Past and Present

Two years ago.

On the day Bai Qiushi died, Mo Zhen remembered the sky being dark and heavy, rain pouring down and shrieking as though a typhoon were passing through.

In the mourning hall, Mo Xiaochuan and Bai Xiaoxiao huddled beside the coffin, unwilling to leave. Neither knew how long they had been crying.

When Mo Zhen rushed over from school, the person in charge of guarding the entrance offered him a gentle apology:

"I'm sorry, kid. By the time our people arrived, it was already too late."

"Where's my father?"

The boy stood outside the mourning hall, holding an umbrella.

The armed guard apologized again. "I'm sorry. We don't know."

Mo Zhen could only take a deep breath and walk into the mourning hall.

He looked at the black-and-white portrait on the coffin for a long while before slowly closing his umbrella, revealing his rain-soaked hair and face.

Behind those glasses, there was not the slightest trace of emotion, only calm and numbness.

He couldn't cry.

At that moment, Mo Zhen repeatedly felt like a freak. Faced with the death of the adoptive mother who had treated him as her own, he felt no stir of emotion at all.

He simply carried Mo Xiaochuan and Bai Xiaoxiao to the lounge in silence.

Then he stood alone beside the coffin without a word.

Only the fingers hanging at his sides trembled slightly.

"Big brother..."

At some point, Bai Xiaoxiao, who was only twelve, had come over in a white dress, her hair disheveled and her hand gripping Mo Zhen's clothes tightly.

She looked up, her face streaked with tears. "Where's Dad..."

Mo Zhen opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. He simply bent down in silence and held her in his arms.

"Don't worry. I'm here."

"Mm..."

Bai Xiaoxiao buried her face in his chest and began sobbing softly again.

It took Mo Zhen quite a while to coax her back to sleep. Then he stood under the eaves amid the misty rain, making calls again and again.

Mo Chou: busy!

Mo Jin'an: busy!

Bai Zhixia: busy!

"Every last one of them... Where did they all go?!"

Mo Zhen didn't understand. He paced back and forth, but didn't dare complain too loudly for fear of waking Bai Xiaoxiao, whom he had finally managed to get to sleep.

Not until dawn had barely begun to break did a man in a suit find Mo Zhen, who had fallen asleep leaning against the coffin.

He was a young man who didn't look much older than Mo Zhen, seventeen or eighteen at most, with black hair tied in a small tuft at the back of his head.

He spoke in a stiff, formal manner. "Hello, Mr. Mo Zhen, or perhaps I should say young Mo Zhen. I'm Li Xuanye."

"Your father arranged for me to help you handle the burial arrangements and ensure the safety of the three of you."

Mo Zhen raised his head and looked at him.

"Any other questions? I'll answer anything that isn't classified," Li Xuanye said.

"How did my mother die?"

"Sorry, I don't know."

Li Xuanye's answer was sincere, but no different from anyone else's.

"Where are my father and the others?"

"Their whereabouts are unknown. We can't contact them either."

"Do my father and the others have special identities?"

"Yes, but their identities are classified. I can't tell you."

"..." Mo Zhen fell silent, finally managing only one word: "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Though the two of them hadn't been speaking loudly, they still woke Bai Xiaoxiao.

Bai Xiaoxiao came out of the lounge rubbing her eyes. She was still half asleep and had only come looking for her brother on instinct.

Li Xuanye said, "If you have no other questions, sorry for the trouble, but please come with me to sign the cemetery confirmation contract."

"Okay."

Mo Zhen got to his feet and followed him, ready to sign the contract.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaoxiao wrapped her arms tightly around his waist from behind.

Mo Zhen turned and saw Bai Xiaoxiao gripping his clothes, her eyes red. "Brother... are you leaving us too?"

"Please don't leave Xiaoxiao behind..."

With that, she buried her face against his back and began to cry again.

"Let's stop reminiscing there."

Mo Zhen emerged from an alley near his home, rubbing the spot between his brows. He had already ended his transformation, and he secretly climbed back into the house through the backyard.

"Hey, big brother."

The sudden, quiet call nearly made Mo Zhen jump out of his skin. He looked up at the rocking chair in the backyard and saw that it was Mo Xiaochuan.

He had been thinking about Bai Xiaoxiao just now and hadn't noticed there was someone lying in the rocking chair at all!

What was this kid doing lying in a rocking chair instead of sleeping in the middle of the night?

Mo Xiaochuan looked at Mo Zhen, who had just climbed over the fence, and scratched his head before speaking somewhat awkwardly:

"Uh... did I show up at a bad time?"

Mo Zhen lowered his voice. "Where's Dad?"

Mo Xiaochuan spread his hands. "Dad went out."

"Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret that you snuck out behind Dad's back again, but on one condition... you have to tell me what you went out to do this time, and why you didn't take me along again."

As Mo Xiaochuan said this, he felt a little frustrated. He really wanted to go back to how things had been with his big brother, when they could talk about anything.

But ever since Mo Zhen and Bai Xiaoxiao had fallen out, his own relationships with both of them had grown strained as well.

Their sibling relationship was in tatters, and he, Mo Xiaochuan, was the only one trying to mend it. Heaven knew how difficult it was for him.

Of course, that was all a minor matter. Mo Xiaochuan was already used to being their messenger.

What frustrated Mo Xiaochuan most was that both of them seemed to have little secrets of their own, and neither was willing to tell him or confide in him.

The distance between the siblings had left Mo Xiaochuan tossing and turning, unable to sleep, so he had come out to the rocking chair in the backyard for some peace and quiet.

And guess what? He had happened to catch his big brother sneaking out alone again, and...

He hadn't taken him along again!

"Are you upset...?"

Noticing his mood, Mo Zhen stamped the dust off his trouser legs, then came over and sat down in the rocking chair beside him.

"Yes, I'm very upset." Mo Xiaochuan frowned. Once he opened up, the words came pouring out:

"You know what, big brother? I... I feel like you two and I live in completely different worlds now. Do you understand what I mean?"

He gestured with both hands.

"You're like superheroes in comics, putting on cool suits every night and running out to fight criminals and save the world, enjoying the battles and the glory."

"And me? I'm the burdensome family member who doesn't know anything and has to listen to you talk in riddles every day. For all I know, one day an evil villain will kidnap me, and then the writer will kill me off to squeeze some tears out of the audience."

"And you won't even bring me a bottle of chilled vanilla Coke when you come home!"

By this point, Mo Xiaochuan's voice had grown thick with tears. Clearly, he had kept these words bottled up for a long time.

Mo Zhen was stunned.

Only then did he realize that he really had neglected Mo Xiaochuan's emotional well-being somewhat.

Mo Xiaochuan had always been so sensible that he had subconsciously assumed he could take care of himself.

The child who cried got candy, but what about the one who didn't?

"Sorry, Xiaochuan."

With that in mind, Mo Zhen moved closer and patted his head.

"I've neglected your feelings. I always have. If you want to cry, go ahead."

Mo Xiaochuan rubbed his eyes.

"Actually, I feel much better just saying it."

"I understand, big brother. You both have secrets you can't talk about."

His eyes were slightly red as he looked at Mo Zhen beside him, gazing into those eyes as clear and blue as the sky.

The worry and care in those eyes were something he could never let go of.

Though Mo Zhen was barely older than him, he had always shouldered his responsibilities as their older brother, putting up with all of his and Xiaoxiao's negative emotions.

When their mother died two years ago, Mo Chou and the others had been missing, and Mo Xiaochuan and Bai Xiaoxiao had been at their most lost.

Mo Xiaochuan felt that if Mo Zhen hadn't comforted and cared for him during that time, he might never have emerged from the shadow of his mother's death.

That was why Mo Zhen was the most important person in his heart.

He took a deep breath.

"I'm all right now, big brother. Just take what I said as words spoken in anger. I'm really just worried about you both."

Mo Xiaochuan composed himself and looked up at the starry sky.

"I'm just worried that one day, you'll suddenly disappear from my life, just like Mom did. If that happened, I think I'd go crazy."

Mo Zhen blinked gently, then suddenly slapped Mo Xiaochuan on the back, startling him into a yelp.

"Don't worry. I'm here. Nothing like that will happen again."

"I'll protect you both."

As he spoke, the boy smiled beneath the night sky. It was a faint smile, but it filled Mo Xiaochuan with reassurance.

"Rumble..."

Just then, Mo Zhen heard an engine start and stop in the front yard, and guessed that the Saionji family's driver had brought Bai Xiaoxiao home.

In the front yard:

"See you tomorrow, Xiaoxiao."

"Mm, see you tomorrow, Senior Wuhua."

Bai Xiaoxiao came to the door and rummaged through her skirt pocket for a while before remembering that she seemed to have forgotten her keys.

She had no choice but to take out her phone and prepare to send Mo Xiaochuan a message.

He often stayed up late playing that game called War Thunder, playing all night until his face turned red, so he should still be awake at this hour.

Click.

The door suddenly opened.

Bai Xiaoxiao instinctively assumed it was Mo Xiaochuan, but when she looked up, she found herself staring straight into Mo Zhen's eyes.

After a moment of silence, Mo Zhen spoke first. "Weren't you staying at a friend's tonight?"

Bai Xiaoxiao turned her head away and said somewhat nervously, "That was the plan, but I sleep more comfortably at home..."

Though she was worried, she just couldn't say it.

Mo Zhen sighed inwardly and asked no more. He turned away, went to the kitchen on his own, and began making instant noodles for a late-night snack.

Bai Xiaoxiao went back upstairs alone. After taking a shower, she prepared to go to bed.

Mo Xiaochuan suddenly poked his head around the stairway. "Xiaoxiao, want some instant noodles? Big brother just made them, with beef he stewed himself."

Bai Xiaoxiao had meant to refuse, but a faint aroma drifted past her nose, and her already somewhat hungry stomach let out an uncooperative protest.

Fighting as a magical girl consumed not only magical power, but even more physical energy.

While she was still hesitating, Mo Xiaochuan had already taken her by the hand. "Come on, come on. I can tell you're hungry just by looking at you."

Two thirty in the morning was their family's usual late-night snack time. Mo Zhen generally did the cooking, and sometimes even Mo Chou would come by for a bite.