Only You Can Have a Little Sister?

When they entered the tent, Malson first sent everyone inside away, then went out himself. He stood outside the large tent, thoughtfully leaving the space inside to Li Ke and the two sisters. He stayed outside like a security guard, stopping anyone from entering—especially the tall, well-built female enforcer who looked thoroughly displeased.

"I said, let go of me!"

"Let go. I'm not going in, okay!"

Caitlyn shouted. Malson watched from a distance, and at the sight of this, he raised a hand. The people holding Caitlyn let go, and she rubbed her wrists, looked around, then obediently found a place to sit.

At the moment, these people had all her weapons, and she was surrounded by guards. She wasn't stupid, of course; she wouldn't do anything foolish.

Though Caitlyn was thoroughly unhappy, she couldn't find a way to resist right now, so she could only sit quietly by herself and wait for Vi to come out.

Meanwhile, inside the tent—

Vi was looking at Jinx, who was sitting beside Li Ke. Vi's expression was complicated, but she said nothing.

Vi couldn't help thinking that if this had been before, Powder would be sitting beside her right now. But everything had changed.

Isha also caught Vi's attention. The girl was sitting obediently beside Jinx, occasionally looking up at her face. Seeing the way the child looked at Jinx, Vi suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, a sharp pain as if her heart were being squeezed.

Vi knew that look well. Powder used to look at her that way.

There had been no one else in her eyes, as if having Vi was all she needed—as if Vi were her whole world.

But what about now?

Vi found Powder's gaze so unfamiliar.

"Tell me, how'd you end up mixed up with a cop?" Jinx looked intently at Vi, but if you looked closely, you could see that her beautiful blue eyes were a little unfocused.

She was doing her best to control her emotions, to keep herself from listening to the shrill voices in her head and stay focused. Jinx avoided looking at the colorful lines taking human form beside Vi, and at the flickering images.

But even when she didn't look, the voices in her head still swirled around.

So she raised a hand and rapped hard on her own head, but before she could hit herself a second time, Li Ke stopped her.

Then Jinx tilted her head and looked at Li Ke.

"It's okay," Li Ke told her.

"."

Jinx looked at Li Ke and blinked. Her eyes cleared, and she nodded.

Then she turned to Vi.

"All right. I'll explain now."

Vi watched her and took a deep breath. Then she explained how she'd met Caitlyn, how Caitlyn had told her about the Piltover smuggling explosion, and how she'd found the monkey graffiti at the scene. That was why she'd teamed up with Caitlyn, and how she'd gotten the chance to leave prison.

Other than that, she really didn't know anything.

"How's someone locked up in prison supposed to know what's happening outside?" Vi said earnestly.

Jinx didn't believe her.

How could there be so many coincidences?

She'd caused Piltover no end of trouble over the years. This time, sure, the commotion had been bigger than usual, but how had Vi happened to get out right then?

"She's telling the truth," Li Ke said from beside them.

Vi gave Li Ke a grateful look, then turned to Jinx. "Your turn, Powder."

"Are you really working for Silco now?"

Vi asked the question that had been bothering her ever since she arrived in Zaun.

How could she not care about this?

Silco was the one who'd killed Vander, and now her own sister was working for him.

Vi hadn't planned to dig into it. Like she'd said, whatever Powder had done, Vi could understand that she'd done it to survive. As long as she could see Powder again and be with her, that was enough.

But could she really pretend she knew nothing, like a turtle hiding in its shell, and act as if none of this had happened?

Impossible. That just wasn't who she was.

If it hadn't been Powder who'd done this, Vi wouldn't have sat down and calmly talked things through. She'd have punched the bastard first and asked questions afterward.

And since they were sitting down to talk now, Vi naturally asked her.

Hearing Vi's words, Jinx leaned forward and shouted at her:

"Ha! Yeah, I'm working for Silco."

"What's the matter, my dear sister? Did I disappoint you?"

"I told you, Powder. Whatever you've done, I can understand."

"I~can~un~der~stand~you~, ha! You'd better believe that." Jinx folded her arms and rolled her eyes scornfully. "If you hadn't brought a cop with you, maybe I would've."

"Didn't I already tell you? Powder, Caitlyn and I are just working together. Without her help, I never would've been able to see you!" Vi was getting frustrated.

Listening to the sisters bicker, Li Ke felt both amused and helpless.

Still, he could tell Jinx was gradually calming down.

After all, she was talking about Caitlyn to Vi without acting so erratically now. And the reason she kept bringing up Caitlyn was simply... jealousy?

Jinx was jealous of Caitlyn—jealous that she, not Jinx, had been the first person by Vi's side after Vi got out.

But honestly, Li Ke found it pretty entertaining to watch Jinx and Vi bicker.

After all, in the Twin Cities, whenever Jinx and Vi met, they usually had only a few minutes together before all sorts of things happened and interrupted their conversation. Now, even if the mood was a little awkward, they were actually talking.

Li Ke suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction.

Well, let's see who can interrupt these sisters now.

"Help? If Mom and Dad found out you'd made friends with an enforcer, God, I can't even imagine what they'd think." Jinx spread her hands and said sarcastically.

"And what about you? If Mom and Dad found out you'd turned into a—" Vi started to retort, but when she saw Jinx's eyes, she froze and swallowed the rest of her words.

Then she lowered her head, deflated. She looked just like a defeated puppy.

A moment later, she raised her head again and took the initiative to find something else to talk about.

Looking at Isha, who was sitting beside Jinx's legs, she asked, "Who is she?"

Jinx glanced at Isha, reached out to pat her head, and said, "What, only you're allowed to have a little sister? I can't have one too?"

At that, Isha happily hugged Jinx's leg, rubbed her face against Jinx's thigh, and opened her mouth to make a couple of soft sounds.

Jinx had gotten the better of her again, and Vi said sadly, "You never used to go against me, Powder. What's happened to you?"

"."

"Can we ever go back to how things were?"

Jinx looked at Vi and opened her mouth, but then fell silent.

Seeing this, sadness and pain appeared on Vi's face.

But then she heard Jinx's voice.

It was very quiet, but clear in the still tent.

"I don't know," Jinx said.

Vi immediately raised her head and looked at Jinx.

What had she said?

She'd said she didn't know.

Not that they couldn't.

In an instant, Vi's eyes brightened.