A FAST UPDATE, I CAN'T BELIEVE MYSELF. honestly i just feel kinda bad saying i'd finish something and then leave it alone for months on end LOL so i guess a double update is to make up for it.

also, i drew meixing and sideswipe! it's only my tumblr, which is the same url as my username here (shameless promo)

not sure when the next update will be, but i'm crossing my fingers i don't tap out in the next month.

anyway, as always, feedback is super appreciated! i love reading ur comments uvu

Chapter Ten

Is she psyched out? Yes and no. Someone spare her.

And just like that, it vanishes. The being that greatly resembled the hostile version of her savior disappears and Meixing finds that her mother is waving a hand in front of her face. Lihua is fine, her earlier anger briefly easing when she had noticed that her daughter had a blank expression on her face.

Meixing turns her head. The buildings they're surrounded by are intact. But that explosion ― it had definitely happened! She feels her stomach sink lower, heartbeat accelerating as panic starts to overcome her mind. What had that been then? It felt real, she had moved to protect her mother, she felt her legs trapped underneath the rubble.

" ― Meimei!"

Her face is grabbed, turned to face her mother whose countenance is stricken with fear. Ah. Her mother, those wrinkles that come with old age... at least she is alright. Meixing finds that her eye is twitching more so than usual, and she lifts a hand to cover it, an effort to ease the nerves that must have triggered it.

"Sorry. Mama, what did you say earlier?" She smiles weakly. Meixing wants to ask if her mother had also just hallucinated that terrible scenario, but she figures 'no' would be the answer anyway. By the looks of it, what Meixing just saw now was a fabrication from her overactive mind. Maybe her desire to see Héng Pào had caused her to recreate the scenario from Shanghai that year ago. The cloth her mother brought to her must have made her nostalgic enough to do that.

Yes. That must be it. As an adult, Meixing must think rationally. Be rational. Be rational, Meixing. A mantra in her mind in order to calm down.

"Tell me if you're fine first," Lihua says. She's frowning and Meixing could almost laugh at how closely she must resemble her mother when frowning.

"I'm fine." Meixing reaches up and lightly taps her mother's hands. Lihua removes her hands from her daughter's face at that, a moment of silence passing over to show her disbelief in her daughter's reassurance.

Then, she speaks again. "Alright. My question remains the same. You need to tell me about this thing. Why do you not call them monsters?"

Meixing folds the cloth so that the symbol can be hidden. "Everyone is not the same. There are good and bad people everywhere. It depends on your actions." She reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Besides... Mama, I didn't realize we were going to have a discussion about morals." It's not like she had ever been interested before either.

"That wasn't my intention," she sighs. "But if your morals explain your questionable actions, then so be it. Meimei, remember why you're here. You're here to go to school and become a doctor. This is the opportunity you could not have in China." Lihua takes a step back, eyeing the cloth in Meixing's grasp. "Keeping that is bad news. And I don't want you involved with that anymore."

Meixing remains quiet. However, her grip tightens on the cloth protectively. "I wasn't involved before. It's just a souvenir. You didn't answer me earlier too. How do you know about them, Mama?"

"I don't," she retorts sharply. "I don't know anything. We don't know anything. We aren't supposed to know anything. Meimei, you are being very stubborn. I want you to get rid of that."

She doesn't look Lihua in the eyes for another moment. Silently, she contemplates her answer, and her mother's foot tapping on the ground is proof that refusing the request will not spell out positively for the younger woman.

Meixing lifts her gaze, meeting her mother's eyes. "I will."

With those words, Lihua's entire body relaxes at once. She smiles, her wrinkled countenance washed over with relief and joy as she nods in approval. "Good. My obedient daughter." Lihua claps her hands together. "Did you eat? Oh! Perhaps you were going to eat with that friend of yours? I hope he is still waiting. Our talk wasn't as long as I anticipated for it to be." Once the anger has faded away, her mother returns to being much more talkative. Another glance is given to the cloth, but she trusts that her daughter will find some way to get rid of it without leaving a trace.

"... No, I ate already." Meixing shakes her head. "He was going to take me to get supplies for school. If you want to eat together though, Mama, then I don't mind."

"Aiyah," she sighs. "I would like to get to know him together, you know, you never showed any interest in boys before university, but now here you are, going off with your new friends. But I must return back to the restaurant. I was just cleaning your room for you and left in a hurry when I found that."

"Ah." Meixing turns to the side. "Alright, I'll walk you to your car then, Mama."

"There's no need for that." Her mother waves off the offer. "You need to hurry and get rid of that thing before meeting your friend! Walking me will take too much time! Go, go now!" The elder nudges her daughter lightly.

"If you say so," she mutters. Lihua smiles, giving her daughter a wave before turning on her heel and walking off. "Oh, wait. Mama."

She stops.

"How did you manage to find me anyway?"

"Oh, that." Lihua laughs. "Your baba and I installed a tracking application in your phone. Well, we hired someone to do it since we're still hopeless with all this new technology." She points to her own smartphone. "Don't worry, I only use it for emergencies. I'll try not to be too nosy from now on. I trust you, my daughter."

Meixing watches the elder leave, and once her mother's back disappears from her sight, Meixing sighs heavily and sinks to the ground, the grass digging sharply into her legs. She places the folded cloth onto her lap, gazing upon it with a solemn look in her eyes.

The first lie she's told her mother in a while. Digging into the pocket of her hoodie, Meixing pulls out her phone and gives it a glare. If only this blasted thing wasn't real...! Ah, but if her mother hadn't found her, then who knows what she would have done with the parachute.

She holds it closer to her torso, as if afraid it would slip from her fingers again. She had thought it would be safe in her room back at home, but it seemed like her mother's cleaning habit hadn't died in the least. That, and she knew Lihua tended to be more nosy than most others. Her study partners all said the same thing about their moms too... dully, she wonders if it's a cultural thing.

Well, whatever. With her mother gone, now she can finally focus on the worrisome situation she had been placed in earlier. That explosion, her unconscious mother, her own legs. She places a hand on one of her legs and squeezes, feeling its warmth under the pressure she places on it.

Maybe it's sleep deprivation? That's right. She's just been too tired lately. Combining the factors of her wish to see her savior along with lack of sleep created something that almost gave her a heart attack. Wonderful. At this rate, she may as well admit that she's going to start seeing more things. Especially Sideswipe waving excitedly with a stupid grin on his face and ―

Oh. Wait. That's not an illusion this time. He's calling her name and running over. Meixing shakes her head quickly, getting up from the ground and brushing off pieces of grass from her legs.

"Hey," he greets, slowing down to a walking pace when he comes within a few feet of her. "I saw your mom walk off, so I figured it was alright for me to come over now." Then he stops a few inches away, a look of concern on his face. "You don't look well. Are you alright?" His gaze isn't on her face necessarily; it drifts down to what she's been holding in her hands for a while.

Meixing sighs. "Even you ask that now? I wonder how bad I look."

"Huh? I mean, you look nice and all! It's just, you're kinda pale and you look like you just saw a ghost."

She wants to correct him, 'it was just a figure of speech', but she settles for just shaking her head in amusement. "Maybe I did. Anyway, I have a favor to ask."

Sideswipe tilts his head curiously. "What is it?"

Meixing hesitates before slowly lifting her arms, moving forward and pressing the white cloth into Sideswipe's chest. "Please... take care of this for me."

"Take care?" His eyes widen. "I thought it was something important to you? You want me to get rid of ―"

"No!" She raises her voice, hands curling into a fist and thus grasping the cloth and part of Sideswipe's clothes. "Do not. Do that. You right. Is very important." A look of desperation crosses her features. "Take care means protect. Not get rid of. Didn't know it meant something else in English."

He, too, relaxes when she explains herself. Now Meixing just wonders if communication is the root of all her problems right now.

"Oh, that'll make sense." Nervously, he laughs and rubs the back of his neck. Then he gives a nod, reaching up and grasping the cloth. "You have my word. I'll, er, protect it. When do you want it back?" He gives it a tug so that she doesn't have to keep holding it against him, but finds that her grasp remains tight and it refuses to leave her grip.

She purses her lips. "Hmm... whenever I have no roommate, I guess. Not something that Rachie should see."

"That makes sense." Another tug. Another refusal. "Xiao xing, you're not letting go."

Meixing jumps, letting go suddenly and taking a step back. "Sorry."

Sideswipe grins, reaching out and casually brushing her shoulder. A little too harshly, as if he's trying to get rid of something. "It's okay."

"... Why are you touching me."

"No reason." He laughs nervously. "But you know, this sure is nostalgic. This is the parachute you mentioned in your story, right?"

She nods. "This parachute be the reason why you turned weird." She still doesn't understand the significance of it though. The strange symbol is something unique, for sure, but she doesn't know what it means. For Sideswipe though, it seems like it's an identifying factor... and an important one too, if he had initially thought she would be endangering his country by holding that knowledge. "But now, it is alright. With you, everything will be fine."

He arches an eyebrow. "Wow, didn't think you'd have that much faith in me~"

"I mean, you will guard it just fine," she corrects.

"So cold~" He hums. "You're the type who hides her true feelings, right? I understand."

At this point, she knows it's futile to argue with a stubborn person like him. "You wrong." That doesn't mean she'll stop trying though. "Does your offer to drive me still available? I understand if my mother visit waste time though."

"Nah, it's fine." He swings the parachute over his shoulder, careful to keep the symbol hidden. "We can go now."

Meixing glances at her phone. No response in the group text either. She sighs. "Thanks. Let's go then."

"You keep looking at your phone." As they walk back towards his car, he glances at her. "Are you expecting a call or something?"

"No," she replies. "I want to, if possible. But have a feeling my group will be trouble. They don't respond to me."

"Ehh." He frowns. "Group... is it for school?"

"Yes, a group project." Meixing keeps her gaze forward, shoving her phone back into her sweatshirt pocket. "Might turn into solo project. I don't trust them if they would ditch on first planned meeting."

"While I agree that working on your own can be easier..." He walks a few paces faster so that he can reach the passenger's door ahead of Meixing, opening it and tossing the parachute in the back. "I've learned the hard way that taking things on your own when it's meant to be done with other people can be rough."

"Oh?" She wrinkles her nose. "What kind of lesson?" Giving a nod to show her gratitude, she slips into the passenger's seat with ease. He closes the door when she's settled and quickly makes his way to the other side.

"Err... it was during a battle." His tone of voice is sheepish. "I disobeyed my boss' orders and attacked the enemy by myself. Got busted up pretty badly... even more so by our medic after though, if I'm honest."

"... Your medic? A medic is supposed to heal."

"Yeeeeah... not our medic."

"You should report him," she says. Meixing looks around the car, attempting to find the seat belt. Once she found it, she tugs it over and clicks it, curious by how smoothly that went. Cars usually hated her...

"Trust me, I've complained a lot." He laughs. "Sometimes I have it coming though. And even if he's a grump, Hatchet does his job well. So it's fine. Everyone knows how he's like anyway." Sideswipe starts the car, giving his passenger a wide grin. "Talking about him is so boring though. Now here's something fun! Are you ready for your first ride in the best car in the world?"

Meixing looks around, observing the pristine interior carefully. "Best car... why?"

"Because it's me! Er, my car! That's why! Hahaha..." Did he cover that up well? With a nervous laugh, he takes off from his spot with a loud screech.

She wrinkles her nose. "Expensive cars are always scary. I worry about getting them dirty or damaging somehow. Also, drive safely."

"You'll be fine. Besides, aren't you psyched to ride in something as popular as this?" He waves off her warning, but does slow down a little as he pulls onto the road.

"Popular...?" She gives him a wary look. "Do not know much about cars. Is this one of those unnecessarily expensive cars?" Like, extremely so.

"Hmm." He hums. "About a hundred thousand?" Not that he paid for it, but apparently humans placed a high value on this type of car. The most fitting for him indeed.

On the other hand, Meixing chokes on her spit, hitting her chest to try and regain her breath. "That so close to how much my school tuition cost for a year. What good does expensive car do? My goodness."

He pouts. "What, do you not like it?"

She cringes. "Well... of course, beautiful things must be appreciated. But spending unnecessary money..." Meixing gives the interior another inspecting glance. "I guess your military work pays well."

"You could say that." Beautiful is a good compliment. He likes it. Though she'll probably think that his beaming smile is weird. After all, who gets excited over a compliment paid to their car? "But relax and enjoy the ride~"

Meixing sighs, leaning back in her chair and directing her gaze to the window. Indeed, it's not often that she'll get the opportunity like this. Still, if someone like him can make so much money like this, then why is he replacing someone's duty at a university like this? It seems so menial.

Ah... well, it's none of her business anyway. Closing her eyes, she decides to take his advice and escape to a world where she didn't have to worry about group projects and interacting with people.

It's only a twenty minute ride, but when Sideswipe is gently shaking her awake, she feels like hours have passed since she closed her eyes. She yawns, covering her mouth as she squints at the office supply store.

"I will not take long. You can wait in car." Opening the door, she wobbles just slightly as she steps out. Closing the door requires a bit more effort than usual, as Meixing stands still few a while longer in order to wake herself up fully.

"Why are you always~ pushing me awayyyy~?" Sideswipe sings, spinning on his heel as he makes his way over to Meixing.

"... I was being considerate." Okay. His offkey singing has definitely snapped her awake. "If you no stop, I will proceed to ignore you."

"You break my heart, you know~"

"Didn't think you had one."

"Okay. That one actually hurt."

"Sorry."

Soft reminder to himself: she really holds grudges.

But it's okay! Sideswipe has already resolved to tap more into his inner self. Being friendly suits him much more than pushing those humans away, after all. Besides, she's the link to learning more about humans and absolving all his previous grievances against them.

"I think I have everything." She peers into the bag, double-checking all her supplies. "Just need to go to bookstore. Nearest one is down the street." She squints. "Sideswipe, we can just walk. No need to waste gas."

"Huh? You sure?" He follows her gaze. True, it's not that far a walk, but if they have a car, they may as well use it, right? The distance isn't really a problem for him, whether it's driving or walking... so he supposes that it doesn't really matter.

"Yeah. Exercise will do me good." Then without another moment's consideration, she sets off for the crosswalk, causing Sideswipe to vocalize another protest about leaving him behind.

"Let me carry your things."

"Is fine."

Right. Stubborn little girl. He shakes his head, reaches over and gives a forceful tug on her bags. Meixing lets out a grunt but doesn't fight it otherwise. As they walk and come to a stop at the crosswalk to wait for the pedestrian light to turn, Meixing turns her head to Sideswipe.

"Can I ask a question?"

"You just did."

She kicks his heel. He doesn't flinch at all. However, at least he has enough remorse to look vaguely guilty about his response.

"Sorry, couldn't pass that up. But back to being serious, what do you need to ask?"

The light turns white, signalling the pedestrians to walk. Meixing rubs her forehead, stepping onto the street as soon as the light changes. "Seriously... you hurt my head a lot sometimes."

"Haha~" He grins, readjusting the grip on the bags. "It means you're thinking about me!" He begins to walk after her, despite the fact that she has a small head start. He can catch up to her without a problem, though there's just a slight concern she might turn around and elbow him if he went near her right now.

"Unfortunately," she responds dryly, stopping when she's on the other side so he can catch up. In the distance, there's a loud road of an engine. She pays it no heed, crossing her arms across her torso as she relents and gives him a smile. "But as for my question, I ― "

One moment, he's halfway across the crosswalk. The next, he's pulling her away from the curb, letting out a yell as his arms come tightly across her smaller frame. Meixing blinks, stunned by what had just happened. How did Sideswipe move so fast? Why is he yelling so loudly? He sounds angry.

Meixing feels him pulling away, grabbing her shoulders as he asks questions. People are already gathering, whispering about what had just happened. But her ears are ringing and she can barely understand what they were trying to say to her.

"... Xing! Meixing!" Finally, after what seems like an eternity, Sideswipe's voice becomes clearer. He looks desperate. Worried. Angry. "Say something! Are you alright?! Frag, I'm sure he did that because of me...!"

Dazed, she reaches up and gives Sideswipe a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Her arm's trembling though, and her touch serves to whip his gaze back to her face. "... I'm fine. Just... it was loud."

"I'm so sorry," he says, voice dropping to nearly a whisper. The amount of guilt he has on his countenance is confusing. "You almost... I couldn't..."

"Miss!" Her hearing clears up enough so that the onlooker's voices also filter in. "Your leg is bleeding!"

"Huh?!" Sideswipe pulls back from her completely, gaze curving downwards immediately. Meixing slowly follows suite, tilting her head at the bright red gash on her thigh.

"Wow... that person drove so fast it made hole in pants. These are new jeans too."

"Be more concerned about your wound! Your wound!"