The bathroom door clicked open.
Bimiko came out in slippers, wiping hands that were still dripping wet.
She was mostly sobered up, but the post-hangover headache was clearly killing her patience.
She lifted her head—and saw what was happening in the living room.
Su Yu was holding out a pen to the white-haired girl, who was sprawled on the sofa, solemnly signing her name on that crumpled sheet of paper.
The whole scene looked exactly like someone was signing some kind of unequal treaty.
"Oh?" Bimiko raised one eyebrow, crossed her arms, and leaned against the wall. "What's this early-morning show? Signing a contract to sell yourself to pay off debts?"
"Cough—cough—!" Su Yu nearly choked on his own spit.
"Sis Bimiko, can you maybe wish me something good for once?" he said helplessly, snatching up the "project proposal" at lightning speed—like he was hiding contraband. "This is… uh, a labor contract! Legal. Totally legal."
"Tch. I was just kidding. Why're you so nervous?" Bimiko rolled her eyes, but her gaze never left Kiana.
She stepped closer, eyes dropping to the girl's exposed wrists and neck.
Earlier it had been too chaotic to look carefully. Up close, though—she saw it.
This girl's body was covered in old injuries.
Those pale wrists peeking out from the cuffs, the bruises half-hidden under the collar—under the harsh overhead light, they were downright shocking.
Some wounds had scabbed over in dark brown. Others were still a sickly purplish-red, like smeared, ruined oil paint slapped across a girl who should've looked like a porcelain doll.
"Hey." Bimiko frowned, her tone turning serious. "What the hell are these injuries? Don't tell me you fell. You don't 'fall' into a full-body battle-damaged skin."
Kiana's hand holding the pen trembled sharply.
She stiffened like a hedgehog poked right in the sore spot—then quickly hid her hand back inside those oversized sleeves.
Head down, eyes glued to the cracks in the floor, the memories churned—Honkai beasts, mechs, the dark corners of Sky City—
But not a single word could come out.
"Uh…" Su Yu stepped in, smoothly placing himself between them. "She's… a martial artist."
"A martial artist?" Bimiko blinked.
"Yeah. Like that junior of mine, Fu Hua," Su Yu said.
He started bullshitting with a straight face—no blushing, no hesitation, pure improv.
"She's from, uh… a hidden sect. You know, those ancient schools with insane rules. Discipline's brutal. Corporal punishment all the time. Every day sparring with wooden posts…"
"Damn." Bimiko's eyes widened. "So the 'junior sister comes down the mountain' plot is real? But this is way too hard. This looks like straight-up domestic abuse."
"That's why she ran," Su Yu sighed, wearing an expression of I had no choice. "Too strict. Couldn't take it anymore."
"I felt bad for her. She had nowhere to go, so I let her hide here for now."
Bimiko glanced at him suspiciously, then at Kiana.
The story sounded like cheap street-stall fiction—but considering Su Yu's usual good-guy personality, plus the precedent of Fu Hua looking skinny but being able to punch an ox to death…
"Fine," she said, scratching her head and making her red hair even messier. "It's your business. Do what you want. Just don't get anyone killed, and don't let the cops come knocking on my door at midnight."
Just as Bimiko turned to leave—
The ostrich who'd been hiding her head finally moved.
Kiana leaned out from behind Su Yu and bowed deeply to Bimiko's back.
Her waist bent very low, like she was facing a respected elder.
"Sorry for the trouble," she said.
Her voice was hoarse, but unwaveringly sincere.
Bimiko short-circuited on the spot.
She couldn't stand overly serious politeness—gave her full-body goosebumps.
"Alright, alright, cut the formal crap." She waved her hand broadly. "I live right across the hall—neighbors, basically. If this punk Su Yu dares bully you, just shout. I'll come over and smack his skull in seconds—"
She paused mid-sentence, eyes landing on the pulverized solid-wood dining table.
Two seconds of silence.
"…Okay." Bimiko's mouth twitched. "With this kind of mess, I don't think he has the capital to bully you. If anything, he's the one who should be praying you don't demolish him."
Su Yu: "…Ha. Ha."
"Whatever. I'm not babysitting your garbage drama." Bimiko yawned and headed for the door. "I'm dead tired. Going back to sleep. Don't bother me."
"You reek of alcohol. Go wash up and sleep," Su Yu couldn't help snarking. "Don't be late to class tomorrow and get docked pay—then come mooch meals off me again."
"Shut up!" Bimiko flipped him off without turning around. "Got it, brat! Why're you more annoying than my parents? You're really managing me now?"
BAM. The door slammed, rattling dust off the frame.
The living room fell quiet again.
Kiana stayed bowed for several seconds before slowly straightening.
Her eyes were magnetized to the closed security door, like she wanted to stare through the cold metal and catch one more glimpse of that red-haired figure across the hall.
That look was painfully complex—like she was staring at a dream she'd recovered… and an illusion she could never reach.
"I…" She turned to Su Yu, carefully, cautiously. "Later… can I go see her?"
Su Yu looked at her—like a stray cat wanting food but afraid of getting hit—and something in him softened.
"Of course." He walked over and righted the toppled trash can. "But prepare yourself. That woman's a hopeless alcoholic. Once she latches onto you, she won't let go."
"When she drags you into an all-nighter drinking session and you're puking your guts out, don't come crying to me for rescue."
Then he paused, giving Kiana a quick once-over.
"By the way… under the law here, minors aren't allowed to drink, right?"
Kiana's face instantly went bright red.
"D-Don't look down on me…" she mumbled. "I…I'm not a kid anymore."
She said it, but the sharp "keep away" edge in her voice was gone now.
The ice wrapped around her—at last—seemed to have melted a corner, softened by the leftover booze smell and the noisy warmth still lingering in the room.
Su Yu's lips curved faintly.
"Sure, sure. Miss Kaslana is the best. A Valkyrie who can dismantle a Gundam barehanded."
He glanced at the disaster zone that was their living room.
The shattered wooden table, overturned chairs, milk spilled everywhere, glass shards—like a small typhoon had passed through.
His plan to cook something homey was completely dead. The kitchen was now basically a hazard zone too.
"What do you want for lunch?" Su Yu scratched his head. "No cooking. Kitchen's forbidden territory. Let's order delivery."
"…Anything," Kiana said.
"Then braised beef noodles again? Or… pizza?"
At that word, Kiana's ears practically twitched.
"…Pizza," she said softly. "The kind with cheese."
"No problem. Double cheese."
Su Yu pulled out his phone to order, then pointed at the wreckage on the floor.
"Let's clean up first. Otherwise when the delivery guy arrives, he'll think we just finished beating each other up and call the police. That'd be a pain."
Kiana didn't refuse.
She bent down and picked up a broken plank.
Because of the "one-meter restriction," the two of them had to move in a strange, synchronized rhythm.
When Su Yu went to grab the broom, Kiana had to shuffle two steps with him.
When Kiana picked up glass shards, Su Yu had to squat beside her, holding the trash bag open.
Their breathing braided together in the silent living room.
Kiana had a faint scent on her—like dust after rain, mixed with the sweet milk smell that had splashed on her earlier.
Not unpleasant.
If anything, it carried a heartbreaking sense of someone down on their luck.
"Careful," Su Yu said. "Don't cut your hand."
Watching her scarred hands touch the sharp glass edges, he couldn't help it.
"This is tempered glass. It hurts like hell if it stabs you—then you'll be wasting my band-aids."
"I know." Kiana kept her head lowered, white bangs hiding her eyes as she carefully pinched a shard gleaming coldly and dropped it into the bag. "I'm not an idiot."
"Yeah, yeah, you're not an idiot." Su Yu watched the little ahoge on her head sway with her movement and couldn't resist running his mouth. "You're a paramecium."
"…Huh?" Kiana froze mid-motion, looking up at him blankly.
"Nothing." Su Yu tied off the trash bag and stood up. "I'm praising you as a single-celled organism—tenacious and cute."
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