Enter, Xinyi Cheng

Yasushi found himself unable to sleep in the stillness of the night as he wrestled with the information his parents had given him. A text had come in, verifying what his parents had mentioned in their correspondence. His reaction was a basic "okay" and "I understand," a short acceptance of what couldn't be avoided.

In this stage of his life, with his new parents, Yasushi had been able to create a bond. It had been years, all the way back to when he was a child, for him to truly think of them as his "parents," a word filled with complicated and ever-changing feelings. Even with a friendly connection with his real parents from his past , it was these new people who had slowly taken on the role more naturally.

"They'll be back at some point," he said to himself quietly, a combination of acceptance and optimism painting his thoughts as he shut his eyes, giving in to sleep.

+-+

The next day started with Yasushi feeling extremely tired, clinging to him like a persistent shadow. His morning habits happened automatically, but underneath, a feeling from a long time ago was starting to build, a piece of himself he had fought with before — a selfless expert at controlling intense feelings, especially anger.

With a sigh of acceptance, Yasushi recognized this coming back of his old self and decided to move forward carefully, watching out for any rebellious feelings that might appear.

He understood the results very well; his temper had only gotten the better of him twice in this new world, once when he was younger and again when he was face to face with Jishiha's people. Another emotional explosion, especially aimed at someone new like Xinyi Cheng, could be very bad, especially with the newcomer's money and possible legal power.

When Yasushi went outside, the world seemed to show his inside feelings, with the snow building up in soft layers around his home and on the roads. "I should clean this off soon," he said to himself, a useful thing to remember before going out of his garden, with his feet taking him down the path to school.

A few minutes later, Yasushi saw Jingliu, and looking at her, he could tell she was worried, too. But, when she saw him, her face relaxed a little, a sign that she saw him as she lifted her hand to say hello.

"Morning. You look a little out of it, too," she said, her speaking showing that she understood the worry as they started walking to school.

"I just learned that my parents won't be coming home for a while, so that could be it," Yasushi answered, his actions smooth as he stretched as they walked. He told Jingliu about the letter and text, which made her brow wrinkle.

"It looks like we're both going through related times. Parents working very hard, earning for their sake and ours," she said, her saying sounding tired as she looked at Yasushi with a mix of understanding and loving worry.

"Money, money, money, right?" Yasushi joked, trying to add a bit of fun to the talk, which made Jingliu smile. "So, with you being closer to Xinyi, how do you think we should deal with this?" he asked, looking at her from the side.

"Let me be in charge, since we have a past. I won't hide that we're friends from her; she'll find out sooner or later and use it against us. You, just be yourself since you're good at dealing with people," Jingliu suggested, her tone showing confidence as Yasushi nodded to agree.

"Kind of like, split things up and win. If she brings in someone like your helper, I'll deal with them," Yasushi suggested, and Jingliu showed she approved with a nod.

They kept talking until they got to the hill, where they went separate ways. When he got to his classroom, Yasushi saw Furuya near where he always was, making a sign for him to come over. Yasushi did, sitting down and looking at Furuya, ready to ask something.

"What's up?" he asked, his voice even and not showing much feeling.

"Man, you can be so boring," Furuya said, shaking his head. "Anyway, the new student is coming today. It's kind of thrilling, but Senbarisu's warning has me a bit worried."

"Don't make her angry, and you'll be good. What's the big deal?" Yasushi answered casually, leaning back in his chair to show he didn't care about any possible issues.

"Easy for you to say, Mr. I-don't-care-about-most-things-hero. But the rest of us are wanting to know more about her and want to talk to her, so we'll be talking to her to see what she's like!" Furuya announced, sticking his chest out to show off.

Yasushi looked out the window for a second before turning to Jingliu. "...but you all stepped away from Jingliu pretty fast. Will you treat the new student the same way?" Yasushi asked, his eyes not showing much feeling, almost dead in their look.

Furuya jumped back, feeling uneasy as Yasushi started to act strange. His dark purple eyes seemed to look right into Furuya's soul, making him uncomfortable. "W-we did try, but she's... a little bit not social," Furuya stuttered, trying to explain why his group wasn't able to connect with Jingliu.

Yasushi closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a soft sigh. "I can't really make anyone do anything in this case. Plus, I haven't really tried myself, so that's a little unfair of me," he admitted, looking up at the ceiling.

"True, true! Anyway, depending on how she acts, Tonaka said he might try again," Furuya whispered like he was sharing a secret.

"Didn't he try with Jingliu, too?" Yasushi asked, quickly looking at Tonaka, a classmate who was losing his hair, a little chubby, but usually friendly and popular—most of the time.

Furuya nodded to agree. "Yeah, he doesn't give up easily, does he? You have to respect him for that. He's not scary about it, just a little too honest sometimes."

They grinned, understanding each other as they spoke a few more words before the homeroom time began. Senbarisu, their homeroom teacher, walked into the room, looking around at the class as everyone got quiet.

Putting a hand on her forehead, Senbarisu wondered out loud, "Why is it that you all act so good when something important is about to start? I'll never get it. Anyway, we have a new person joining our class today, as well as some new people from different grades—but come on in!"

The door slowly opened, showing a female student walking into the room. She had long red hair that was tied nicely in a ponytail, and light blue eyes that shined with warmth. She was wearing the school clothes, and her body stood out because of her well-defined chest, and her skirt was shorter than most others'. Moving confidently to the middle of the room, she smiled brightly at everyone.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Xinyi Cheng, a student who moved here from China. I hope we can all make good connections moving forward!" she announced happily, looking around the room until she saw Jingliu, smiling widely. "Oh, Jingliu is here too! Hi!" Xinyi shouted, waving excitedly towards Jingliu.

Jingliu started to act colder as she gave Xinyi a sharp look, making the stress between them clear as Xinyi laughed back. Knowing they needed to change the subject, the teacher quickly changed the talk, asking the class to ask questions like they did when Jingliu moved there.

"Are you not seeing anyone?" Tonaka's excitement cut through the air, making the class laugh together.

"I am not!" Xinyi's answer was full of happiness.

"Will you go on a date with me?" Tonaka's question, even though he expected to be turned down, was hanging in the air.

"Let's start as people who are just friends!" Xinyi's happy answer shocked everyone, including Tonaka, who couldn't hide his happiness. As he quietly enjoyed his unexpected win, the teacher stepped in, telling him to pay attention to the class.

"What's your connection with Jingliu?" Furuya's wanting to know made him ask this question, showing how eager he was.

Jingliu's sharp look made Furuya jump back, but he was still determined as he waited for Xinyi to answer. Xinyi, not scared, laughed before saying, "We went to the same school in China until she left. We were friends, or at least I thought we were friends. It was just by chance that I ended up here; I really didn't come here because of her!"

A mix of amused sounds and laughter went through the class because of Xinyi's fun comment. With the questions finally over, Xinyi sat down at the front of the classroom as homeroom went on and the school day began.

+-+

As the school day went on, a constant flow of wanting to know more students were drawn to Xinyi, her popularity growing with amazing speed. Looking from far away, Yasushi noticed that she seemed to be a regular, outgoing girl, not holding back in what she did and said.

'Is this why Jingliu didn't like her? Their personalities don't mix, or is she just acting?' Yasushi thought quietly as lunchtime got closer, the air heavy with not fixed stress.

With the classroom now empty, except for Jingliu and Yasushi, he brought up the subject carefully. "I have to ask... did you not like her because of her outgoing personality?"

"Yes," Jingliu agreed, not showing any feeling. "Our personalities didn't mix, but she was much more wanting to get back at people in the past. Maybe she's changed, or it's all a show. Either way, keep watching her, alright?" With that, Jingliu stood up. "Let's go. We need to show her around."