise looked anywhere but her eyes. He didn’t bother to refute it.

“No… I’m not okay… but I think I can start to be better now.”

Belle shifted her weight, she seemed at a loss as to what to say so instead she asked the question he had been dreading since last night.

“Did… Did Shun’Guang do something to make you upset?”

“No.” It was true… she hadn’t done anything…. It wasn’t really her fault anyway. Besides being Phaethon and whatever else was going on with his eyes, he was just the plain uninteresting guy. “She hasn’t done anything.”

Belle’s eyebrows furrowed and her confusion was easily visible on her face… but his sister was smart and it didn’t take long for her to put the pieces together.

“She hasn’t been talking to you either?”

Wise rubbed his eyes, a spark of irritation flared, but he quickly quashed it. He didn’t want to snap at his baby sister again.

“I would rather not talk about it… and I would appreciate it if you keep it between us. Please.” Belle seemed like she wanted to argue, but relented. “...but no she hasn’t.”

Most of the tension had faded thankfully, but Belle bit her lip but for now let it fly. “...If it helps we can go get something besides noodles for breakfast?”

Belle rolled her eyes, but a smile crept its way onto her face.

“You owe me a movie too. You left so fast last night… but the bag’s under your eyes look a bit better. So I’ll let you off the hook for leaving.” He couldn’t look her in the eyes, to see the pity. “I know you said you don’t want to talk about it… but have you tried talking to her about this?”

He had through messages… but not in person. Everytime he tried… When video chatting with Shifu and his seniors or trying to find a time to set up a time for them to visit he had been told that she had other commitments.

“Let’s just… talk about something else.” He dried to force his voice to stay calm. “I promise I’ll tell you more about it when I have my own head sorted.”

“Deal. Let's get the shop open for the day and we can decide what we want to do after.” The other half of Phaethon looked a little relieved, her posture looked less nervous and had returned to her more bubbly self. The shrill ring of a text message on his phone broke his train of thought. Ah, it was probably Zhu Yuan answering back. “I’ll take a shower and open the store.” Belle was already heading back into her room. “I’ll meet you in the back after your done getting ready for the day.”

He felt a little lighter as he went back into his room to pick up his phone. Surprisingly there were two messages. One from Zhu Yuan asking if it was okay if she came by after her shift ended, and another message from…

“Shifu?”

He opened up the message, a little curious as to what she needed.

Wise, have you been doing well? Keeping up on your training? How are your eyes feeling? As your Shifu, it’s my job to make sure that you and your sister are doing well.

The man would be lying through his teeth if he said that he’d been keeping up on his training at all. Before he could even type up a generic response, his master sent another message.

I was wondering if you had spoken to Shiyuan lately. I know he decided to leave on his own journey but I can’t help but worry about him.

Always such a mom. He sent a reply quickly about he and Belle were doing well, just settling back into Proxy work and no, he hadn’t spoken Shiyuan lately. It didn’t take long for another message to come back… maybe it was all the hand techniques Yixuan had to preform but she typed way faster than he expected.

Ah, I suppose it can’t be helped. Make sure you continue training as soon as you can. In regards to Shiyuan, do you know if Xiao’Guang has heard anything?

He could feel the corner of his lips turn down. He didn’t want to worry the high preceptor over something childish. The proxy could hear that Belle was done in the shower now. He needed to start getting ready. So he answered honestly. She hadn’t said anything to him if she had or hadn’t.

He put his phone back down on his nightstand. A shower sounded heavenly.

“All yours!”

He heard Belle call as he began to get his clothes for the next day ready. He stepped out the door just as his phone went off one more time.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Manager!”

Wise perked up as he heard the familiar jingle of the someone pushing open the door to the video store, he had been in the middle of placing returned tapes back in the places they belonged. It had to be Zhu Yuan. The store was about to close, Belle was hanging out with Ellen, and there were no more commissions for the rest of the night. It was practically perfect time for the kind of talk they were going to have.

He stood up from his crouched position, catching the eyes of the officer. The woman held two tea milk in her hand… likely brought from Lumine Square.

“Oh Zhu Yuan!” He glazed at the digital clock on the desk he had bought going thrift shopping with Nicole a few days ago. “You’re right on time.”

Surprisingly, she looked a little unsure. Her fingers were drumming on the side of the teamilk’s before she spoke up.

“W-Wise! I texted you like four times to ask what flavor of tea milk you would want.” The police captain closed the door behind her with one foot before placing both drinks on the counter. “I had to guess what you wanted, s-so don’t blame me if it’s not something you like.”

“Oh? I didn’t hear my phone.”

He patted his pockets for a moment, and sure enough there was no phone. Even checking his jacket pockets revealed that the device wasn’t on his person.

“Master, your cellular device is currently located in your room.”

“Oh.” It was all he could say, feeling a little flushed he turned back to Zhu Yuan apologetically. Leave it to Fairy to only tell him that after he had missed some messages. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I left it up there… but I’m sure I’ll like whatever flavor you got for me.” He gave her a small smile, and gestured to the back. “If you want, we can move to the back storage room there. It’s… probably the best place to start.”

The captain still looked a little anxious even as she shuffled to the back door. Six opened the door for her and she peered in. Wise couldn’t blame her for feeling that way. These kinds of conversations were always a bit hard on him too.

Maybe he could find some Inter-Knot post about how to deal with things like this. He moved to grab the drink she had bought for him. Taking a sip it was a low-sugar mint tea milk as he followed the police officer to where the siblings' less-than-legal activities took place. It wasn’t too sweet and the mint was refreshing.

More than okay in his book.

“So this is where Phaethon does their thing.” Her eyes swept the room, surprisingly sharp for how nervous she had been acting before. Maybe it was her instincts as a cop, but the woman seemed to take her time to linger on the HDD. “It’s surprisingly homely.”

Wise raised an eyebrow as he moved over to the couch, before sitting in the same spot Belle had flopped down last night.

“Well… yeah… did you expect us to have something terrible hidden in here?”

“N-no! Nothing like that!” Zhu Yuan sat down hastily in the spot he had before, her ears red. “I don’t know, I just imagined it as more… sinister.” She placed her cup on the coffee table as she turned to look back at him.

Wise rolled his eyes, and couldn’t help the sarcastic comment that left his mouth.

“Yeah, I cleaned up the place before you came. You know, removing the really heinous things like old take out boxes and some of Belle’s dirty clothes.”

She looked at him weirdly for a moment, before it clicked. Her eyes narrowed.

“You're messing with me… and I suppose I deserve it for expecting it to look that way.”

A genuine smile pulled at the corner of the proxy’s lips. For some reason, he rather liked seeing his friend a little flushed. Her meekness was already such a stark difference from her normal hyper-capable attitude.

“It’s fine. I’m glad that it doesn’t look like Belle and I don't do anything terrible back here.” He turned slightly to point at the HDD. “That’s our system for connecting to Eous and exploring the Hollow, but other than that and the workbench back there, this is just a normal video store storage room.”

Zhu Yuan nodded, and brought a fist to her chin in thought.

“I’m surprised you two just have it in the open like this. Wouldn’t it be better to have it under a trap door in a secret room or something?”

Wise snorted.

“Did you see that in a movie?”

Zhu Yuan flushed again, The orange haired woman brought her hands up to gesture wildly. It was fun to learn that she was the kind of person that ‘talked’ with her hands.

“N-no! We busted a proxy last week, and he had false back to his closet for his things… but he didn’t have a set up like-” She cut herself off, and shook her head. “I’m getting off track… You said that you were going to tell me about yours and Belle’s past?”

The small smile vanished from his face in a flash.

“It’s a bit of a long story… it might take a bit.” They had gone through a lot… both of them. He could still feel the phantom of his teacher ruffling his hair fondly when he was a boy.

“I had a feeling. That’s okay. I’m here to hear all of it.” Maybe he looked a little wistful, because his friend's tone softened a little.

So he told her.

About Helios Academy, the special ocular implants both siblings had, the giant white arm with eyes that showed up, and the things they had learned about their teacher in the Lemniann Hollow. The information that he had learned from dealings with Mockingbird. His eyes never left hers and to her credit Zhu Yuan only spoke up for clarification. By the end of his tale the officer looked overwhelmed.

He took a polite sip of his drink.

“I…I didn’t realize how much had happened.” Her tea had been drained a while ago, yet still she sipped at the melting ice. Over time they both took off both their jackets and the NEPS officer even loosened her tie to unbutton the top of her shirt. “If it was anyone but you manager, I don’t think I would believe you… but I trust you.” The orange and black haired woman’s voice was full of conviction as she spoke those last three words.

It only made him feel worse that they lied to her.

“I’m sorry we didn’t trust you before, Zhu Yuan.”

The words spilled out once before he could stop them. Guilt staining the words like wine on a white carpet. She leaned back, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before she spoke.

“That’s all before Waifei happened… and now you're not only under the Hoshimi family's protection but the Mayor’s as well. An old friend of your teacher…” She breathed out. “No wonder you’ve had trouble sleeping. Do you think that she had something to do with the Fall of the Capitol like everyone thinks?”

He let out a breath of air. He and Belle hadn’t even had a chance to talk about what they had learned about her through the miasma illusion since returning to Sixth Street… though come to think of it. That had been his fault as well. The elder brother had been too busy wallowing… maybe it was time he and Belle had that chat.

“I… don’t know. I just want to know the truth.” He swallowed, his voice a little shaky as he added. “We never thought she had been before… I couldn’t believe that the woman that raised us would do something like that… but some of the intel we gathered in during our time at Suibian Temple didn’t paint a good picture of her.”

He looked up at the ceiling, and almost jumped when he felt a pressure around his hand. He lifted his head to see, Zhu Yuan— her cheeks a little pink as she she held his hand gently.

“I-I think you're doing the right thing…and I support you as much as I can in finding out the truth.”

Without thinking, Wise gave her hand a squeeze.

“Thanks Zhu Yuan. I really appreciate it.”

She let go of his hand. That awkward side of her was back in full swing.

“S-s-so tell me about your time in Failume Heights. Qingyi had told me you two had left the video store for there but she didn’t know a lot of the specifics.”

“That’s an even longer story. So much happened in Waifei… To be honest I’m still trying to process it myself.”

He didn’t want to start talking about his senior yet. He knew it would eventually get to that point where he would… but he wasn’t really ready to talk about it outloud yet.

Zhu Yuan didn’t stay much longer after that., citing she had to go in early tomorrow to work on a case. There was something familiar in her eyes when she left, but Wise knew better than to assume that it meant anything. He had learned well from his senior. Wise shook his head, trying to shake off the pain crept through the numbness.

Maybe Ben would be available? He hated relying on the accountant like a personal therapist, but at the moment he was the most appealing person to talk to. His advice had been rock solid so far. Heartfelt a little less lonely when he got to spend time with people he cared about.

He climb the stairs slowly, trying to keep his mind from anything but Shun’guang’s eyes. The store manager settled on checking his phone after tossing himself on his bed. The springs creaked while he reached for the device.

There were the four messages from Zhu Yuan asking about the teamilk. He would have to apologize by getting her some other snack the next time they had a chat. There was a message from Belle letting him know that she would be spending the night with Ellen. Also something about Lycaon and Rina giving her a huge pack of tea to give to him .Then curiously was a reply from Yixuan… he had basically forgotten that they were having a conversation before..

…maybe the lack of sleep was making him forgetful.

He opened the message.

Really? I find that strange. You two seem so close. I was a little worried how she was going to fare without you given how much she relied on you. Last time she was at the temple, Xiao’Guang was gushing about how cute Eous is. Was it Belle who led her through the hollows?

He let out a low sigh. The gray haired man ran ahand through his hair before answering back that it had been. He had been busy with the video store and catching up with their other contacts.

He went to put his phone down, after all it was late and Yixuan had always been the kind of person to go to bed early so she could rise early. His Shifu was a busy woman after all.

He didn’t expect to immediately get a ping for a return message. He picked up his phone. Maybe Belle or Zhu Yuan, but he was surprised to see it was his master.

I see… but she hasn’t reached out to you at all? I thought when she returned she would have sought you out. I had thought she brough some of her baking for you and Belle.

She had, just a dutiful senior taking care of her juniors.

Nothing more.

Belle said she came by and dropped them off in a hurry. I was gone at the time, but I just assumed she was busy. Void Hunters do have a lot of things to do.

The return message was swift.

It is possible. The mayor does send her out on her own more often than I’m comfortable with.

Before he could respond there was a second message

Would it be convenient if I came to visit within the next few days? Disciple Yinhu made some pork buns for you two and I have some business in the Janus Quarter anyway. Perhaps your Shifu can take you two to that desert place we went to after the Divine Maze investigation.

The gray haired man sighed. This was a little troublesome. Unlike the others, he knew that Yixuan wouldn’t let it go when she saw him. She would probably have some way of telling how felt he was even if he got a perfect amount of sleep tonight. He could even imagine that almost lazy way she would suggest that he took care of himself.

It was in the opposite way of how Miss Arna would get them to open up, but even still parts of Yixuan Shifu reminded him of her. 

He wasn’t prepared to open any cans of worms like that in front of her… he didn’t want to cause unnecessary drama in Yunkui Summit.

Belle should be around! I’m a little busy picking up new stock for the store. I have to go all over the place. I can stop by Suibian Temple to pick up those pork buns from Senior Yinhu when I cycle the stock at our branch there. Belle’s been telling me how much she misses you guys, so I think she will be over the moon if you show up.

Was that enough? He knew his master was sharp, but he hoped she wouldn’t question it. His phone pinged.

I’ll make sure that FuFu and the others know that you’re coming by then tomorrow or the next day.

After a moment another message came through.

Though you have been with us for a short time, It’s important that you know, you are vital part of Suibian Temple too.

Guilt stabbed at him. He put the phone down… not particularly sure what to say to that… but after a moment he picked up his cell phone and typed out one last message.

Thank you, Shifu.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Manager, would you like to play a guessing game?” Qingyi’s tone carried a hint of exasperation as she greeted him. Zhu Yuan stood off to her side, not meeting the store keeper’s eyes as her partner spoke. “There’s a prize.”

Now, to be honest. Wise didn’t have room to carry a prize with his hands full of two cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other with tapes inside. Not to mention that he would have to carry those not too light boxes all the way across the square to his car. Ontop of all of this it was early in the morning. The antithesis to existentance (especially lately).

If he hadn’t grown some muscle during his time in Yunkui Summit then he was sure that he would have been shaking and sweating by the time he made it to where the two officers stood. Lumina square was always such a busy place too, so if he didn’t make it in time before the light-.

He watched it change to green suddenly, meaning he would have to wait anyway. He sighed and atleast Zhu Yuan had the decency to send him an apologetic look.

“What are you doing, Qingyi? Can’t you see the manager is busy?”

Her partner completely ignored her, the flat expression not breaking as she spoke with an equally dry affect.

“I’m so glad you’re interested, Manager. Here— take this prize.”

Before he could question what the prize was, The captain’s flustered expression caught his eyes and she spoke… almost pleading with her subordinate.

“Qingyi…”

Wise blinked, looking between the two for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

“I get the prize just like that?”

The suspicion in his voice was obvious enough, but it didn’t deter the shorter cop from her monotone prize pitch. 

“Oh, right… We have a quiz.” The construct citizen held up an open hand. “How many fingers are on this hand?”

He stared at her hand silently, then flicked his gaze to meet Zhu Yuan. She had a hand over her face… and he was pretty sure that her ears were red.

“Five… is there some kind of deeper meaning behind it?”

Qingyi’s expression didn’t change at all as she spoke. He was starting to get a little worried that there was some software issue.

“Don’t overthink it. There’s no deeper meaning behind it.” Then just as quickly her tone picked up in… relief? “Well done! You got it right! Your prize is— Officer Zhu Yuan.” The false cheer on the captain’s name felt incredibly forced. “You may take her home now.”

Take her… what?

The ‘prize’ sighed and let out a groan. She almost seemed to shrink in on herself in a concerning display.

“I can’t believe that I’m the prize for such a simple question. Qingyi, have you forgotten our friendship?”

“Looks like you’ve accepted reality and given up resisting. Good.” Wise eyed the stop light… it was still green and it was going to turn red soon. He felt bad, but he kinda wished they would hurry up a bit with… whatever this was. Qingyi looked satisfied at how defeated her friend was, before she turned fully to address the Random Play’s manager. “That means the duty of supervising Zhu Yuan’s vacation now falls upon you, Manager.”

Wise just stared at her.

“...Huh?”

“Wise is clearly working so-”

Qingyi didn’t acknowledge her complaint and spoke serenely. If Wise didn’t have valuable merchandise in his hand, he might have rubbed his eyes. It was too early for this.

“That’s right. It doesn’t matter where you take her. Just make sure she gets a break.” Just when he was about to ask why this was happening, the older officer continued. “Beware, Zhu Yuan is quite cunning. She may feign taking a break while actually being on duty, so you must remain vigilant and be able to tell the difference.”

He looked between her and a sheepish Zhu Yuan in bewilderment before he let out a breath.

“...sure. It’ll be nice to have some company on the road trip.”

“A road trip? Where are you-?

“Great.” The smaller woman cut her off once again, leaving a Zhu Yuan to slump in defeat. “I’m relieved to hear it.”

Then she was gone, disappearing into the crowd that was moving across the street in the opposite direction that he was heading. His companion for the day, seemed to embarrassed to say anything as she reluctantly followed him over to the street.  It was definitely one of the weirdest conversations with the pair that he ever had, but the time was past and the light just turned green.

His arms were starting to shake as well.

“Here, just let me… take one.”

The relief was instant the second the officer grabbed the top box from the top of the second one. He gave her a grateful look, was greeted by the officer rolling her eyes and giving a small smile. At least it was better than the frown she was wearing before.

“Thank you. My car is over in the parking garage.”

The pair strode over the now clear street. Zhu Yuan walked beside him… he could see her eyes scanning the crowd like she was looking for some kind of thug to take down. Wise took the opportunity to nudge her with his elbow.

“You’re not supposed to be working. I can see you scanning the crowd.”

“I’m not, I promise! I’m just… keeping an eye on things. I want to make sure that traffic is flowing smoothly and if it isn’t…” The woman trailed off with a wince when she turned to look at her babysitter for the day’s raised eyebrow. “Okay… maybe it sounds like work but I-I promise I won’t do anything.”

“Right…” The drawl made it obvious that he didn’t believe her, but since they’d reached his car the conversation was shelved as he arranged the boxes in the back. That was a good start. Now they could head to Sixth Street, and get the boxes for their Failume Heights branch before hitting the road.

Speaking of…

“I suppose this is the part where I ask you where this ‘road trip’ is going.”

Zhu Yuan shut the trunk of his car and turned to face him, she was looking a little less reserved… which was good. Even thought he responsibility of making sure the woman took vacation was thrust upon him, Wise wasn’t going to drag her all the way to Waifei Penisula if she didn’t want to go.

“Well for now, we are heading towards Sixth Street to drop off these boxes.” They both entered the car, and it was a little amusing to wonder if he could get out a speeding ticket if he had a police captain in the car with him.

They both buckled up as she pressed.

“For now?”

“Then after that is the road trip… which I can’t really say I feel comfortable dragging you on if you don’t want to.” After a moment of navigating the road he pulled out of his parking spot, slowly merging into traffic as the moved toward the highway. “I have to head to our other branch to cycle the stock that we have there.”

Zhu Yuan’s eyebrows shot up.

“Wow, that’s impressive, Manager. I didn’t realize your video store had become so successful.”  The car made it onto the highway and thus began the roughly twenty minute drive to Sixth Street. “Where is that Branch? In another part of the Janus Quarter?”

“Well… no. Not exactly.”

If he would have been daring enough to drive distracted with a PubSec officer in the car (he wasn’t.) he might have seen her brows furrow. When she didn’t say anything for a minute he added. “It’s located outside of Suibian Temple at Failume Heights.”

“That’s a three hour drive one way, Manager.”

“Y-yep! That’s why I was making a day of it.”

There was a moment of silence as they drove down the road, now fully on the way back. He tapped his fingers a little nervously on the steering wheel. “I-I can always drop you back off at Lumina Square along the way. Even if Qingyi gets a little upset, I won’t make you spend your whole day going there and back.”

“No, its fine. I don’t mind going… but I think I would like to change into more casual clothes before we get going. If you have time to stop.”

Wise was so surprised that she agreed that he didn’t even think to filter his thoughts.

“...You have other cloth-Ow!”

He gingerly rubbed his bicep from where Zhu Yuan had smacked him.

“Yes, I do have other clothes.” Her voice was a little testy but there was something else there. Excitement? “I’ve never actually been over to Waifei.”

“It’’s very pretty.” He wished that he could be excited as she was, but he just felt a little nervous. He didn’t want to drag Zhu Yuan into his petty, inconsequential problems. He didn’t want to sink the friendship again so soon after refloating it. If his senior was there… he really wasn’t sure… what he would do.

He would need to get used to it regardless. Even if his feelings weren’t returned, Xiao’Guang was his senior and a friend. Wise would just have to learn to deal. Even if she was there and still kept him at arms length he would be okay.

His chest felt heavy, but he forced himself to speak before Zhu Yuan could notice something was wrong.

“If you want, I can introduce you to some of my seniors at Suibian Temple. Senior Yinhu makes some of the best food I’ve ever had, and Senior FuFu would probably love to show you around. My master won’t be around since she has some errands she has to do in the Janus Quarter.”

He was glad that his driving companion didn’t seem to notice, a glance to his side let him know that she had pulled out her phone and was typing away furiously… and did her cheeks look a little pink? Actually she only seemed to be half listening as she furiously typed away.

He couldn’t really get a good look— seeing as he was driving, but he did wonder what she was thinking about.

“I just had to let my parents know that I wouldn’t be by for dinner tonight, but that sounds like a great time! I can even use the opportunity to get a better idea what the geography of the area so that way if we have to have-”

Leave it to Zhu Yuan to find a way to turn a vacation into work, but since it was the most excitement she had expressed since telling him about her tomato garden he was willing to let it slide.

He was happy that they were working to mend their friendship.

____________________________________________________________________________

After unloading the car at Random Play and saying goodbye to Belle, the pair had driven all the way back to Zhu Yuan’s apartment.

It turned out that she didn’t live that close to Lumina Square.

“So you get up early enough to make the first metro train.” He glanced wide-eyed at the woman in his passenger’s seat. The officer had dressed down into a black long sleeve t-shirt with a white camisole underneath and a pair of blue jeans. Her hair was still up in her usual pony tail, but had traded out her handcuffed themed headband with an orange one.

Wise had to admit that it was a little jarring to see the officer looking like a normal woman. She still had that aura she always carried with her. That strong will and drive still lit up her orange eyes. Without the guns, ballistic vest, and communicator in her ear. She really just did look like any other New Eridu resident that he would see walking down the street.

“Yeah, I usually ride it to the office every morning. I’m usually the only one there.”

He wasn’t even sure he normally went to sleep before the first train started to go. She had to got to sleep incredibly early if that was the case.

“I see.” He wanted to change the subject, before his own sleeping habits were brought up. “Do you want to stop to get some snacks somewhere before we go?”

“No I think I want to save room for those charsui buns you were talking about.” He had turned on some Woodpecker Electro for the trip, a band he hadn’t known that they both liked.

“Senior Yinhu was excited I was bringing a guest. He said that he was going to make sure we left full.”  He was looking excited for the leftovers as well… Maybe there was something nice he could do for Pan in exchange for all the times he had taken care of their diets.

“I see, when did you meet them? You’re ‘seniors and your ‘master’?”

“Actually, they were the first people we met there. The mayor put us in contact with Yixuan Shifu and-”

“Wait. You mean your master is Yixuan of Yunkui Summit?!” Zhu Yuan’s shocked tone made Wise blink. He knew his master was on the same level as a Void Hunter, but was she that well known? He hadn’t remembered hearing about her until right before he was introduced. “The same one who is said to rival Miyabi?”

Wise tilted his head, putting on a show of thinking about it.

“I think she told me once that they had a spar at the HIA building that broke the VR machines-”

“Wait wait, stop.” Her voice was incredulous as she spoke, “When you say shes your, ‘Shifu’ that means that you and Belle are-?”

“Mystics, yes.”

He cut her off this time, a look over from the empty road and he could see that the cop was massaging her temples.”Do you have a headache? I think I have some aspirin in the console.”

“No, I’m fine… I just didn’t expect you to join them. To be honest Wise, I always thought you might get winded going on a brisk jog.” Well that had been true, but that didn’t mean she had to say it. He remembered Soldier Eleven forcing him on said ‘brisk jogs’ from one end of Sixth Street to the other. “So then were you there when that Lu Hengzhou was arrested?”

Wise frowned at the memory of that jerk. While he made it a point to try not to hate anyone, that man had pushed that philosophy to the brink.

“Yeah I was there, it was really hard on Shifu since she had no idea that was what he was doing. Not to mention how he practically forced the Qingming Sword on Xi- my senior.”

“Yeah, that guy was definitely a bad actor.” She sounded just as disgusted with him as she did. Secretly, Wise was glad she already knew about it. He didn’t want to explain it. “I was busy working on another case, but I’m glad the other officers handled that without issue.”

“It was a pretty tough time for Yunkui Summit, but thankfully we were able to recover from it before more trouble started.”

The car glided over the road bellow them as they sat in silence. They were just getting over the bridge that connected Waifei to the Janus Quarter. They had a third of the drive left to go. Honestly, he was glad that Qingyi had handed her off to him. Having someone to drive with made it considerably less boring to traverse. The music coming from the radio was enough to take the edge of most the time, but it was rather enjoyable with company.

“Can you tell me more about the people in Yunkui Summit?”

It was question that he had been expecting but dreading, he hoped it wasn’t too visible on his face when he answered.

“Well, the first person I met was Yixuan Shifu during the Mockingbird incident, and after that she brought me via Air Ship to Failume Heights… Well that was the plan atleast. Then our airship got shot down by the Exaltists… I think.”

Zhu Yuan, who had been taking a drink of an iced coffee, almost choked.

“T-That was you too?!” What about your ether resistance?!”

She leaned over like she wanted to check his condition but stopped midway with one hand raised… before she put it down. He couldn’t tell because he was driving… but was she blushing?

“I’m fine! I promise! The update the mayor gave our eyes, made Belle and I more resistant. I’ve been in and out of the Hollow a few time since… I am a mystic of Yunkui Summit after all.”

“Are you… well… okay.” Before he could ask her why it bothered her so much the officer kept talking, a glance showed that she had turned to the window, vibrant black and orange pony tail turned to him. “I suppose that it was part of your adventures you had out here…”

“I didn’t even really get harmed in the crash, Yixuan Shifu found me right away and we got out unscathed. Every other time I went into the Hollow I had people with me that made sure I didn’t get hurt.”

It took a second for Zhu Yuan to reply, but it seemed to take the tension out of her shoulders. It was hard to tell for sure from her glances, but she eventually settled back into her seat fully.

“There’s also Senior Pan Yinhu who does most of the cooking, and Senior Ju FuFu who has been the master disciple for longer than anyone else. They are both great people and always really reliable to have around.” It seemed to help, out of the corner of his eyes he saw his companion shift to face him slightly. “Then theres Senior Ye Shiyuan.. He’s kind and knowledgeable. Honestly far more patient then anyone man should be. He… left after the crisis. The… unethical practices when it came to the Qingming Sword were too much for him.”

There was only one left… and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk about her, but if it was ever going to be normal for him he was going to need to just think of her like the rest of his seniors.

“The last one I meant was Ye Shun’Guang. She’s the Qingming Sword’s current wielder and the little sister of Senior Shiyuan. We usually just call her Xiao’Guang. She likes to bake desserts and is a… very caring senior.”

It took all of his willpower to not let his current mood affect his tone.

“Ye Shun’Guang… The Qingming Arbiter.”

Zhu Yuan’s voice seemed thoughtful as she spoke, if he wasn’t looking at the road he was almost sure that she would be tapping her chin in thought. “I’ve heard a lot about her from Miyabi. The fact she was able to reduce the negative effects of the sword’s power is nothing short of incredible.”

He remembered those earrings she had made for him to wear after they had finished. The faint pink color to his senior’s cheeks after giving them to him. He remembered how they were now sitting in the back of his sock drawer.

“Yeah, it’s incredible to see her mastery over the weapon.”

It was all he could force himself to say in an even tone, but now he desperately wanted to change the subject. “There was also an Inter-Knot horror-themed forum group we met named Spook Shack. They were also key to solving so many problems during that time too.”

“A group of… online forum members.” The disbelief in her voice chased away the bitter-sweet memories. “You can’t be serious… that has to be over the line. Even for you, Manager.”

A soft smile slid onto his lips as they finally crossed the bridge.

He was still a little nervous about a potential confrontation… but he’d at least make sure they had fun on the drive.