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Manato is in the kitchen taking out a batch of freshly barbecued char siu pork from the oven when A-Cing and A-Yuet’s bright voices burst through their entrance door.
“Manatooooo,” A-Yuet sings as she runs, arms outstretched in airplane mode with bagfuls of something hanging from each arm, into the kitchen with A-Cing at her heels making loud explosion noises as she collides into Manato’s knee.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s got you both so excited? It’s not even lunch time yet,” Manato says and watches as they dump the bags on the kitchen table. He peeks into the bags and raises an eyebrow at them. “I don’t remember putting dried squid snacks and tea eggs on our groceries list.”
“We just came back from Uncle Li and Yuzuha’s place,” A-Cing explains while they crowd around him to watch him slice up the meat (and beg for crispy meat scraps from the edges in a way that makes Manato think they must be part-canine). “Uncle Wu was visiting today and brought everyone treats!”
“Uncle Wu, huh?” Wu is a family friend of Li Baorong's and was in the antiques business before the fall of the old capital. Most eligible bachelor in the business, or so Manato’s heard Yuzuha’s dad tease his old friend any number of times, followed by the customary barrage of ‘when will you settle down’ and ‘you should consider adopting, like me!’
“Manato, Manato, do you care very much for Wise?” A-Yuet says in the same sing-song manner, as though it’s a natural continuation from news of Uncle Wu’s visit, and completely throws Manato off-guard.
“Uuuuh, of course I do,” he replies, because it’s true. “Why the sudden question?”
“Is Wise special to you?” A-Cing pipes up.
“Y-Yes?” Manato quickly stuffs his mouth with a thin slice of char siu, as though taste-testing the meat. If his face gets red, it’s really the heat from the oven.
A-Yuet blinks huge, innocent eyes up at him. “The same way Uncle Wu cares for Uncle Zhang?”
Here, Manato nearly spits the barbeque pork out, catches himself, and swallows it down with a few fist-beats to the chest. “A-A-Yuet! Where did you– how did you–!”
“Yuzuha and I were having girl-talk, and she said Uncle Wu never married because he cares too much for Uncle Zhang who’s away on a long mission, and doesn’t want him to be lonely when he comes back! Will you feel lonely as well if Wise has to leave Waifei for a long time?”
“Hey, you can’t call it girl-talk if I was there too!” A-Cing suddenly protests.
“Yuzuha called it girl-talk,” his sister tells him with indignation, “Not my fault you’re a boy.”
“Why didja make it sound like a bad thing!”
Sensing a squabble about to break out, Manato shushes them up by loudly proclaiming, “Alriiiiight, enough, you two; who wants the ends of this delicious new char siu recipe? First come, first served!”
His siblings immediately erupt into competitive “Me! Me! Me!”s and further comparisons of Uncle Wu and Uncle Zhang’s alleged closeness to his and Wise’s relationship are all but forgotten.
(He makes a mental note to talk to Yuzuha about A-Yuet being much too young for girl-talk nonsense of any kind, Wise or not.)
-
“Oh, Manato, look! That’s the constellation I was telling you about!” Alice points excitedly, tugging his sleeve and all but thrusting her telescope in his hands as she points at the sky. “I wasn’t sure we’d still see it this late into autumn, but I’m glad we can.”
Manato dutifully raises the scope to his eyes and waits for his sight to adjust to the darkness above until the stars begin to materialize.
“Right there. See that really bright one? That’s Deneb, and if you look to either side of it, you’ll see the swan’s wings!”
Manato squints, focuses and refocuses, and suddenly shouts, “I think I see it!” With her instruction, he finds the rest of the stars that make up the constellation and mentally takes notes of all the things she describes to him, so that he can show off to Wise the next time they meet.
“S-So anyway, it’s my favorite constellation!” And the Thymefield heir blushes as though she’d just revealed something embarrassing.
“It really is beautiful, Alice,” says Manato, encouragingly (though of what, he isn’t sure). “I can see why it’s your favorite. Thanks for sharing with me.”
-
The next day, as Manato looks up the mythology behind the Cygnus constellation to consolidate the information in his brain for A-Cing and A-Yuet, and sees the name Phaethon, he remembers the blush on Alice’s face and wonders.
-
“Manato-kun, it’s so lovely to see you as always! We just had a new shipment arrive not an hour ago. Care for some melons? Or persimmons?”
“Pleasure is mine, Auntie Yi,” Manato greets the fruit stall owner down at the markets. “You’ve read my mind. I was just thinking about getting some melons for a dessert treat. Tian shared a wonderful tongsui recipe with me just yesterday that I want to try to make.” He points at the cart of honeydew and cantaloupe melons.
“Did she? It’s my recipe, you know. You must let me know if you enjoy it.”
Manato nods. “If it’s one of your originals, Auntie Yi, I’m sure it will be fantastic.”
“Oh, you are such a nice boy. Here, little extra on the house,” and she shoves an extra quarter cut of melon into the bag she’s packing for him. “Treat for A-Cing and A-Yuet?”
“Actually, I’m going over to a friend’s place tomorrow night for a movie. Thought I’d treat us both to something a little special.”
“Ooooh,” says Auntie Yi, with undisguised curiosity. She gives him a wink-wink-nudge-nudge smile that makes him wish he didn’t put it quite that way. “Must be special lady friend?”
“Uhm, it’s, well, no,” says Manato, truthfully, but his elders at the marketplace always find a way of sussing things out of complete denials.
Auntie Yi arches a knowing eyebrow at him. “Special boy?”
“Nothing like that, Auntie Yi! Just a very good friend!”
“Hmmm, just a very good friend you’re watching a romantic movie with and making a special tongsui treat with my special extra sweet honey melons for, yes?”
“No! Well, technically, yes… but the movie isn’t romance! I think it’s sci-fi?”
Auntie Yi lets out a sudden gasp as she clasps her hands together. “Oh! Oh! Sweety was just telling me the other day that you booked out the entire second floor of Yum Cha Sin to prepare a special meal for your special friend! Is it the same boy? The newest recruit with Suibian Temple, I heard?”
Manato really does not like to lie to any of his elders, and desperately wonders if this situation justifies a white one. “A-Actually–!” He grimaces, defeated, and mutters, “Yes, Auntie Yi… but there’s nothing between us, I swear!”
But Auntie Yi is satisfied now, a hand to her chest in a manner as though all is right in the world again as she tells him, “Slowly, boy, slowly. This Auntie Yi will support you all the way. You come to me the next time you need a new recipe to impress.”
Manato leaves the marketplace hurriedly after that, before Auntie Yi ropes in Auntie Kang from vegetables next stall over or Uncle Yao at spices further down the street. He wonders how long he’ll have to send A-Cing and A-Yuet down to do the groceries for them before it’s safe for him to brave Auntie Yi again. Failume Heights is not a small city by any means, but he knows most of the aunties and uncles at the market stalls he frequents by name, and everyone knows Suibian Temple. The last thing he wants is for the rumors to reach Wise’s ears.
As he hurries towards the cable car station, his phone beeps of an incoming text from Yuzuha which reads,
[Manato? Call me or come to Mystic Wares before you go to Janus Quarter tomorrow. Something important I need to tell you.]
He stares at the text, mystified. [Can’t it wait? I’ve got back to back jobs today, and I’m meeting Wise right after work tomorrow.]
Yuzuha’s reply takes longer to arrive than he’d expected, as he watches the blinking dots. [I don’t think it can. Come midnight if you need to.]
-
Yuzuha is the most sympathetic he’s ever seen her, as she tells him without preamble that Wise has a boyfriend who continues to visit him at Failume Heights.
Manato pretends he didn’t just feel his insides turn glacial with a disappointment he doesn’t realise he’s capable of, feel all the little bubbles of hope he’d been brewing rise to the surface only to be popped, wonders aloud why she felt the need to tell him this and that she shouldn't gossip about other people.
But Yuzuha doesn’t say anything, and only gives his shoulder a squeeze.
-
The honey dew melon tongsui turns out wonderfully, and A-Cing and A-Yuet clamor for second and then third helpings until Manato puts his foot down lest they get tummy aches from overeating. He packs a helping each for Wise and Belle in the fridge, and tells his siblings to deliver it to Suibian Temple after he leaves for school the next morning.
He returns to the mines that night, because there’s something cathartic about striking lumite ores and watching them crack along fractal fault lines. He tires himself out enough that sleep takes him quickly later, and he doesn’t dream about a cosy video store on Sixth Street where a tape sits on a shelf waiting for him.
-
Wise spots him by the cable cars outside Suibian Temple a few mornings later, calls out to him but the morning rush of people starting their day crowds the distance between them and slows the Proxy down. Manato gives him a regretful and apologetic wave before quickly stepping into a cable car himself and willing himself to not notice the crestfallen look on Wise’s face.
-
It’s dumb, really, Manato thinks. He can’t imagine what his Drowned Ideal would think of him now; probably make a scathing remark about how people will only hurt him in the end. This whole mess of emotions he’s feeling for the first time in his life is dumb.
None of it is anyone’s fault.
-
When Manato goes to get more fruits for A-Cing and A-Yuet (they’re no replacement for vegetables, but he’s found that he can get them to eat fruits much easier if he dresses them up as dessert or special treats), to his horror, he spots Auntie Kang visiting Auntie Yi at her stall.
He makes a heel-turn just too late; Auntie Yi has spotted him and is waving excitedly. He steels himself and approaches them. “Auntie Yi, Auntie Kang, how are you this morning?”
“Oh nevermind that, Manato-kun! You must tell me, how did things go with my recipe?” Auntie Kang’s eyes light up with curiosity at this, which means Auntie Yi hadn’t told her.
Manato takes a deep breath and schools his expression to as calm as he can manage. “Ah, well, unfortunately, I had to cancel my original plans. But I did make it for A-Cing and A-Yuet, and they love it!”
“I… see,” says Auntie Yi, smile still plastered on her face (for Auntie Kang’s benefit, probably), but her eyes catch his meaning and turn sympathetic. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
After Auntie Kang excuses herself (before making Manato promise he’ll drop by her stall next, that is), Auntie Yi places an unexpected hand over his while handing over his packed order. It’s wrinkled from age but so, very warm. “Life is such, Manato-kun. You’re still young. Plenty more fish in the sea.”
Manato doesn’t bother to correct her misunderstanding, which isn’t technically a misunderstanding (though nothing happened, really). He catches her sentiment, and is grateful she fusses over him that way when she doesn’t need to and has children of her own to mother over.
The hold on his knuckles suddenly tighten with intent. “Manato-kun, I know it’s still fresh in your heart, but once you are ready, you should go out and meet more people your age. Have fun, don’t always think of work all the time. In fact, my nephew is visiting me next month, and he’s not far from your age. Very respectable first job with Public Security, likes working with children. He is a canine Thiren too, so I’m sure you two will get along. Shall I arrange for the two of you to meet? Yes?”
Manato groans inwardly, throws out a flurry of excuses, and tries to wriggle his hand out of her sudden iron-grip.
-
“I’m so happy you want to star-gaze with me again,” Alice tells him with a gentle giggle.
They’re back in Fantasy Resort this time, Manato only there in the first place to run an errand for the aquarium’s upkeep when he bumped into Alice by coincidence. Since he’s out of excuses that evening to dodge Wise in case they run into each other at Failume Heights, and he’d already prepped A-Cing and A-Yuet’s dinner earlier in the day, he’d asked Alice if she wanted to stick around longer to look at the night sky together.
It’s something he had originally planned to do with Wise, but now he isn’t sure how well he can look up and see the Northern Cross, follow it to Cygnus, and not feel a pang within him.
“You know, Manato,” the rabbit Thiren is saying, “When we first met, you seemed so intimidating. But after all we’ve been through with everyone, I cannot be more proud to call you my friend.”
“Hey, hey, don’t you know what they say about characters in stories suddenly confessing about how much their friends mean to them right before tragedy strikes,” Manato tells her lightly, remembering Yuzuha telling him exactly that a while back. The Thymefield heir has changed too, Manato thinks. She’d always been polite, often almost to a fault, but she’s grown more comfortable in her own skin and even dares to tease him occasionally (a consequence of Yuzuha’s terrible influence, no doubt).
The rabbit Thiren blushes full red and hrumphs at him. “I-I was only trying to be comforting! We can all see you’ve been a bit down lately, Manato, and you haven’t been joining in on some of the recent forum activities. I know you’ve been busy with work, but you’re not usually this busy.”
Manato opens his mouth to apologise, but Alice continues before he has the chance,
“It’s alright, really, that you can’t join us. We’re just a bit worried about you, that’s all. Wise has been worried too. He dropped by Mystic Wares earlier today to ask if you’re ok. Says it’s unusual to not hear from you lately.”
Manato sighs, scratches the back of his head. “Wise is too nice to everyone he meets,” he says, furiously squashing down the rising something in his throat and hating that it still happens.
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s what we all… treasure him for.” Alice’s voice is so quiet here that he almost has to bend down to hear her.
“I… guess.”
“We’re usually the ones dragging you off on this or that thing. When I heard from Wise that you initiated all the times you’ve spent with him… I guess you really like Wise too, huh, Manato.”
Manato doesn’t reply, but when he looks her way and their eyes meet, he’s surprised to see the flash of a familiar ache reflected in hers, except it’s older and tinged with resignation.
Too.
“You must’ve looked up the myth of Cygnus by now.”
Manato nods, slowly.
Alice inhales. “I… think I know who Wise’s special person is. He’s a friend of Lucy’s, from the Outer Ring. He’d helped with testing out the surf routes for me back in summer, so you would’ve seen him too.”
Blood rushes in Manato’s ears, alongside flashes of choppy memories from a time when Manato didn’t particularly care yet. Sunglasses, a billowy red scarf. The Champion, he thinks, vaguely remembers the title from what little he’s gleaned of Outer Ring factions, and can’t help asking, “Is he nice?”
Alice nods. “He was always nice to me, and didn't make fun of my… inclinations, the way Lucy or Yuzuha does.” And she giggles unexpectedly. “He’s handsome, too. Lucy complains that half the mail they receive are either challenges or love letters for him.”
“I… see.”
“At least Wise has good taste and is cherished?” Alice offers. She inhales again. “It’s what I used to tell myself, back when–” and stops. When she starts again, her voice is a little firmer. “It will get better in time, when you find a better way to cherish someone, a way only you can. And something else I’m still trying to convince myself to this day but I think you ought to know about yourself too, is that you are enough.”
“Alice… I…” Manato scratches the back of his head. “I hadn’t realised you…”
“T-T-There’s no need to spell it out, alright?” she squeaks, and shoves him. “As long as we understand each other!”
Manato blinks at her. “Ah, it’s just that, I always assumed,” he pauses. “Well. That you and Yuzuha, you know…”
Alice stares at him incomprehensibly at first. As her heterochromatic eyes grow bigger, her ears begin quivering violently and a blush colors her face even in the dark of the night. The next shove at his arm is delivered with unexpected strength that reminds Manato the rabbit Thiren is a formidable fighter herself, as she bolts to her feet in a waterfall of stutters: “W-W-What are you saying! M-Me and Yuzuha?! There’s nothing going on between us! Wha- why do you even think that! W-w-w-wait, did she say something to you about me? Manato! You have to tell me!”
-
Since the events at Timesworn Hill, Manato will occasionally spot Lucia wandering around Failume Heights at wee hours while he’s heading home from a late-night shift. She often talks about Wise, a special Ethereal called a Nightmare – Night Horror? – and a very odd puppy named Chestnut that he’s been helping her chase down recently (but in the Hollow? Manato thinks something can’t be right with that puppy).
He catches her that night outside the tongsui stall, and quickly offers to have a bowl with her when she ruminates on whether to wake Wise up instead.
“Let him go to bed early on some nights, Lucia,” he tells her mildly. “We’re not as used to night-prawling as you are, and Suibian Temple has its own routines and schedules.”
“It’s perfectly okay,” Lucia tells him serenely. “Wise is secretly a super night owl! And he wants to help.”
Manato sighs. “You realise he’s not going to say no if you go to him, right? That’s just how he’s like. He really needs to take better care of his own health too.”
“Hmmm,” says Lucia, tilting her head in thought. “But Wise is old enough to decide what is best for himself. Besides, if I stop involving him now, wouldn’t that just hurt him more?”
Manato opens his mouth to protest, and finds no words to refute her.
“I know it might be selfish of me,” Lucia says suddenly, “But you know, Manato, this is the first time in my life anyone has taken me seriously. I had a hard time making friends within my Tribe, and after I left, my stories and Spook Shack are what really keeps me going. But Wise is great! He’s never doubted Chestnut’s existence, or that Chestnut really is a good girl! He believed me when no one else would. So, can you blame me for wanting to hang out with him any chance I get?”
Manato inhales, remembers that unlike him, Lucia had never known what happened to her dad, never had the closure, until very recently. Lucia prattles on about her new findings and research plans once she gets a chance to enter Hollow Zero (apparently Wise promised he’d bring her once he gets proper clearance for her to be part of his investigation team), and Manato’s mind drifts to the conversations he’s had with various people recently, of all the lives the Proxy siblings have touched since coming to Waifei. He realises, with the number of people orbiting Wise all the time, the fact that Wise always finds time for him, even worries about him enough to check up on him constantly, means his relationship with Wise is something he can’t afford to take for granted, whatever color that relationship may be.
“Manatoooo, are you listening at all?” Lucia pouts while tapping on his forearm. “See, this is why Wise and Chestnut are the best.”
“S-sorry, Lucia, but I have to ask… Chestnut isn’t really a puppy, is she?”
-
“Manato, when can we see Wise again?” A-Yuet suddenly asks, as the three of them are snuggled under a blanket together to watch the next episode of an astronomy documentary series from the stash Wise had compiled for them.
“Wise is busy, A-Cing,” Manato tells him evasively. “And so am I.”
“Did you and Wise fight?” A-Cing asks.
‘What? Of course, not!”
“Then why won’t you see Wise anymore?”
Manato rubs the back of his head. “It hasn’t been that long, has it?”
“It’s been a suuuuper long time!” A-Yuet insists. “I miss Wise! You miss Wise too!”
Manato opens his mouth to protest, but children see truths that adults deny, and he clams up.
“Ask me how I know you miss Wise!” A-Yuet says with a big giggle.
“Uh, okay, how do you know I miss Wise too?” Manato asks, and almost fears the answer.
“Because your tail bounce has been a 2 out of 5 recently!” Here, her brother on Manato’s other side groans theatrically, as though to emphasize how ridiculous he thinks his sister’s claims are. Undeterred, A-Yuet continues, “It’s usually a 4, but when you meet up with Wise, it’s always a 5.”
“How– you didn’t make that up on your own, did you?”
“It’s like electric fan speeds!” A-Yuet tells him happily.
“Wait, what?”
“It’s more stupid girl-talk,” A-Cing tells him with a dramatic eye-roll that only children can manage.
“It’s not stupid! You miss Wise too, A-Cing!”
Her brother blushes at this. “T-That’s not the point!”
A-Yuet tugs at Manato’s arm and squashes her face against his side. “You work so hard for us, Manato. We want to see you happy too, you know.”
Manato places a hand on her head to ruffle her hair. “I am, A-Yuet. I’m right here with my two favorite people in the whole world. How can I not be happy?”
A-Yuet nods. “But you’re not 5 out of 5 happy. Can’t Wise join us too? We like him. He can be part of the family, can’t he? Can you adopt him too?”
A blush creeps up Manato’s face. “A-Yuet, that’s not how it works for adults. And besides, Wise is older than me. He’d have to be the one to adopt me and both of you, but I’m already too old.”
“But why not? Yuzuha said Uncle Wu was preparing adoption papers for Uncle Zhang so that Uncle Zhang will never be lost again.”
It would be easy for Manato to dismiss it as ‘one of those adult things you’re too young to know’, but he doesn’t think it fair to A-Yuet to nip her questions in the bud that way. “A-Yuet, there are many different types of families. I’m sure Uncle Wu has his own reasons, but even if both of you are not adopted on paper, it doesn't mean I won’t still care for you and love you all the same. It just means if ever I lose either of you, it will make it easier for authorities to unite us again. Wise and I don’t need that, but it doesn’t mean we don’t still care for each other. As you know, Wise is the best proxy there is, and he can find anything.”
A-Yuet nods slowly as she digests his explanation. “So… you’re not fighting with Wise, then?”
“No, I’m not.” Manato pauses, and then huffs. “But I guess I owe him an apology for avoiding him lately and making him worry.” A weird sensation of peace trickles through him once the words leave his mouth.
“Can we start the episode already, Manato?” A-Cing begs, even though he’d been silently listening to the whole conservation as well.
Manato hits play on the remote quickly. As the documentary starts and A-Cing and A-Yuet burrow closer to him, he makes a mental note to talk to Yuzuha again about stupid tail ratings and unnecessary gossip about other people’s adoption plans.
-
When Manato tears open the package that Wise gifted him through Yuzuha to reveal a bright red puzzle toy from Fluffy’s, he suddenly thinks of Lucia and Chestnut for some reason, and doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He does both, and shoves the toy under his bed behind some boxes and out of A-Cing and A-Yuet’s sights (as much as he loves them, those two have no concept of a brain-to-mouth filter and he doesn’t need all of Failume Heights, especially Yuzuha, to know certain things about him).
Then he reaches for his phone, and finally allows himself to text Wise again.
END