Whoosh!
In a single, fluid motion, Wang Xiao leaped from the clock tower, descending like a specter into the quiet anonymity of a shadowed alley.
_____
As Freya strolled the familiar path leading from the school's gates, her thoughts fluttered like the leaves around her. "Why such urgency, Mom?" she whispered to herself, a frown creasing her forehead.
The lightness of her early release was shadowed by the strangeness of the request.
"Could it be another one of her experiments, or...?" Her voice trailed off, her mind swirling with possibilities.
Absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't notice the figure emerging from the alleyway.
Crash!
Her steps halted abruptly as she collided with the unexpected obstacle — Wang Xiao, who seemed to have materialized from thin air.
!!
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see—" she began, her apology cut short as he grasped her hands.
"Huh?"
