Chapter Text
Wise had a girlfriend.
He did. It was pretty recent, and the whole process of actually, you know, confessing his feelings wasn't something he was particularly proud of, but he did it, and now, he had a girlfriend--his very first in his entire life.
Yeah, not a big deal.
Wouldn't be a big deal.
If it wasn't for the fact that that girl was quite possibly the most recognizable face in the entire world.
Astra Yao--singer, dancer, mega-star.
And finally, good-old Wise--scraping by, running a small video rental store, with his sister and an AI that drained his electricity bill to the point where his eyes bulged when he saw the cost?
Yeah, to say there was a difference between them would be just a bit of an understatement.
"Hey Wise, can you take over the store for a second?" He heard Belle's voice ring out, as he swapped out tapes for newer movies.
"Huh, 'Training the Winds...?' What even is this movie? I know just about everything we have, and I swear we didn't have this-"
"Wise! Are you listening to me?" Belle's voice once again rung against his skull, as he looked back at her and responded with a huff.
"Yeah, I can hear you. And no, I can't take over the store right now," turning back, Wise finished up swapping out cassettes, standing up and quickly running up stairs.
"Oh, and why's that? Not like you've got anything better to do!"
"I'm not sure you're the one who should be saying that, Belle."
"Come on~! What's so important that you've got to..."
As Wise descended down the stairs, Wise quickly readjusted his jacket, wiped down his pants, and felt the skin on his face.
'Smooth, no marks... should be ready.'
"...Oh." he heard Belle exclaim, as he looked at her and just nodded his head.
"Yeah."
"...Honestly, bro, I still don't know how you did it."
"Neither do I, but here we are, Belle. To be honest, I still think it's unreal."
"Me too. I mean, if someone were to tell me that my brother was dating the Astra Yao, I probably would have told them that their brain had been grounded down to beef yet was still somehow functioning."
"That unbelievable, huh..."
"How can you blame me? You're literally dating the most famous person on the planet, Wise! And I thought we were all about being discreet!" Belle put an arm on the counter, hand on her forehead as she sighed loudly, "Next thing you know, we get caught for being Proxies, and bam! Front page news! Astra Yao's boyfriend secretly a Proxy? Oh, I can already imagine it."
"Please don't, actually."
"Well, whatever, bro..." Belle said, looking at Wise with that same look that she had begun giving him the moment he told her that he had started going out with Astra--a mix of both disbelief, confusion, and absolute exasperation, "Go have fun on your date. Oh, and, if you can... mind getting me a signed copy of her next album?"
"You know I can't do that."
"Come on bro~" Belle leaned in, "Can't you do this for your dear sis~? Use your boyfriend privileges a little?"
"Yeah, I could," Wise said, walking right past her, before stopping at the door, "But I think you should wait like everybody else."
"Oh come on, bro!"
"That's for our food expenses last month. See you in a couple hours, sis," and just like that, Wise walked out the door, the bell attached to it jingling before the sound slowly died out.
"Tch... It's not like I ate that much..."
"Unfortunately, Second Assistant, you accounted for 89.45% of the total food consumption last month-"
"You don't need to describe everything, Fairy!"
Wise walked the 6th Street as he always had. People passed by him, all familiar faces, with some of them even giving him a small wave or smile as he glanced in their direction. General Chop was moving quickly, as people lined up to get their first meal of the day.
Much like everybody else here, he supposed, he was going to be doing the same thing.
Making his way near the Gadget shop, off in the parking spaces nearby, he saw her.
Same brimmed hat and glasses--what she called a "disguise."
And the moment he began walking to her, she immediately recognized him.
Her eyes lit up, face blooming, and lips arching up.
"Wise!" She exclaimed, running up to her.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting. When'd you arrive?"
"Oh, I arrived 2 hours ago. Nothing special!"
"...huh?"
"But anyways, we have a date to go on! Let's go!"
"O-oh yeah, let's go," Wise said, slightly flustered by the fact that he had made his girlfriend wait two hours without his knowledge.
"Oh, but aren't you forgetting something?"
"Forget-... Oh, yeah," Wise said, giving her a smile, "I guess I am."
Slowly, he reached out for her hand, threading his fingers between hers.
"How about now?"
"Hm~" Astra smiled, noticeably brighter, "I think you're still missing one thing."
"Huh? What would th- mph!"
Almost like lightning, Astra gave him a peck on the lips, before pulling away, smiling still with a dust of red on her cheeks.
"And now, we're all set! Let's go!"
"H-hold up, Astra-"
Wise had no time to recover before he was quickly dragged along, his hand and Astra's moving in tandem as she took him to their first stop of the day.
"Seriously... She never changes, does she...?" Wise thought, smiling, "Guess that's just what it's like to have a superstar girlfriend, huh?"
Such was his fate.
And honestly?
He wouldn't trade it for the world.
PROLOGUE: END