Come Play, Big Brother

Early the next morning, before the class assignment list had even been posted, steam was already rising from the row of soy milk stalls behind the cafeteria.

Xie Xie had barely slept all night. The pale violet feather mark on his right cuff had burned twice in the middle of the night, as though someone were gripping his wrist through the fabric. He had washed his pants three times, then blow-dried them with the lingering heat for half the day before daring to wear them out. Passing below Gu Yue's building, he had originally planned to borrow some kind of mental barrier soul tool from her. But then he remembered that she had not even finished her flatbread last night and was probably spacing out, so going up would only make things awkward.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll calm my nerves with a cup of soy milk." With yesterday's freshly replaced foxtail grass stem dangling from his mouth, hands in his pockets and steps unsteady, he drifted toward the soy milk stall.

The vendor was a retired old instructor who scooped soy milk with a long-handled copper ladle. White steam billowed up and fogged Xie Xie's face. He had just placed a Federation Credit on the stone counter and accepted a cup of hot soy milk wrapped in thin paper, his fingertips shrinking back from the heat—

"Big brother, can you buy me a cup too?"

The voice slid in diagonally from behind his left shoulder. It did not carry the cloyingly bitter lilt from the alley last night. It was clear, like the fizz that raced across the tongue when an ice-cold soda was first opened.

Xie Xie froze with the grass stem in his mouth.

Slowly, as though his neck were a rusted hinge, he turned his head.

The girl stood half a step beyond the shadow of the soy milk stall's awning. Her long, straight white hair fell to her waist, with rose-red streaks visible through the gaps in her inner bangs. The ends curled slightly and swayed in the morning breeze. She wore an asymmetrically cut white school uniform blazer trimmed in rose-red. The seam on her right shoulder had been deliberately offset, revealing the collar of a same-colored shirt beneath. Her black bow tie patterned in rose-red was tied neatly, but a little too neatly—like someone had stitched "obedient" and "sharp" onto the same piece of cloth. Black fingerless gloves showed beneath her detached sleeves, her knuckles slender, a thin rose-red chain circling her wrist bone. Below was a black pleated skirt with rose-red lining, a white leather corset around her waist, white thigh-high socks, and black platform shoes. Her heels made no sound against the ground, yet Xie Xie somehow felt as if his eardrums had been tapped.

Several translucent, hollow rose-red diamond blades circled her, turning lightly like satellites—or a cage.

She tilted her head and smiled. Her red eyes were hidden behind her white bangs, with only half of one visible. Their color was lighter than it had been last night, but the curve of her smile was exactly the same.

"...Fuck." The grass stem fell from Xie Xie's mouth.

In three-tenths of a second, his brain ran through three possible plans:

A. Pretend not to know her and leave with the soy milk—the mark on his cuff would instantly burn, and she would press right up against his face in a frenzy.

B. Call Tang Wulin—Tang Wulin was three hundred meters away in the boys' dorm, folding his blankets. He would not make it in time.

C. Buy her one.

"...Here. I-I'll buy you one." Xie Xie's voice cracked even worse than when a feather blade had grazed the tip of his ear last night. Trembling, he stuffed the cup of hot soy milk he had just bought into her hands, then fished for coins and ordered another cup for himself. "S-sugar? No sugar? You usually drink it plain, right? Yanderes all drink it plain—no, I'm not calling you a yandere, I mean..."

Shadow accepted the soy milk. The cup was hot, but she held it as though it were warm. Lowering her head, she took a sip, leaving a lip print on the rim. A strand of rose-red-streaked hair fell against the cup. Then she raised her eyes with a curved smile.

"Big brother, you're so nice."

Then she leaned in and rubbed her cheek against Xie Xie's shoulder. Her long white hair brushed beneath his chin. Her shampoo smelled cold, like mint mixed with rust. Every muscle in Xie Xie's body tightened into a plank. His pant legs were dry today, but he felt like they were about to get wet again.

"I'll come play with you again..." Shadow stepped back half a pace, twirling a rose-red diamond blade on her fingertip. Its tip vaguely pointed at the feather mark on his cuff. "That violet flower on your sleeve—I put it there last night. I won't cut you today. But if you shoot your mouth off again—" She sweetly added, "I'll keep pretending to be Dongjun, use the Radiant War God's appearance, and slit your mouth all the way to the backs of your ears."

Every hair on Xie Xie's back stood on end. Thoughts of class assignments? Gone. Right now, he only wanted to crawl back to the dorm, cut off his cuff, and bury it in a flowerpot.

"I-I'm going to check the class assignments!" Carrying his soy milk, he scrambled away in a mad dash. One shoe even flew off. He picked it up and clutched it in his hand as he rounded the back corner of the soy milk stall—

Thud.

His forehead crashed into something soft yet firm. Xie Xie fell backward onto the ground, his soy milk cup flying away. Hot soy milk splashed over the blue bricks, and white steam burst upward. He looked up to find Shadow crouching in front of him. The toe of her platform shoe rested against his knee, the rose-red lining of her white skirt hanging down. Several rose-red diamond blades hovered by her shoulder, turning lazily.

"Big brother, you hurt me." She covered her own shoulder, her red eyes damp as though she were the one who had been shoved.

"Y-yes, yes, yes, sorry, sorry! I-I really didn't see you! I'll get lost right now, I'll—" Xie Xie babbled incoherently, scrambling backward on hands and feet until his back hit the base of the wall. He did not dare draw either of his daggers, afraid she would mistake them for "shiny things" and bite them to pieces.

Shadow watched him, her smile never fading. She reached out and lightly brushed the reddened spot on Xie Xie's forehead. Her fingertips were cool.

"Why are you running?" Her voice softened, as quiet as an empty classroom before morning study. "I never said I was going to kill you now. A yandere only kills people who flirted with her. You didn't flirt with me this morning—you bought me soy milk instead... so I'll count you as being good."

She rose to her feet, her platform shoe landing beside Xie Xie. The rose-red blades around her withdrew into her hair like a receding tide. She stepped back twice and stood in the sunlight at the mouth of the alley, the rose-red trim of her white blazer outlined in pale gold by the morning light.

"Good luck with your class assignment. If you get assigned to Class One... I might go to Class One too. If you get assigned to Class Five, I'll climb through your window every night to play with you."

Xie Xie: "..."

She turned and left. Her long white hair rose in the wind, the rose-red streaks at the ends like lines of blood. Xie Xie slumped against the wall. The old instructor at the soy milk stall called, "Young man, you don't need to pay for that," but he did not respond.

Half a minute later, he touched his right cuff. The Violet Feather Mark was still there, but a fine rose-red outline had appeared around its edges, as though someone had licked the rim of a cup and casually drawn a border on the fabric.

Xie Xie rolled down his sleeve to cover it, put his shoe back on, and headed toward the class assignment board. On the way, he took a detour around the back of the building where Yun Ying and Tang Wulin lived, hoping to run into one of them. Instead, he only ran into Gu Yue.

Gu Yue stood at the stairwell entrance. Her desk lamp had long since been switched off, and she had moved to a different spot. Her violet eyes were lowered, and she held that small half-piece of hard flatbread in her hand without eating or throwing it away. Morning light fell across the side of her face, and the curve of her lips was faint.

Panting, Xie Xie hurried over. "Gu Yue! That yandere from last night! She came again this morning! The one with white hair and red streaks! She added an outline to my sleeve!!"

Gu Yue raised her eyes. Her gaze moved from the flatbread to his cuff. Reaching out, she tugged the rolled-up sleeve down a little and pressed a fingertip against the rose-red outline.

"...A return-visit permit."

"A return-visit permit?!"

"Mm. It means she has put you on her 'can contact again' list." Gu Yue switched the flatbread to her left hand. "Xie Xie, you flirted with her last night, then bought her soy milk this morning. Your behavioral pattern is consistent: shooting your mouth off gets you candy. She likes that."

Xie Xie looked ready to cry. "Can't I stop shooting my mouth off? I'll keep my mouth shut starting tomorrow."

"She'll come even if you keep quiet." Gu Yue looked at him. "Yandere logic isn't about whether you change. It's about whether she has chosen you. She has."

Voices swelled from the direction of the notice board in the distance. The class assignment list had been posted. Xie Xie shuffled that way on weak legs. Gu Yue did not follow, merely standing at the stairwell entrance as she took a bite of hard flatbread and chewed very slowly.

Xie Xie squeezed into the crowd and searched for his own name first.

Xie Xie—Class Five.

Tang Wulin—Class Five.

Yun Ying—Class Five.

Gu Yue—Class Five.

Yao—Class Five.

He let out half a sigh of relief, then tensed again. Class Five—then that yandere would be climbing through his window tonight.

Yun Ying squeezed through from the other side. She had not brought her Flame-Reaver Spear, and her high ponytail was neat. Clearly, she had just woken up and been bombarded by Xie Xie's message. She glanced at his cuff. "Oh? Your violet flower has turned into a rose border? Things are progressing fast."

Tang Wulin stood behind the two of them and only said quietly, "She knows we're all in the same class."

Xie Xie said, "...Is that a blessing or a death warrant?"

Yun Ying snorted with laughter and pulled out a piece of candy from her pocket, stuffing it into Xie Xie's hand. "Keep it in your mouth. Don't shoot it off. The candy is fake. She's the real sugar coating."

Xie Xie put the candy in his mouth. It was sweet enough to taste bitter.

The teaching building's glass reflected a corner of the first-floor corridor. Shadow leaned against the glass door, holding the cup of hot soy milk Xie Xie had bought her. A straw had been poked into it, and her red eyes met Xie Xie's through the glass.

She raised her cup as though making a toast.

Her lips moved without a sound. But Xie Xie understood.

"Big brother, see you tonight."

Shadow retreated into the shadows of the entrance hall and vanished in a flash.

Xie Xie bit the candy in his mouth to pieces and swallowed the sweet syrup mixed with bitter crumbs. On the first day of class assignments, before he had even entered the classroom, he had learned one thing:

Some candies sprouted when held in your mouth.