Chapter Text
The Xianzhou Laofu was an extraordinary sight.
A lush of vibrant colors everywhere, so bright and bustling. The friendly people, the exotic smells, the treats and sweets, the gorgeous jaw-dropping views. All of it was brand new and exciting.
“WOAHHHHHH!” March exclaimed with starry eyes, quite taken by the ancient architecture around her. “So, this is where Dan Heng’s from! Too bad he couldn’t come with us, with his mysterious past and all~”
Stelle gave their friend the all-to-knowing side glance. “Oh? Says the person who was the last to leave the Express, chatting him up until Mr. Yang had to remind you that we needed to go.”
March folded her arms and harrumphed, the noticeable blush spreading on her cheeks.
“W-well, I didn’t want him to feel left out, you know?” She tried to explain, but of course, her ever so perceptive friend saw right through her terrible lie.
Chuckling, Stelle gave the poor girl a pat on the head. “He’ll be fine, March,” They assured with a warm smile. “Our guy’s got Himeko and Pom-Pom to keep him company in the Express.” A pause. “Unless you think he might forget us while we’re away?”
“WHAT? There’s no way!” March suddenly cried, puffing her cheeks. “If anything, he should be the one that’s missing out on all of this!” And proceeded to gesture her arms hysterically around her.
Stelle laughed, taking a step back. “Whatever you say, March,” From the corner of their eye, they caught the oldest member of their team absentmindedly staring ahead.
“Say, Mr. Yang?”
The older man glanced at the young trailblazer, his eyebrow raised with interest. “Yes?”
Stelle moved a bit closer, going on their tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. “Has March ever been apart from Dan Heng?”
At this, the older man chuckled. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, since we came here, she’s been talking about him nonstop.”
“Whenever March wants to go anywhere, Himeko would be the one to instruct either Dan Heng or me to go with her.” Welt began, his trained eyes zoomed on March who was already running off to take pictures of a random dog statue. He sighed, picking up the pace lest he might lose sight of the energetic girl. “I got busy around that time and so it would be Dan Heng who would mostly accompany her on her ventures.”
“But if you want my honesty, I will say…for as long as I’ve known the two, they’ve been inseparable. Himeko and I always had a strong feeling Dan Heng wanted to safeguard March from the very beginning. We allowed him to do so, as part of his duty as the Astral Express guard.”
Stelle nodded ecstatically, wanting to know more. “Yeah and?”
“March can be a troublemaker so having Dan Heng around her made sense,” Welt continued, nodding along. A low chuckle escaped from him. “I don’t know how Dan Heng himself keeps up with her. From what I know, he seems far capable enough to keep her in check.”
“Huh…” uttered Stelle, mulling it over. “So basically, what March is doing right now…”
“In simpler terms, she’s got a bad case of Dan Heng withdrawal,” Welt finished, causing the latter to burst out laughing.
Tweaking his glasses, the older man couldn’t help but let a smirk manifest. “Alas, this is only the start of everything. So, my dear friend, I must advise you to prepare yourself.”
Easing on their laughter, Stelle gave him an honorable salute. “Will do, Mr. Yang.”
It was barely two hours and March was all over the place.
Since their unwelcoming affair with the Mara-struck soldiers, things kept piling up one after another. From their meeting with the charming Tingyun, the steadfast Yukong to the famous indolent General Jing Yuan—without a doubt, the journey through the new world proved to be far grander and overwhelming at once.
At the very least, March kept her other teammates on their toes.
It seems for the most part, despite her constant denial, she does seem to unintentionally include a certain young man’s name in her chatter.
It started off as a teasing gesture that even Stelle could join along.
“Hey, let’s see how Dan Heng’s doing! Hehe, ask him what he’s up to — then tell him we’re having loads of fun!”
But slowly…
“Hey, hey! Did Dan Heng respond to your texts? What’d he say? Tell me, Stelle!”
…and surely…
“Haha! Dan Heng’s not icy! He’s nerdy, silly~”
There seem to be no limits to her ever-so-growing ‘Dan Heng’ pointers.
It wasn’t later that afternoon that the team reached a boiling point.
As usual, March was always one step ahead (in a literal sense) as she frolicked away from the group, diving deep into the crowd within the marketplace.
Eventually, both Stelle and Welt caught the girl trying to get inside a library to ‘check out books Dan Heng might be interested in’. But that was the worst part.
Before they could advise her to slow down, once more, the wild March fled into the crowd and leaving her poor subordinates to chase her down.
After wandering through the busy marketplace, Stelle and Welt finally found her admiring a tea shop— “Oh, I bet you if Dan Heng were here, he’ll be over the moon with this!” she commented, checking out the ceramic cups and herbal tea.
“ARGHHHHH! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”
A loud roar erupted in the middle of the plaza, causing many of the pedestrians to stop and look.
March squealed and turned, startled to find her usually mischievous friend in public distress.
“DAN HENG THIS, DAN HENG THAT! JUST ADMIT THAT YOU MISS HIM ALREADY MARCH!” Stelle cried abruptly, which earned the main trio a couple of weird looks from bystanders around them.
Of course, for the umpteenth time, the oblivious pink-haired girl laughed away, diverting the topic with one of her forceful smiles. “Hahaha, aww come on~ I didn’t say his name that much—“
“March, this is the fifteenth time now. Fifteen.” Welt points out, his voice humorously serious. Oh, so even the older man was getting exhausted over her growing denial.
March clamped her mouth shut, a burning blush adorning her cherub face. It started from her cheeks and spread down to her exposed neck.
“T-THAT’S NOT TRUE!” She stammered quite loudly, tripping over her words. “I-I didn’t say his name that much!”
Both Stelle and Welt exchanged looks and sighed.
Ohh, the denial here was definitely off the charts.
“What do we do? If we tell her to shut up, she’ll think we’re mad at her,” Stelle whispered to Welt who continued to mull his thoughts over. They needed a resolution to all this and fast. Looking around, a shiny object caught Stelle’s eye. An idea popped in. “I’ll be back!” And then rushed off, heading to what appears to be an old antique store.
“Huh, wonder what that’s about,” March murmured, still blushing profoundly. She glanced over to Welt who took this time to compose himself.
“March, come with me.” He said and guided her over to a nearby bench.
Both sitting down, Welt finally released a low, tired exhale.
“You know, it’s natural to feel sad sometimes,” he said simply, ready to give the girl a good talking. “In this case, you and Dan Heng have always been together. So, with him not around, it’s okay to say that you miss him.” He took this moment to get a good look at her, and when he did, he noticed the visible hesitancy on her face.
“March? Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah, it’s just…” She trailed off, lowering her head.
“Hmm? What’s the matter?”
Taking a deep breath, March looked up to face her father-like figure. “…Mr. Yang, please don’t tell Stelle what I’m about to say. I want this to be only between us, okay?”
Welt nodded sternly, ready to listen. “You have my word.”
“…I do miss Dan Heng,” She finally admits, relaxing her tense shoulders but quickly adding, “But I’m scared to say it cause…well, I don’t want any of you guys to think I can’t take on this mission without him, you know?”
As she delivered her words, her voice grew fainter and softer. “I don’t want Dan Heng specially to think that I’m not capable to do things without him, so…there.”
Welt said nothing, letting the silence take over.
March’s infamous cheery demeanor started to crack. The false mask she kept wearing for so long, was breaking down and all he could do was watch it crumble and fall. He recalled Himeko’s words from back then, how similar the two—both March and Dan Heng.
One was running away from his past, the other eagerly seeking it out.
One preferred to stay in the background, the other more confident to be out in the open.
But dig deeper and it was obviously clear how much they related with each other. Deep down, they were hurting, vulnerable, and unsure of what to do.
What they did have was each other.
And now they have us, Welt added thoughtfully, his eyes softening. No need for them to be lost and wayward anymore.
“Thank you for telling me this March,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it.
March sniffed, nodding meekly. Leaning back, she sighed and said, “I should be the one thanking you Mr. Yang, for being a great listener and all~”
“No need to thank me,” He advised her, “That’s what I’m here for, right?”
The duo exchanged smiles and laughter, the tension easing away.
“Hmm…Stelle is gone for an awfully long time now,” Welt noted, breaking the brief silence. “Now, where did our little trailblazer run off to—“
Before he could finish, an approaching figure came into view.
“Oh, there they are! Heyyyy~” Rising from her seat, March waved at them to come over. “Hey, uh…Stelle? What the heck is that?”
As soon as Stelle joined them, a devious grin played on their lips. “Hehehehe, I present to you! The answer to all our problems!” And showed off the medium glass jar, thrusting it into the air.
…
…
…
March blinked, not following her eccentric friend. “Uhhh…”
Welt cleared his throat. “Please elaborate.”
“With this jar, we’ll keep track of how many times March says Dan Heng’s name!” explained Stelle, puffing their chest boastfully. “Think of it as a game of sorts, you know?”
“March are you okay with this?” asked the older gentleman, growing concerned.
“I don’t mind, really~” The pink-haired girl replied, smiling away. “Besides, maybe this might also help prove that I don’t say his name so much!”
“Then let’s do it,” Stelle stated, eager to start the challenge. “Each time you mention or say Dan Heng’s name, even a wink of description that sounds a lot like him, we put a coin in the jar.”
Processing her words, March gulped. “Is there a punishment if it’s full?”
“No, not really,” Stelle said, shrugging. “But if we do fill it up to the top, maybe we can treat ourselves with some sweets after the mission. You know, just harmless fun!”
Marched nodded excitedly, liking the sound of it. “Alright, then count me in!”
“Good! Now before we go, let’s just…” Stelle paused for a second, balancing the jar with one hand as they rummaged through their pockets to get some coins out.
“Here let me,”
To their surprise, it was Welt who came in to contribute the coins through the slot. A bunch of coins fell into the jar, the loud clicks growing louder the more they hit the base.
“From my estimate, we’ll be starting with fifteen, yes?”
Stelle nodded, giving him a thumbs up. “Yup!” Then glanced over to March who stared at the jar curiously. “You ready, March?”
“Well, I can’t really say no since you already bought the jar.” March replied, sighing. “So I guess I'm on board.”
Stelle’s smile grew wider. The mission may still be a long way to go, but the real entertainment was starting! Can't wait to see the look on his face when I show him the results, Stelle thought wistfully, snickering.
Meanwhile, March and Welt stared at them, completely at a loss for words.
"...Should I be worried?" Welt asked the younger girl.
March nodded, smiling nervously. "Yes, yes you should."
Back at the Astral Express, there was a different story.
As usual, Himeko and Pom-Pom remained at the Parlor Car to keep things in order. This left Dan Heng to return to his room and attend to the data banks.
It’s been a few hours since the trio left to embark on yet another heroic mission. As much as he would’ve liked to join them, Xianzhou Luofu was the last place he wanted to explore. The place was nostalgic and yet, there was something eerie about it that deep down, something inside him was screaming not to go.
For the time being, he would remain here.
No more door banging, no boisterous laughing in the hallways.
No hurried stomping or footsteps, no disruptive music popping off from next door.
It was peace and quiet, just the way he liked it.
…
…
…
Or so he thought.
Dan Heng pressed a hand on his forehead, groaning. He was supposed to be finishing up his work, but his mind was elsewhere.
He tried to hide it from everyone—the growing worry and fear that might befall his teammates. For sure, he had full confidence in Mr. Yang and his abilities to take care of the pair. Despite their unpredictability, Stelle proved to be formidable in battle.
Then there was March.
Aeons know the kind of chaos the other two had to go through because of her.
The thought of her possibly getting lost or hurt made him feel queasy. Perhaps he should send them a message asking if they’re alright?
A knock on the door reeled Dan Heng back to reality. Glancing over his shoulder, he let his guard down when he found Himeko leaning against the doorframe.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” He confirmed, nodding.
Himeko smiled, walking over to give him a cup of coffee. “Here, drink this.”
Dan Heng nodded, thanking her, and accepting the beverage.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay right now,” he said, taking a few sips. The hot liquid and bitter flavor hit his tongue, forcing him too fully be awake.
“Good. Let me know if you need anything, okay? I’m only a train car away.”
Dan Heng nodded. “Okay.” He watched as the older woman turned to make her exit, then out of nowhere, he called out her name. “Himeko!”
“Yes?”
“Can I ask you a favor?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“It's a strange request, but…can you play some music?”
Himeko perked up, surprised to hear those words coming out from the usually reserved guard. “Alright,” She replied, crossing her arms. “Is there anything that interests you?”
Dan Heng shrugged. “Not really. I just…” He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.
Himeko grinned. Right away, she knew what he wanted to say. “Whatever March listens to, right?” She asked, causing the latter to quickly turn and stare at her in disbelief.
“I’ll have to visit her room and see if there’s a radio. If I could find it, I’ll play it.”
Dan Heng nodded, his gaze averted away.
Himeko didn’t need to hear his thanks as she spotted the obvious blush spreading across his face. With a tender smile, she proceeded to exit the door, only to stop midway. “Would you like the door closed?”
“Leave it open, please.” Dan Heng said without looking back, returning to his work.
“Alright then.” Respecting his wishes, the red-headed navigator left him to his devices. As much as he keeps things to himself, there was no doubt he cares deeply for his friends. And perhaps, maybe more to a certain someone, Himeko muses, grinning as she made her way back inside the Parlor Car.