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Awful. This situation was absolutely awful.
Dante wished their ability to turn back time could work for everything, and not just the Sinners’ lives.
Their fingers continued to frantically tap on their PDA, trying to fix the laggy, frozen screen. Of course, they knew this wouldn’t do a thing, but may as well try right?
A hand pushed down the PDA, and Dante looked up to see Faust. She simply shook her head and carefully took the device from Dante’s hands.
”Faust can fix it,” she assured, “But it will take some time.”
<How much time exactly?> Dante’s clock head looked over Faust’s shoulder, spying on the unfortunate outcome of the PDA spazzing out.
Faust followed their line of sight, spotting the problems in question.
Earlier, Dante had picked Identities for Yi Sang and Hong Lu for a relatively small fight.
It had gone smoothly, however when they went to change the two back, their PDA decided that now was a good idea to start freezing up.
And now? The Sinners were stuck with versions of their companions that were a little more than some could handle.
“Depending on how extreme the situation with your PDA is, Faust’s estimate is one to five hours.”
Dante sincerely wished they still had a jaw so they could drop it.
<That’s… a big leap…> they observed carefully.
Faust only stared at them blankly, “Faust only asks that you keep an eye on the two. They will get into trouble.”
<Right…> Dante didn’t like how she said that. So certain, and they were extremely inclined to believe her because she’d never been wrong.
So, they reluctantly left their PDA with Faust and marched over to where Hong Lu and Yi Sang were surrounded by the others.
Vergilius was one of the first to spot them, much to their dismay.
“Finally,” he grunted. “Keep those two separated. They’re even worse than usual.”
And before Dante could even ask Vergilius for more context (not that he’d understand), the red eyed man was already walking away.
Seriously, did he really expect them to act as a babysitter? They’re supposed to be a manager.
Oh well, it wasn’t as though they had anything else to do at this point other than twiddle their thumbs waiting for Faust to fix their PDA.
Once Dante got closer enough to the group of Sinners, they carefully pushed past Rodya and Sinclair.
”Dante!” Rodya grinned. “Y’know, I kinda like this Hong Lu. He really knows his stuff with gambling.” Her ever cheerful tone made Dante feel even more concerned.
If Rodya likes him, that’s definitely a bad sign.
<Please don’t suggest we keep him…>
Rodya only shrugged, “I’m just saying.”
Finally, they turned their attention to the scene in front of them.
Hong Lu, in his brightly colored floral shirt, was much too close to a frankly scary looking Yi Sang.
The black haired man hadn’t cleaned the blood off of himself, and so the crimson color stained his already paint splattered apron.
“He’s been trying to get Yi Sang to speak to him for about forty five minutes now,” Meursault’s deep voice sounded from next to Dante.
They jumped for a moment before realizing who had spoken, then quickly relaxed.
<You’ve been keeping track…?>
“I was only curious to see whether he would give up after a certain point.” Meursault explained. “So far, it doesn’t seem like he will.”
Dante was already beginning to regret everything.
They watched as Hong Lu scooted a little closer, now shoulder to shoulder with Yi Sang.
“You’re quite different from the Yi Sang I know,” he leaned in a little. “For one, you’re doing a good job at ignoring me.”
“…”
A dramatic sigh escaped Hong Lu, “You’re breaking my heart. How can I make you talk, hm?”
Dante almost grimaced before they remembered they didn’t even have a face.
They turned to Meursault, who was quietly observing the one sided interaction between the pair.
<And he’s been doing this the whole time?>
”Affirmative.”
The sudden sound of fabric tearing caught Dante’s attention. They snapped their head to see the bottom of Yi Sang’s massive paint brush stabbed right through the bus seat between Hong Lu’s thighs.
As he gripped the brush, he glared at the gang leader sitting next to him. Hong Lu on the other hand, didn’t seem to even flinch. That same laidback smile was still plastered on his face.
He only glanced down at the brush for a moment before his gaze returned to Yi Sang. “Was that an attempt to scare me~?” Amusement laced Hong Lu’s tone, causing the other’s grasp to tighten.
“You offer no inspiration for me with your incessant speech. And so, I have no need nor desire to continue this interaction for any longer.”
Dante swore they heard Rodya stifle a snort at that, while Hong Lu’s grin just widened.
“I will admit, I admire that you have the balls to speak to me that way,” he chuckled. His hand came up to hold onto the paint brush as well, and Dante swore Hong Lu’s fingers brushed against Yi Sang’s for just a moment.
His other hand came up to Yi Sang’s cheek, wiping away some of the blood with his thumb.
Ah… Perhaps they should set up safety measures. Just so nothing goes out of hand.
...Especially with Hong Lu’s actions.
Before Yi Sang could embed the brush in the gang leader’s chest instead of the bus seat and create a morbid “work of art”, as he liked to call it, Dante snatched it away.
<Sorry. As Manager, I’m confiscating this until further notice.>
The artist stared at Dante as if they were an awful piece of work, while Hong Lu simply leaned back in his seat.
Ignoring the glare, Dante stepped closer to Ishmael, who had been pointedly ignoring the entire situation the whole time.
They tapped her on the shoulder before holding out the paintbrush. <Keep this somewhere safe. Preferably somewhere Yi Sang can’t find…>
Ishmael eyed the object skeptically for a moment before she took it from their hands. "Sure," she agreed. "As long as I get to stay out of… whatever those two have going on."
And with that she hurried off, leaving Dante back to their babysitting duty.
…They were already so tired.
Turning their attention back to the two Sinners, they watched as Hong Lu continued trying to interact with Yi Sang.
The others had seemingly left the two to their own devices, most likely not wanting to witness… any of this.
<Even Meursault stopped keeping track of how long Hong Lu's been trying…> Dante noted.
"Yoohoo, Manager Clockface~" Hong Lu waved them over, the other arm slung over Yi Sang's shoulder.
Once Dante got closer, the gang leader's grin widened. "Isn't he a cute one?" he asked as he tugged once on Yi Sang's cheek. "He tries so hard to be scary, it's extremely entertaining~"
Yi Sang on the other hand, looked anything but cute.
<The face only a mother could love…> Dante thought.
They sighed, <You haven't said much, Yi Sang.>
The artist huffed softly, "There's nothing for me to say. It's null to even begin trying to explain artistry to someone such as this." He jerked his head towards Hong Lu. "He'd get an F for anything he creates."
<Uh, right.>
Hong Lu just rested his chin on the other's shoulder. "All bark and no bite. But maybe I'd believe you if you showed me your little paintings."
Yi Sang turned his head away in irritation, but Dante could spot the faintest hint of pink dusted across his cheeks.
"It would be for naught."
"Aww~ I'm not so uncultured, I know how to appreciate good art." Hong Lu rested a hand on Yi Sang's leg, "Especially by you."
Dante internally begged Faust to hurry up, for they didn't think they could handle seeing any more of this.
…No wonder Vergilius asked them to keep these two separated.
And then they realized that despite the threats that Yi Sang made, he didn't actually mind Hong Lu's flirting attempts.
"Instead of only viewing my masterpieces," the ravenette turned his gaze to the other man, "You could instead be the material. I cannot see you as something spectacular, but perhaps you could still be used."
Hong Lu chuckled, "Are you threatening me?"
"Not a threat, but a generous offer."
And before Hong Lu could respond, Dante butted in. They grabbed the two by their collars and forcefully separated them, much to the others' surprise,
The gang leader’s smile hardened, "Try that one more time, and manager or not I'll—"
<PLEASE stop dry humping each other. I beg of you.>
That shut Hong Lu up. Both he and Yi Sang stared at Dante as if they had gotten their real head back.
This time, Yi Sang recovered first. His eye twitched, "In what mirror world were we—"
"Dante. Faust has fixed the PDA."
Dante almost jumped out of their skin. They glanced over their shoulder, and once spotting the owner of the voice, they let go of the two men's collars and practically sprinted to Faust, who had just appeared with their PDA in hand.
As she handed it back to them, she gave a stern look. "The storage was the issue. Please refrain from downloading things such as… Umamusume Pretty Derby."
Oh.
Dante's clock head began whirring quickly, <You— You saw that?! Listen, Sinclair told me to try it and I—>
"Just… change them back."
<…Right.>
"Yi Sang, why do you think everyone's looking at us weird?"
"Er…"
Thankfully, the issue had been resolved, and Dante managed to bring back their Hong Lu and Yi Sang.
But… none of them will ever be able to erase any of that previous encounter from their minds.
And none of them wanted to explain it either, perhaps for the best.