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“Cheater!” growled her brother as Shen-shibo threw dirt in his face, barely avoiding the blade that followed.
She grinded her teeth behind her veil, annoyed on his behalf. She could understand using tricks and schemes in a real fight, she was neither naive nor strong enough to believe she could rely on honourable means to survive a deadly fight, but was it really necessary to do it in a friendly spar?
Maybe not so friendly, Liu Mingyan corrected herself as the two fighters interlocked blades. After a few seconds where neither seemed to get the upper hand, her brother threw himself at his fighting partner and they went from sword fighting to trading blows. None of the fights she had witnessed before, or had with the other disciples of her peak, were quite so… intense.
“Are they fighting or fucking?” blurted out someone next to her.
“Shhh”, another person tried to silence while throwing her panicked glances that she barely noticed. “Don’t you know this is Liu-shishu’s sister?”
But she was too busy having the realization of her life to care about the two disciples. That would make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it? She had had the thought, in the past, that it was surprising her brother kept seeking out his fellow Peak Lord despite only having terrible things to say about him. It wasn’t like him at all to act this way; if he didn’t like someone, he would simply ignore them and not waste time or energy thinking about that person. He would also never keep seeking out someone for a spar if he knew he would best them, which as far as she knew, had happened every time they fought.
And yet here he was, always starting fights with Shen-shibo, following him whenever he was aware of his visits to brothels. Hold on, had he been jealous of the Qing Jing Peak Lord visits all along? He never reacted like that to any of his disciples going to the brothels themselves, after all! It was truly like him to have romantic feelings for someone but not realize it, and instead mistake them for anger and frustration. And Shen-shibo was always pushing back against his brother, when Liu Mingyan had heard he was good at brushing off people he didn’t like.
She did wish he had fallen for someone different, she thought with pursed lips when his partner took his defeat not with grace but with cutting words. But maybe that was what he needed, someone smart, cunning and good with words to make up for his own straightforwardness and blunt behaviour. Someone who would force him to slow down and think before acting, and in exchange, maybe he would manage to mellow Shen-shibo and stop him from being so lecherous. And anyway, wasn’t that how all the cutsleeve stories she had read started with, when they were about enemies becoming lovers? Everything was here: the sexual tension and of course, the misunderstandings that had slowly grown over time until none of them could trust the other, and yet they couldn’t stay away from one another. All they needed was the spark, the sudden event that changed everything between them and got them to reflect on their feelings until they realized how strongly they cared about each other.
But her brother was too oblivious to change anything between them; these two had known each other for almost three decades now, and he still hadn’t realized his feelings, let alone started courting Shen-shibo. Not that Shen-shibo was doing any better on his side. Truly it would be like her older brother to fall for someone who was as bad at relationships as he was, Liu Mingyan mused while watching him storm off under Shen-shibo’s scornful (but was it truly disdain, or was it hiding another emotion?) eyes.
Good thing she was here to help them out. If they wouldn’t accomplish anything by themselves, then she would be their spark. She had read so many books, she knew she could find plenty of great ideas to get them to spend time together in a more peaceful manner. She was very skilled when it came to manipulating her older brother, so it wouldn’t be too hard to make it happen, and in the worst case scenario she could recruit the help of her fellow martial sisters. She knew they would see her point and work with her here.
She threw one last glance at Shen-shibo, trying to gauge his mood after that fight. He looked incredibly annoyed, but not as angry as Liu Mingyan would have expected someone like him to be after that kind of public defeat. That was good, it wouldn’t do for their relationship to grow so intense it fell directly into pure hate. She could work with that, though.
With a smile hidden under her veil and an undignified noise of happiness stuck in her throat, she turned around and excitedly walked back to her own peak. She had plans to make, and a couple to push together! She couldn’t wait until these two finally started to court!