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Yuri’s knuckles turned white. His force he gripped the wall with was nearly enough to put a small puncture. He looked into the next hallway, his eyes narrowed.
Area is clear of suspicious activity, Yuri noted. He lowered his sunglasses and inspected the door to Yor’s home. Yes, it was Yor’s home, because like hell was the house shared with another man. However, the husband was home, which made this moment the perfect chance to observe his habits. No eavesdroppers, or visitors who entered the hall for five minutes.
His blood boiled in his veins. Visitors! Could he have missed someone who went inside before he arrived? Yor explained she would be gone tonight, and he had arrived a whole fifteen minutes after her expected departure at 6:45 p.m. That left a ten minute window for mischief. Who would visit him? Loid, courteous and considerate on the surface—he could have a number of slimy and heartless visitors that Yor wouldn’t approve of.
How can Yor trust him? Yuri thought. His nails dug into the wall’s plaster. What if Loid is doing something in there behind her back? Illegal! Would he? That creep! He would. What does Yor see in him? So much they almost kissed that time!?
He rather bleach his brain from the filth before he conjured up that scene again.
Yuri, through his best efforts and gritted teeth, imagined a smirking and shadowy Loid hovering above a phone and making plans. Evil, evil plans against Yor’s will. Something about the description was off for him, though. The reminder of Loid’s openness to know him better crawled up his spine. His offered support they would be happy as a family. Ice prickled his skin. He groaned and threw his head back.
In her room, Anya hopped in her chair. The angry flurry of jumbled and jarring sentences swirled in her head, and she scrunched up her eyelids, warding off a headache. Her pencil smashed into the sheet of math questions before her on the desk and the tip broke off. Grumpily, she sighed and tossed the pencil on the book next to her elbow. Loid had told her that, if she completed her homework after reviewing the notes with him for a while, she could have a nice reward.
Writing out math problems was the worst. How would she earn another Stella with the racket outside? The thoughts of their neighbors were light background noise for Anya, but his thoughts were exploding!
But wait. Who was it? Yor and Loid… he knew them. Was he an enemy spy!? She bolted up in her chair. On full alert, she reexamined his words. But… No, he didn’t sound like he wanted to hurt them? Anya couldn’t deny the fact he was concerned.
Pushing herself out of her chair, she bit her lip. Yor had taught her to confront her issues. She couldn’t leave the situation.
Anya tiptoed through the living room. On the couch, Loid slumped over the armrest, his eyes shut and mouth agape in his sound slumber. Faintly, he snored.
Rage filled Yuri. He could have screwed up. Closer. He must get closer to his target. He abandoned the pretense of watching from afar, and he slowly crept from behind the wall. He sidestepped towards the door until he was face-to-face with it. Yuri pressed his ear to the thick wood. He didn’t hear anything. His forehead rested against the cool, polished wood. Impatiently, he tapped his head on the frame, wishing he could outright bang his head on it in his unbridled frustration.
Yor, why did you have to get mixed up with him? He totally duped you. I know his type! Yuri hit his head a little harder, his fist scraping across the expanse of door. That fiend took advantage of your kind innocence. He’s using you. I knew I should have had him executed. I…
Anya’s head tilted uncomfortably.
Exe… cutetation? Momentary fear welled up within Anya. She didn’t know the word meaning, but it didn’t sound good. She had faith Loid would overcome anything.
Anya huffed, puffing out her chest. He was wrong! Her father was the best of the best spies. She wanted to yell that at him, but she stopped herself. After all, she couldn’t wake up Papa after his hard work. Loid had limits; he had searched for intel all day long. He was tired. Still, she was upset the man was so rude.
Anya grabbed the door handle. She yanked the door open, the bright light from the hallway making her wince.
Yuri’s face was pulled back in a feral snarl. Her confidence drained after witnessing him. Her bottom lip trembled, worried.
“C-Can we just get along?” Anya asked. She hated showing that she could hear thoughts in any way, but the worry was the first thing she could muster to say.
Yuri’s caught himself before he tumbled head first into the living room. His body flailed and went rigid. He paused, furious, ready to retaliate with a comeback for Loid’s impossible remarks. Nothing like that happened and his mind backtracked. No one stood before him in the threshold. His gaze fell. Anya cheekily peered up at him, frowning. It froze him to his core.
Yuri dropped to his knees. He fell. He landed on his backside, cursing his luck in every way possible. Jolts of shock shot up his backside while he collected himself.
A child had scared him. He was a fool.
How did she…? He must have made more noise than intended. Calling himself an officer in the State Security Service would be a disgrace; a child heard him when he was in his most secretive ministrations. This was for Yor’s sake! How could he let his emotions bring him to jeopardy?
The realization hit him. So this was her.
On one hand, he was deeply confronted. This girl was Loid’s daughter, his flesh and blood. Cut from the same cloth from his troubles. But that was simplified.
The patient look on his sister’s face raced through his brain a mile a minute. Anya tried so hard to wait up for you, Yor had told him because he had missed her while she slept. She had been proud of her.
Yuri swallowed his fierce pride. Holding himself back was the most difficult thing he had done in his life, the lump the size of an overgrown golf ball. No matter what he thought of Loid Forger, his daughter was only curious. She was not guilty.
“Of course we can,” Yuri said, relaxing his shoulders. He took a controlling breath. Before him, Anya’s image wavered. He saw himself there—the person he wanted to be in Yor’s field of attention, as though the child had taken his place. His chest was painful, constricted, bleak and empty. But the girl piqued interest only for Yor and… Her dejection was reminiscent to his own from their childhood when Yor didn’t praise him. “You’re… Yes, you’re Anya, are you? Yes, now, you’re—“ Yuri shuffled awkwardly. He hated to give that man any credit, but his daughter was sweet on first introduction and Yor did love her. “Don’t look so down.”
Anya was not convinced. Tentatively, she took a step forward. She held out her hand to him. “Are you a bad guy?” Spies didn’t answer obvious questions like that. Resorting to it was worth a shot, though.
“Bad guy…?” Perhaps he had arrived at his first impulse to let her off the hook too soon. No, he could conceded he was not pretty in his current state. “No. I promise you. I am not a bad guy.”
Anya’s hand swung back and forth in front of him and blurred in his mind’s eye. The considerate gesture was beyond that of Loid Forger’s capabilities and set her apart of his looming menace. But he was not prepared to accept help quite yet from her. Yuri pushed himself to his feet. Steeling himself, he brushed off his pants, processing the unrelenting truth. He wouldn’t admit the dark, harsh reality. He had a blooming soft spot for the girl.
Warily, he glanced side to side, as though searching for the scoundrel inside. But he didn’t spot him. Hesitating, he reached towards her, and his hand landed on her head. He smoothed his hand through the pink locks. “Hi. Sorry I scared you.”
Anya’s eyes went wide. His hand was warm and gentle on her hair. He smelled distinctly like alcohol. Her nose crinkled, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She leaned into his touch and shook her head, smiling sunnily.
“It’s okay!” Anya assured.
Operation scout Loid’s every movement while Yor was out for the evening was officially canned. She had given him such a good insight into when she was busy these days, too. Loid may call this farce a victory. He only won the battle and not the war. Yuri admitted this to himself.
Yuri pulled back. The removal was abrupt. He couldn’t let himself succumb to any attachment. Then, he turned on his heel. “If your parents ask questions, can you keep this a secret between us? That I came here? Thanks. See you, kid.”
Normally, Anya loved secrets. Spies were not her favorite for no reason. Despite his off-putting attitude, she had met him a minute ago. Her disappointment was a tidal wave in her chest and roared to life. “Please don’t go yet!” Anya cried. She firmly grabbed his wrist and held on for dear life as he dragged her down the hall.
Yuri, quick to weighing him down with each heavy step forward, came to a halt. He carefully slid his wrist from her grasp.
“I have to go to work,” he said. His real job was finished for the day, but his sister’s well-being might become a second job for him to consider. Work on planning my next move against Loid.
“Liar,” Anya murmured under her breath, half-disgruntled he wouldn’t give up the chase. He was a worse lair than Loid.
Why couldn’t he admit that he wanted to come in all along and wait for Yor to come back home? Yor liked him. He liked her. It was clear. She would be happy to see him again. Grown-ups were strange, but his closed-off posture (like Loid when he was on high alert to his surroundings) and general reluctance to continue the conversation were dead giveaways.
Anya jumped. Speaking of work that she had to do… The page of her homework came back to her thoughts. “I have to do my homework. I forgot all about it!”
Yuri clapped his hands together. He supposed that was what a child would be obsessed with. He had disturbed her from her studies. “Homework is difficult at your age.” An odd sense of connection rippled through his heart with her enthusiasm. Yor’s hair spilling over her shoulder while she leaned forward towards Anya and pointed to a line of text… He blinked. “Does Yor teach you?” he asked. He truly saw the parallels between them, if so.
“A little,” Anya said. “She’s really smart.”
Yuri was both amused and bemused. To his horror and amazement, he laughed. “She is,” he agreed. Now that he had found his footing and noted her worthy of his attention, then he… well… “You… You’re right. Because you feel that way… That makes you… makes you my…”
“Makes me?” Anya asked. His thoughts surged, and she couldn’t make heads or tails of what that exactly meant for her.
Anya’s eyes were so impressionable and pure of heart. He almost couldn’t believe he had thought she was of the low caliber that Loid Forger’s presence exuded; she was much his superior in such matters. He was suddenly off-guard, captivated.
“My niece.”
“What’s a niece?” Anya had never heard the word. But she liked the sound of it.
Yuri shifted his sunglasses again. The lenses were fogged and he wasn’t sure why. Little twinges of confusion flew in his chest. “To put it straightforwardly… Family. That makes me your uncle.”
Flabbergasted, Anya absorbed the news. Family. He called her family! Keeping the family together was a job only she could keep going, but he had a place in it, too.
She stared at his back. He was down the hall, now. He turned the hallway corner.
“Come back, okay?” Anya yelled.
“Sometime,” he replied. And to himself he added gruffly, I’m not coming back here because you invited me. I might—and this is a big, big might—have another reason to visit this house besides Yor.
Thrilled Anya beamed after him. She was so happy she didn’t bother chasing after him. She had another reason for being. She tap-danced on both feet, twirling a bit. More family members! He was weird and scary, but she could work with that.
Something her new uncle had thought earlier came round circle to Anya.
“Mama and Papa almost kissed!?”
Anya wouldn’t tell them about his visit. She could give him that much freedom. But, as compensation, he had to tell her many things when he visited again. Anything to keep her family together.