- Two Hours Later, The Starry City -
We arrived at the familiar deluxe entrance of the 5-star hotel, The Starry City, two hours after our departure from the school infirmary - almost curfew already. Luckily, Song Qian Long had said he would cover for us if we went over curfew today, since the sisters were getting reunited and there was definitely a lot they would want to talk about.
But still...it usually wouldn't have taken this long, but Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and Yu An Xue insisted on buying some things for Yu An Yan.
...And when girls shop, they take forever.
After a while of sitting at a bench all by myself doing literally NOTHING, I couldn't take it anymore and went to find them.
And of course, when I go to find them, they were inside a women's undergarments store. I spotted them and entered immediately without thinking, and was met with lots of condescending gazes (considering I was dressed kind of like a pervert with my black hoodie and ripped jeans) and two furious girls (Qing Yue and Feng Mian) plus two blushing ones (Yu An Xue and Yu An Yan).
After a lot of explaining and apologies, they finally let me off the hook and we arrived at The Starry City, where Grange Grill was located. The five of us went inside and sat down. This time, I wasn't stared at by anyone (though we still attracted attention due to how beautiful the four girls were), since the girls had apparently bought me a some proper clothes and things like hair polish and perfumes while shopping as well. I was grateful for this, but not for the fact that I had to change within a bathroom, and had to put my old clothes into the Space Locket lent to me by the Yu family patriarch.
Ah...speaking of, I would have to return that.
Why had I lent it?
Well, it was necessary for my plan to succeed. I had first concocted this plan after seeing the Magic Artifact in action, after all.
Putting that aside for now, the five of us quickly ordered some dishes and once they were served, we began eating. We were at a round table for five, and Qing Yue taught me how to use a fork and knife while the other three immersed themselves in conversation.
"Tch...chopsticks are way easier," I complained, cutting a steak in half with my knife.
Qing Yue put her hand over her mouth and laughed giddily with amusement. "Big Brother Xuan Kai, you have to look natural or you may end up attracting attention again, hehe~!"
"Yeah yeah...whatever," I muttered. This was not I was here for. Clearing my throat, I got everyone's attention, and brought the topic back on track.
"Now then...starting off first. Yu An Yan, do you remember anything that happened in the past 8 years, while you were under Ghosteye's control?" I asked.
Yu An Yan nodded, face now serious. "Everything."
Everything, huh? That makes things simpler. I continued.
"I see. And...do you feel unwell or anything like that? I mean emotionally."
She shook her head, and her expression turned slightly sad. "I...I know I have done many evil things. But whenever the guilt comes back to haunt me, I just tell myself that the person who did those things wasn't me. It was a clone, someone that may have the exact same body as me, but is not me in the end."
I nodded. "That is the best way to cope with it. I was going to advise you to do that, but...it seems you have already figured it out yourself during the short time that you came back to your old self."
Feng Mian perked up as she heard this, and quickly asked, "Speaking of, when did you 'wake up' anyway?" She did a slight quotation mark gesture with her hands when saying 'wake up'.
"This morning," Yu An Yan replied. "The nurse was kind and brought me some food and water, which helped me organize my thoughts and figure out what had happened."
Feng Mian seemed satisfied with this reply, and went right back to eating her spaghetti and meatballs.
I took this opportunity to continue with my questions. "By the way..." I began, and Yu An Yan turned back around to look at me. "...I felt like you were avoiding my gaze slightly earlier, in the infirmary. You don't have to answer this, but...I'm just curious - why?"
Her face turned redder than Feng Mian's tomato sauce all of a sudden, and she looked away. "T-That's, uh..." she trailed off. I sighed. Didn't seem like I was going to get an answer.
...Or that's what I had thought, but Qing Yue decided to intervene. "Hehe...it was because of all your failed attempts at trying to seduce my Big Brother Xuan Kai, right?"
She placed heavy emphasis on the 'my' part, and I winced at the memory. She had gone through many different personalities to get closer to me, as that was probably the task given to her by Ghosteye. It wasn't necessarily of her own volition, but still - remembering doing such a thing was bound to be embarrassing.
"H-H-Huh?!" Yu An Yan cried out in surprise. Then, turning at me, she continued. "N-No! I-It isn't like that, okay?!"
"Uh...I'll try my best to forget it ever happened...?" I offered, not sure what to respond with.
"Ah...damn it!" Yu An Yan cursed, still blushing furiously.
Her sister, Yu An Xue, however, seemed to be amused at this whole situation. "Hehe, big sister, you have moments like this, too, huh?"
"Q-Quiet!" Yu An Yan yelled, though not loudly enough that other people would be able to hear us. But then, she dropped a bomb that surprised me the most.
"You like Xuan Kai too, don't you?!" she said, pointing at her sister.
"H-Huh?!" Yu An Xue cried, and began blushing as well. "W-What are you talking about, big sis?!"
Uh...she was joking, right? Probably. Definitely.
Still...seeing the two sisters, normally cold and distant to everyone else, happily bickering like normal girls...I smiled slightly.
"Hah! You can't hide from your big sister! It's clear as day! You were so careful when picking his clothes earlier! There's no way you would do that for just anyone!" Yu An Yan continued.
"E-Eh?! I-I wasn't! And besides, what did you mean by 'too', big sis?!" Yu An Xue rebuked.
"Huh? What 'too'?"
"You said 'you like Xuan Kai too, don't you' just now!"
"W-Wha-!"
Yu An Xue held the upper hand now, and didn't let this chance slip away. "Heheh...could it be, big sis...he defeated your captor like the hero in a fairy tale, and now you're in lov-"
"N-No! Y-You are the same, aren't you?!"
I quickly calmed the two of them down. "Uh, okay. That's enough."
The two stared at each other for a while more like they each had more to say, but eventually backed down.
Qing Yue sighed. "The first thing they do after finally reuniting after eight years is start fighting over my big brother..."
I arched an eyebrow, but didn't say anything in response to Qing Yue's remark. Instead, I decided to clarify things.
"Just so we're clear, I wasn't the one that defeated Ghosteye," I said truthfully. "That old geezer, Song Qian Long, was the one."
Yu An Yan shook her head. "Even then...you were the one that came up with the plan, right? These three told me everything while we were shopping, including the fact that you still haven't explained how you summoned the principal all of a sudden," she said, pointing at Qing Yue, Feng Mian, and her sister.
Why did she have to add in that last part...?
But before I could protest, she continued. "That's why...thank you." She stood up and bowed deeply, which surprised me.
And before I could even react to just her alone, Yu An Xue also got up from her seat and bowed beside her sister. "That's right...I would like to express my gratitude as well. Thank you, Xuan Kai."
"I, uh..." I began, but couldn't say anything good in response.
"You were the one that allowed the two of us to meet again, after eight years," Yu An Yan continued, getting up from her bow.
Yu An Xue nodded beside her and also stood up straight again. "You were also the one that gave me courage and strength when I needed it most," she said with a wink, reminding me of that morning on the rooftop.
"So that's why-" they began together.
"-Thank you. Truly." they finished in perfect sync, beautiful and genuine smiles on their faces.
...In contrast, the only thing I could do was keep up my blank expression and mutter hesitantly, "Uh...you're welcome?"
Qing Yue and Feng Mian looked to me with smiles as well, and I still hadn't really made sense out of the whole situation.
But either way...this was pretty nice.
I guess...I could accept their gratitude? Thinking about it this way - the two loving sisters before me right now were able to reunite thanks to me...
...It was indeed something to be proud of. I grinned slightly in return to the four girls' cheerful smiles, and spoke my next words quietly, but audible.
"Don't worry about it. We're...companions, after all."
The girls laughed and the sisters sat back down in their chairs.
Qing Yue was the only one that seemed in disagreement. "Eh?? Companions?" she asked, and all of us looked at her like, 'uh, yeah'.
She thought about it for a moment, and then continued. "We're more like a big family, don't you think?"
The rest of us all widened our eyes, and stared at Qing Yue in disbelief. "F-Family?" Feng Mian echoed, not sure if she heard right.
Qing Yue nodded. "Yep! I mean, families are made up of people who love one another, and it's pretty obvious that all of us here love a certain someone, right?"
The other three girls all looked away, blushing slightly.
And just like that, the five of us chatted deep into the night about tales of the past and present, even after everyone else had left. After the restaurant closed, Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and I headed back to the school while Yu An Xue and Yu An Yan went to the Yu family manor to explain everything to their father.
As for me...I wondered who the 'certain someone' from Qing Yue's declaration earlier was. Whoever it was, to have these four top beauties of Shenzhen in love with them...they would have to be some spectacular talent, or a big shot of some kind.
The thought 'could it be me?' crossed my mind for a second, but I quickly perished it. Too good to be true.
I didn't deserve these four sweet and beautiful girls. My life was one hellbent on revenge, and my path was one of blood and death. There was a lot of danger to come, and I didn't want to get anyone else to get caught up in it.
...But maybe...just maybe, had I been born in a different way, it could work out.