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Once Belle finished up her business in Lumina Square, she was about to head back home until she noticed a small crowd had formed. She curiously wandered over to see what could be happening, and to her surprise, or maybe not, it was Miyabi. It was just like the two other times; Miyabi started doing her training again and now repeats the last things people are saying. To avoid any misunderstanding and potential mistakes, Belle pushed her way through the small crowd until she was in front of Miyabi. “Hey! What are you doing?”
“I’m Miss Miyabi’s... oh, what was it again? Oh! Housekeeper! I’m here to pick up Miss Miyabi.”
“How are we supposed to believe that?”
“Well, obviously, Miss Miyabi will vouch for me. Hey, Miyabi, it’s me, Belle.” Belle whispered to Miyabi, hoping to get a response from her.
“Belle...” Miyabi hugged Belle’s arm, which she wasn’t expecting to happen, but this might have worked out in her favour.
“As you can see, Miss Miyabi knows me. She happens to have a very important family matter to attend to. So, if you’ll excuse us.” Belle was able to lead Miyabi away from the crowd thanks to her holding onto her arm, and she could feel all the angry and jealous stares from her fans as she led her away. She could have sworn that she also heard something about forbidden master and servant relationships, but she decided to ignore that and continue onward. It ended up being three hours of wandering around, and having to deal with Miyabi’s fans was exhausting.
“Manager?! I-I didn’t know you and Miyabi were a thing!” Belle looked up to see Zhu Yuan and Qingyi standing in front of her. Belle couldn't shake this feeling of deja vu, like this situation had happened before. But before Belle could correct Zhu Yuan, she heard Miyabi speak, which surprised her.
“I’m surprised you realized.”
“Miyabi? When did you wake up?”
“An hour ago.”
“An hour ago?! Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I just wanted to spend more time with you.”
“I... can’t be upset at that. But you should have at least said something. So, what was it this time?”
“The piranhas. This time in record time.”
“Yeah, definitely record time.” Qingyi glanced over to Zhu Yuan to see her acting extremely anxious, so she sighed.
“Fine, stay here, Zhu Yuan.”
“What?”
“Luckily for you, we’re almost done with our work for today. I can handle the rest.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, now go. But you’ll owe me for this.”
“Yes, of course!”
“Oh, to be young and in love,” Qingyi said as she left Zhu Yuan, whose face was completely red.
“It’s not that obvious, is it?” Zhu Yuan thought.
Miyabi noticed how she was acting, so it only meant one thing, and that was Zhu Yuan also had feelings for Belle. This posed a small problem for the Void Hunter since she didn’t even think about that there might be other people besides herself who liked the proxy.
“A-Anyway, when did you two get so... close?”
“I guess after everything with Bringer.”
“We even spent the whole day together.” Miyabi tried to brag about her little date.
“Huh?!”
“We even slept in the same bed.”
“Wha!?”
“Yeah, that did happen, I guess.”
“Yes, and Belle’s surprisingly good with her fingers. It felt really good.”
“What?!” Zhu Yuan wasn’t expecting to hear that, and her mind couldn’t help but wander to some places she would rather not. It didn’t help that the last thing she said was that they were in a bed together.
“That sounds so wrong without context.”
“What’s wrong? I was only mentioning that I wasn’t expecting it to feel so good. I didn’t think Belle would be so good at petting.”
“Petting?”
“Yes, it was a surprise, but a welcome one. Tell me, how did you get so good at that?”
“I didn’t think I was that good, but I guess there are several cats around Sixth Street. That might be why.”
Zhu Yuan couldn't help but feel a little jealous at how Miyabi was just holding Belle like that. “M-Manager, isn’t it strange that she is clinging onto you like that?”
“No, it’s been happening to me a lot lately, so I've gotten used to it.” Zhu Yuan just looked a little shocked at Belle after receiving that bit of news.
“O-Okay, you can do it!” Zhu Yuan told herself to hype herself up and work up the courage to do something she would never do.
“Do what?” Belle questioned the PubSec officer, but what she did surprised both the proxy and the HSO member. Zhu Yuan, despite being embarrassed, held onto Belle’s free hand. She was fighting every instinct that told her body to put her training to use. What surprised the two was the fact that since they both knew the officer pretty well, this wasn’t something she would do. Miyabi knew that Zhu Yuan was serious about this, as she wouldn’t do this at all, so she knew what to do next. Miyabi held Belle’s arm closer to her while Zhu Yuan gasped, so she worked up the courage to do it too. They both gave each other a small glare while Belle was just confused by what was happening. This went on for a while, and Belle couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by this since she could hear other people talking to themselves. She swore that she heard a few people talk about how jealous they were of her, which she didn’t understand. So Belle shook off the HSO and PubSec member, and Belle noticed something about Miyabi. Even though her face looked neutral, her ears drooped a little like she was sad about something. “Okay, enough of this! You two are acting weird today. Especially, you, Zhu Yuan.” Miyabi and Zhu Yuan looked at each other before turning their attention back to the proxy.
“I just realized that I have a worthy rival now.”
“Rival?” Both Belle and Zhu Yuan were confused by what Miyabi said. That is, until it clicked for Zhu Yuan, and she didn’t think that their friendship would evolve to this.
“I see.”
“Are you two competing for something?”
Zhu Yuan could only awkwardly laugh at that question since she wasn’t wrong or anything like that. “I guess you could say that.”
“Okay, but don’t take it too far, alright?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay, good.” Belle realized what the time was, so she needed to go right away. “Ah, no! I forgot I was supposed to go back to the store. Later, you two!” Belle rushed back to the metro station, leaving the HSO and PubSec officer behind. They both watched her leave until she was finally out of view, and they both looked at each other.
“So, you like Belle too?”
“Yes, I’ve told her that she is my Proxy.” Zhu Yuan didn’t know how to react to that knowledge, but there was one question on her mind.
“Are you serious about that?”
“About what?”
“The rival part, I mean.”
“Yes, I was serious about that.”
“Oh.”
“I will make her fall for me.”
“I’m not backing down.”
“Good.”
Wise looked up from his phone when he heard the door open to see his sister rushing back. “You’re back. What took you so long?”
“I’m sorry. I had a run-in with Miyabi and Zhu Yuan.” Wise raised an eyebrow after hearing those two names come up. “I had to stop Miyabi from saying anything that might get her in trouble since she was doing that training again.”
“Training? Oh! I remember you telling me that.”
“Yeah, I also found out that Miyabi and Zhu Yuan are competing for something.” It took a moment for Wise to connect the dots after hearing Belle’s explanation.
“Oh, I see. Well, good luck, Belle.”
“Good luck? Why would I need it?” Belle questioned what Wise was saying, but she simply shrugged and decided to ignore it and just get back to work for the day.