After they talked about everything from Malson to the Black Alley, Jinx asked Li Ke all sorts of questions, and Li Ke answered them one by one. What surprised him was that Jinx didn't seem all that crazy. She was clear-headed, and her emotions seemed stable enough.
She wasn't much like the Jinx Li Ke had imagined.
He looked at Jinx, thought for a moment, then simply sat down on the bed too.
Jinx didn't object to Li Ke's actions. Instead, she stretched out her long legs and let them drop, then braced herself with both hands on the bed and tilted her head at Li Ke. Her lips parted as she asked:
"Li Ke, why do you seem so afraid of me?"
Li Ke paused. "Do I?"
"Of course. I can tell," Jinx replied.
She reached out. Li Ke instinctively raised a hand to stop her. Then Jinx froze, shrugged, and leaned back, her thin body slumping. With a knowing smile, she said, "See? Aren't you afraid of me right now?"
"..."
"This afternoon, when we were at the restaurant, I saw a bunch of people looking for you. They were from the gang."
Jinx listened, then seemed to understand. She raised a hand and flicked it dismissively. "Oh, those were Silco's people. I ran away from home, so of course he'd send people to look for me. What's so strange about that? Is that why you're afraid of me?"
Li Ke looked at Jinx in silence.
Jinx sighed, her little face scrunching up. "I know what you want to say, but what am I supposed to do?"
"Vander's dead. Vi doesn't want me anymore. Where else can I go? They were the ones who abandoned me. What am I supposed to do?"
"Silco can be a pain, but he really is good to me. I do things for him, and he takes care of me. Is that so strange?"
Li Ke shook his head.
It wasn't strange. As he'd already said, she couldn't be judged by the standards of an ordinary person. Besides, given Zaun's current state, there weren't many normal people in the whole city. Jinx was just more unhinged than most.
Silco had killed Vander, so by rights, he should have been Jinx's enemy. Yet now she'd accepted her enemy as her father. But the relationship between Silco and Vander couldn't be explained in just a sentence or two.
In short, if he tried to hold this girl to the standards of adulthood, all he'd get for his trouble was anger and a bullet from her. Nothing else.
Li Ke looked at Jinx, took a deep breath, and asked seriously, "So, should I call you Powder, or by your new name, Jinx?"
Powder.
No, Jinx.
She froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Clutching her little stomach with one hand and wiping at the corner of her eye with the other, Jinx laughed like a madwoman.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"You even know about that? Yeah, I guess you would, since you and the little runt are close too. But what I want to know is, why didn't you join the Firefly Gang? Didn't they want you? Isn't he trying to build a New Homeland?"
After her laughter, she kept giggling, tears in the corners of her eyes as she wiped them and looked at Li Ke.
In a voice almost merry, she laughed and cried at once. "Call me Jinx, Li Ke."
"..."
"One more question. Can I still stay here?" When Li Ke didn't answer, Jinx asked.
"What would happen if I said no?" Li Ke asked her. The meaning was obvious.
Jinx's mouth fell open in adorable surprise. "What kind of question is that? I'm not that crazy. We've been friends since we were little. I'd never kill you."
She twirled her little pistol, kicked the bedframe with her foot, and swung her long legs. In the same casual tone one might use to say that a thirsty person should drink water, she continued, "But I'll move in next door. All I have to do is go in and say hello to the people living there."
"Bang! Boom! And then they'll agree."
"I don't have anywhere to stay right now, and Sevika, that Big Sister, is such a pain. You remember Sevika, right? That Big Sister is so annoying!"
Jinx chattered away, complaining to Li Ke.
Sevika?
Of course Li Ke remembered her.
A woman who embodied Zaun's spirit. Back when he first watched Twin Cities, he'd found Sevika really unpleasant when she betrayed Vander and joined Silco. But as he kept watching, he realized what a compelling character she was.
She wasn't loyal to any one person. She was loyal to Zaun.
Whoever could lead Zaun in its fight against Piltover and bring dignity to Zaun, Sevika would work for. Who could hate someone so utterly devoted?
Well, Jinx could.
"I really want to shoot her dead, but I know I can't. Silco would get mad." Jinx faced Li Ke and held both hands in front of her, curling her index and middle fingers downward. It was a cute gesture, but the words she said were anything but. "So, what are you going to choose?"
"Do you want to live with me, or should I move in next door?" Jinx asked Li Ke.
She wasn't about to let Li Ke get away.
It had been so long. Aside from Ekko, that little runt, Li Ke was the only person she could say she knew well.
Jinx had run away from home and had nowhere to go, so of course she'd latch on to Li Ke.
She was sick. Truly sick.
Someone as insecure as she was would naturally cling to a familiar face, even if Li Ke wasn't the one who could cure her.
But why not?
Heh heh.
Li Ke sighed, moved by the thought that his unfortunate neighbor had such a selfless good neighbor as himself.
Damn it, that guy should've just given him some money!
He'd saved his life, after all!
"Just stay here, then. But I only have one bed," Li Ke said.
"That's fine. We can sleep together. I'll sleep on the inside, and you can sleep on the outside. I'm a restless sleeper, so I'm afraid I'll fall off." Jinx grinned, not caring at all that Li Ke was a man.
Li Ke rubbed his cheek, feeling a little helpless. But he also realized he was, deep down, a little excited in a way he couldn't quite put into words.
Jinx was crazy, but she was also a very beautiful crazy person.
Aside from her figure, she had an exceptionally slender body, and her legs were practically luminous in their whiteness. In Zaun, where people hardly ever saw sunlight, most people had pale skin unless they'd been born with darker complexions. Jinx was one of the fairest of them all.
"What if Silco comes looking for you?" Li Ke asked.
"He hasn't come looking yet, has he?" Jinx lay down on the bed, her braids splayed to either side. She spoke as if it were no big deal.
She rolled across the narrow wooden bed, pressed down the pillow stuffed with rags, then lay her head on it and patted the bed, inviting Li Ke to lie down too.
Just like the old days, when they'd lain together on the rooftop, leaning against the chem-tanks and looking up at the "sky."
That's right. In a way, Li Ke and Jinx had been childhood friends.
Though Vi often beat up Malson and Li Ke.
Li Ke hesitated, then lay down, but half his body was hanging off the bed.
"Don't be so afraid. I told you, I won't hurt you." Jinx winked at Li Ke, her eyes bright.
"You know everything now, but it wasn't like that. I didn't mean to hurt Craig and Milo. Th-that wasn't what I wanted. It was an accident, Li Ke. It really was an accident."
Jinx said.
She kept talking, as if she were afraid Li Ke wouldn't believe her, spilling out a whole string of words in one breath.
"I know. I believe you."
Jinx froze and blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah. I believe you. It was an accident," Li Ke said.
"You're the first person to believe me," Jinx said suddenly. Her expression was a little strange, but soon she was giggling again, eyes wide and wild as she babbled on and on at Li Ke.
It wasn't until the middle of the night that Jinx's voice gradually quieted. Beneath the little graffiti-painted lamp, Li Ke saw Jinx lying with her back to him, curled up at the very innermost edge of the bed and pressed against the wall. She slept like a little cat.
Nothing like she was when she was awake. She looked like a cat with no sense of security.
Truthfully, if there was anyone in Zaun he wanted to meet, it was Ekko.
Li Ke really did like Jinx as a character and thought she was fascinating. But no matter how adaptable he was, having a homicidal lunatic lying beside him still made him uneasy, unsettled, and conflicted.
No matter how much he tried to make excuses for Jinx, or blamed her circumstances and the people around her for making her this way, what was wrong was still wrong.
Ekko had been through so much too, but wasn't he still as warm as sunlight?
Ekko was Zaun's true seed of hope.
I, Li Ke, hereby cast my vote for Ekko! Ekko's the one who should lead Zaun in the future!
But in reality, Jinx was lying on his bed, while he had no idea where Ekko was.
"Ah..."
Li Ke looked at Jinx, already asleep, hesitated for a moment, then scooted farther inward. Having half his body hanging off the bed was way too damn uncomfortable. How could anyone sleep like that?
As for a pillow...
Forget it. He'd use his hands.
Li Ke folded his hands beneath his head and closed his eyes.
But just as he was drifting off, something hit him.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Jinx curled up beside him, her head tucked close beneath his elbow. One small hand clutched the front of his shirt tightly, while her other hand rested by her lips. She opened her mouth and bit down on her thumb, its nail painted blue.
"Vi, I'm sorry. Don't leave me."
"I really know I was wrong. I didn't mean to."
"Please, Vi. Vi..."
"Vi, I don't hate you anymore. Please come back..."
"..."
Listening to Jinx, Li Ke lay back down and closed his eyes.
Maybe...
There was still time to set things right.
Before you continue