Work Text:
Fang Xuecai hasn’t heard from Xiao Shiqin ever since he left for Excellent Era. He figured that perhaps Xiao Shiqin was busy training with his new team and new teammates. It hurt to think of the possibility that Xiao Shiqin would purposely avoid him after leaving Thunderclap. To not even receive a message checking in with the team, or how he was integrating over there. He pushed that thought to the side.
Xiao Shiqin must be busy, surely. He knew Excellent Era liked to keep their mouths shut about the ongoings within the team. To control how the fans see their actions. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Excellent Era had many issues, given the obvious animosity towards Senior Ye.
Fang Xuecai hoped that in the very least, Xiao Shiqin would forgive himself. That their terrible loss to Samsara wasn’t his fault. That he truly fit in with the other four master tacticians. Fang Xuecai let out a nervous laugh.
He wasn’t exactly sure what to do now that he was Thunderclap‘s tactician now. And with two transfers from Excellent Era, Liu Hao and He Ming as well as having recruited Zhang Qi, he’s got quite a bit on his plate. It didn’t help that Liu Hao’s contract stated that he were to be Thunderclap’s new captain. Fang Xuecai flipped through a dark blue notebook, fingers brushing over the words, over the strokes of each letter. Xiao Shiqin penned down so many notes, so many plans, and so many analyses on every single pro player. Captain had left this notebook to him, entrusting Thunderclap’s pride to him.
Xiao Shiqin was no longer their captain but to Fang Xuecai, Xiao Shiqin would always be his captain. A blip popped up on his phone. And with that notification, Fang Xuecai’s stomach dropped. A text from Dai Yanqi, notifying him to open the news.
[[ Breaking News: Professional eSports Player Xiao Shiqin—Excellent Era’s recent transfer—Reported Missing. ]]
Fang Xuecai’s heart dropped. His hands shook as he tried to take in the sudden announcement. New articles popped up containing some speculation about Xiao Shiqin, slandering his character for abandoning his new team and possibly breaking his contract. An Excellent Era PR representative came forth trying to quell the rumors, stating that there wasn’t an issue of Excellent Era’s security. No witnesses came forth with testimony as to his whereabouts.
Fang Xuecai heard a knock at his door, with a shaky voice asking how he was fairing. It was Cheng Tai. He gave a sigh before responding that they should try and get some rest before their practice match. He heard a non-committal hum back before their footsteps disappeared down the hall. Fang Xuecai ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm his nerves to no avail.
That night, Fang Xuecai could not get a single wink of sleep. Worries bubbled up inside him, keeping his mind constantly racing, unable to turn it off.
~~~
Their match against Tiny Herb didn’t fare as well, unable to shut down Wang Jiexi. Not a terrible loss overall but not the best either, scoring 4/10. While they were unable to deal with Wang Jiexi, their team also wasn’t so easily picked off one by one like others.
Fang Xuecai bit his lip and rolled his fingers as he spoke during their post match interview. A rogue interviewer shouted out a question about whether they had still been affected by Xiao Shiqin’s sudden disappearance awhile back to which Fang Xuecai promptly answered, “Of course it’s natural that Xiao Shiqin’s disappearance matters to us but we believe that we at Thunderclap will uphold his wishes for the team and continue to give it our all.”
It would have been a lie that Xiao Shiqin’s disappearance didn’t affect him, afterall he meant so much for the team. But he knew that the press would have twisted his words if he had given any shorter response. He envied Samsara’s ability to not give the press anything. Fang Xuecai clenched his fists, shaking as he put on a strong front. For him. For the team. For Xiao Shiqin.
Their next match afterwards against Wind Howl was their fourth loss this season, matching Heavenly Sword in points.
Unlike Blue Rain that had strong solo players and a full tactician on their hands, Thunderclap’s strength was within group formations and tactics. Which meant their solo matches would suffer but their group matches put up a decent fight against the other teams. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t been enough. Liu Hao has been trying to act as the team’s main offense but he was no Wang Jiexi or Zhou Zekai, those that could carry the entire team on their back through pure strength. The team felt demotivated; Fang Xuecai was unable to raise morale.
He felt a bit helpless. Dai Yanqi and Cheng Tai looked to him with looks of bitter tears. Zhang Qi and He Ming gripped their headphones. Liu Hao slammed the table with his fist In frustration while glaring at the defeated screen. “Damn it!”
Fang Xuecai scanned the crowd, their fans clearly disappointed by their losing streak. He felt guilty for letting Xiao Shiqin down. They slowly met in the middle, shaking hands with Wind Howl’s players before heading down into their practice room before the post-match interview. An overall air of bitter loses rung loud.
“Tsk. If you all would just listen to my instructions, we would have been able to kill Tang Hao in time before he killed off our Elementalists!” Liu Hao pointed at Zhang Qi.
“Well if we had blindly followed you into their clearly labeled TRAP then we would have lost far worst!” He argued back.
“Hey! Know your place! You’re just a rookie that knows nothing. I’ve got far more experience in reading these battles. Just shut up and let me lead!”
“No YOU know your place. You came from a team that's been meandering for who knows how long now and got relegated. You couldn’t even serve well as vice-captain! What makes you think you can lead this team?” Zhang Qi spat out.
Liu Hao punched one of the lockers, wincing from the pain. A dumb choice for an eSports player whose livelihood was their hands, but he felt as though he needed to vent.
“Stop! Stop. Yes, we could have done better to shut down Tang Hao, I agree with Liu Hao’s assessment. But Zhang Qi was also right in that if we had done so at that moment, we would have been taking a gamble that I believe would not have paid off.” Fang Xuecai tried to mediate the situation, though it was one of many that would occur. “We’re a team, whether you two like it or not. You’re stuck with us until the end of your contracts anyway.”
He walked over towards Liu Hao and took his hand into his, examining for any lasting injuries. It was just some light bruising. He ran over to grab a cold pack and handed it to him. “We have an post-match interview in a few minutes. Cool your heads. The press would rip us apart if you two go out with this much anger.”
Liu Hao yanked the cold pack out of Fang Xuecai’s hands but gave a begrudging thanks.
Zhang Qi still held his arms in a cross and sat down in a huff while staring off elsewhere.
“We’ll review the match after we get back. I’ll write down the areas that we are weak to and we’ll go from there. Alright?”
A monotone drone of “Fine”, echoed the room.
The interview went as expected, Liu Hao managed to give a few words of encouragement, playing up the role of a reliable Captain. If Excellent Era was good at one thing, it was training their players in dealing with the media, he’ll admit.
~~~
It was after their team meeting that Fang Xuecai started hearing Xiao Shiqin’s voice. At first he thought that he must have gone crazy, perhaps just missed him for too long. But he did a double take when he saw Xiao Shiqin on his tablet screen. He hadn’t heard any sounds of an incoming QQ call.
“Oh thank goodness it worked.” Xiao Shiqin let out a sigh of relief. His appearance looked haggard as though he had not slept for the past few days. A couple cuts could be seen on his face. His hair in mild disarray. His face sharper than before.
A million questions ran through his head. What. Where was Xiao Shiqin? The background behind him looked so unfamiliar. Was he kidnapped?
“Are you ok? Where are you? What happened? Why did you dissappear?” Fang Xuecai could not stop the barrage of words from exiting his mouth.
”Well, that’s a bit of a long story.”
“I have time.”
Fang Xuecai began listening as Xiao Shiqin explained how he had suddenly, without warning, ended up within an interdimensional survival game. His first instance was a shocking one to start with, involving surviving seven days in a zombie apocalypse. He recounted how he had nearly died on more than one occasion, calmly observing the movement patterns of each zombie type, before managing to reach the Southern Stronghold Base in time to clear.
From there, he was sent to a hub world where the points he would earn from instances paid for basic necessities and such. He’s been through a dozen more instances afterwards, all of which were life threatening.
Fang Xuecai’s heart hurt after hearing just what Xiao Shiqin was going through. It seemed terribly unfair and cruel even.
Xiao Shiqin explained that through a limited item that was bound to him as a reward from his last instance, he was able to contact the person he was the closest to for a brief amount of time in between instances.
“Is there any way for you to return?” Fang Xuecai asked softly, his voice breaking.
Xiao Shiqin gave a shrug. “I’ve heard rumors that if one were to earn enough points, they can escape. But I haven’t heard any stories of anyone having left.” He said somberly.
“You’re risking your life in every instance for a slim chance huh?”
Xiao Shiqin nodded. “I certainly don’t wish to die here. And if there was one thing I wished for while almost watching my life flash before my eyes, was to come back to Thunderclap. I don’t know how Excellent Era will deal with me if. No . When I get back.”
“You must be disappointed in us then. In me. We’ve been on a losing streak as of late. And tensions have been high. I’m not sure how to bring the team together again, there’s been arguments.” Fang Xuecai hung his head low, unable to face his former captain’s look.
Xiao Shiqin gave a sigh. “It’s not your fault, I left too abruptly, it’s hardly fair for anyone to have such a short time in dealing with the aftermath. I thought that Liu Hao would fill the gap in our weakness of not having a core.”
“Our new rookie has been picking fights with him, I don’t think that Zhang Qi likes his attitude very much.”
“It takes time. Our previous formations focused on team coordination with not a strong enough breakthrough. I can’t say how well it’ll work but Liu Hao becoming Thunderclap’s core would take work. I know Dai Yanqi may not like it but I believe that Liu Hao has the skills. Just, might need help in mediating between his wants and the team’s wants.”
“I don’t know if I’m doing it right.”
Xiao Shiqin smiled at him. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this task.” He quickly gave a short rundown of what the team could focus on and how he could start getting the team to work together, before hearing a short beep in the distance.
“Ah. It’s time for the next instance. I’m sorry for putting all this burden on you.” He waved a short bye before the tablet faded to black, reflecting back Fang Xuecai’s own reflection. Leaving Fang Xuecai to his own thoughts once again.
He could feel himself shaking as his stomach felt queasy. It hadn’t registered then when Xiao Shiqin was explaining it all. Xiao Shiqin may very well not come back. He very well might end up dead in an instance. He..
Fang Xuecai could feel his heart pulsating and his breaths grow short. He leaned back onto his bed, curling up as he stared at the wall. He closed his eyes and could only pray that Xiao Shiqin continued to survive. Fang Xuecai didn’t know exactly when he began loving Xiao Shiqin, but hit with the moment of his disappearance made him realize that he truly did have feelings for him. And that he wanted nothing more than for Xiao Shiqin to be happy and live a long and healthy life. And so he prayed, prayed that Xiao Shiqin would come back safely.
~~~
Xiao Shiqin let out a soft sigh as he headed towards the gate. Yet another instance, yet another day. If one had asked whether he had any regrets if he were faced with the prospects of death, he wished he could tell Fang Xuecai that he loved him. He’s always waited patiently for him, always supported him, looked out for him. They were close friends. ’And perhaps that’s all we’ll be.’ Xiao Shiqin thinks glumly.
He brushed off the dust on his jacket and held his weapon in his other.
Thunderclap will do without him, he’s sure. And Fang Xuecai, will continue forward. All Xiao Shiqin can do now, is live.
~~~
It wasn’t easy for Thunderclap to adjust from their hive-style playstyle towards supporting a central core, however, their first win of the season again Heavenly Swords brought some much needed morale for the team. Fang Xuecai found Liu Hao as a rather strong player when he wasn’t too bogged down in his own ego. It took some time to mediate between his wants and wishes as opposed to the feelings of the team, but Fang Xuecai felt that they had made some progress.
Zhang Qi begrudgingly began to follow Liu Hao’s orders, Dai Yanqi and Cheng Tai worked on their coordination, and He Ming helped him analyse matches. And Liu Hao, well, his performance grew stronger when he felt in control.
Though they were still no match for powerhouse teams such as Tyranny, or Blue Rain, they had managed to win a match against Misty Rain.
Over the course of the season, Xiao Shiqin would occasionally pop back up on Fang Xuecai’s tablet. Telling about what he had faced in the instances. He would asked him how the team was fairing, what new developments have occured, and such. Though this conversations usually deviated into asking about Fang Xuecai’s day instead.
He would listen so attentively, so caringly. And every session ended with an abrupt calling to enter another instance. Though, Xiao Shiqin felt different today. He seemed, nervous.
“Fang Xuecai?”
“Yes?”
“If. If I don’t see you after the next instance.” He bit his lip before flashing his usual warm smile. “I want you to know what I’ve always loved you—“
“Stop.” Fang Xuecai looked at Xiao Shiqin. “You. Come back alive and then tell me.”
“Mm. You’re right.” The screen turned off once again.
~~~
Season 9 passed as quickly as it had come. Thunderclap placed 9th in the regular season, barely missing 8th by 7 points. Though they hadn’t made it to the playoffs, they had managed to stabilize their playstyle.
They continued their training as they watched the playoff matches begin. They watched as the playoff quarterfinals opened with Tyranny going up against Hundred Blossoms.
Fang Xuecai felt antsy that he hadn’t heard any word from Xiao Shiqin since the last time they had spoken. It's been a few months.
Has he? Fang Xuecai refused to let go of hope. He’ll come back. He’ll come back.
He heard a knock at his room door as he was resting for the day. Has someone on the team had an issue? He stood up and sauntered over, pulling the door back. A pause.
“I’m back.” Xiao Shiqin stood at the doorway with his ever gentle smile. “I’m really back this time, Fang Xuecai.”