thank you so much for some of the attention y'all have given the first chapter ^^ i read all your reviews! however i get SUPER anxious responding so i generally don't reply to reviews unless you have a question ;v; but i really appreciate them! thank you! if y'all have any questions just lemme know! from now on, dialogue italics is chinese and regular is english~
btw, to clear things up for the future; i'm setting this basically a little bit after the events of the 2009 movie~ and? i'm not going to even glance at the events of the third movie. i still remember watching it and dying because of ironhide. sighs. it never happened. yeah, i'm one of those old timers who enjoyed sam/mikaela more too. when your first exposure to this fandom is when you're thirteen years old, you tend to not want to let go of certain attachments~ also i barely remember the third movie anyway so i wouldn't want to butcher anything ^^''
Chapter Two
Resting a day before classes start isn't an option. When Meixing wants something, she'll even buy kitten calendars to get it.
"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you, Mother." Meixing trails after the elder woman, small but absolutely terrifying when her temper was called into question. "When I graduate, you will also have to trouble yourself more because of medical school..."
Lihua turns around and the youth halts in her rambling. Then, the elder smiles and shakes her head. "Your father and I are getting old. Putting our attention to our dearest daughter is only natural." A pause. "Although, for him to stay in China while his daughter is off in university on her own..."
Meixing laughs. "It's fine, I'm an adult now. It's good that the business flourished during my last year of high school. It helped him send me here safely. I'm grateful to you and Father."
"That's right, money is good. When you become a doctor, you will bring in a lot of money for us." Her mother nods firmly. "We will also start the business here. America has plenty of opportunities for us. So do very well on your studies, Meimei." Her mother arches an eyebrow. "Although, why are you so stiff when talking now? Americans address their parents with much more casualness. Give it a try."
Meixing falters at that. She had never considered the concept of a warm relationship. Familiarity was not one of her strong suits. "... Mama?" She's hesitant to speak English, especially since it was still choppy and had much more room for improvement. Lihua offers another smile and gives her daughter a pat on the head.
"Then, I'll be off, Meimei." The elder opens the door to the car and settles herself in slowly. "Do well in your studies. I cannot guarantee being able to visit often..."
The Chinese youth shakes her head violently. "No no, focus on the business. I will be fine." She forces a smile. "Drive safely... Mama."
"Thank you, Meimei. Talk to you soon." Meixing steps away from the curb and waits for her mother to drive away from the campus before she releases a heavy sigh. She was an adult, yes, but dependency on her parents had ultimately been her downfall. Luckily, there should be many other transfer students that she may meet eventually. Her roommate, per Meixing's request on her application, should be able to speak Chinese as well. Her mother language was going to be her only comfort in this foreign land.
Her first class started tomorrow morning- maybe she should get some rest, despite it still being the afternoon. But... exploring the campus would also be a good idea, so that she would not be wandering around aimlessly in the days to come.
The petite Chinese nods firmly to herself and decides to visit the dorms in case her roommate arrived. It was a beautiful campus, and the student body here was quite energetic. It would be better if she could fit in than stand out. Although there seemed to be a good amount of diversity, she had heard that foreign exchange students usually attracted more attention than other students. Something... about money, she believed? It was true that the program wasn't cheap, especially since this was a supposed "Ivy League" school, but if these students could already afford to attend university, being a transfer shouldn't have mattered so much. Or foreign exchange- whatever it was they called people like her.
Meixing makes her way to her room, lightly knocking to see if there would be an answer. Seeing no response, she uses her key to open it and discovers her things untouched on the side of the room that she had chosen. The mooncakes her mother brought also remained where they were from their place on the desk. Meixing sighs and shakes her head, deciding to write a note in the event that her roommate would arrive when she left again.
Now where would she go...?
The youth is not all too fond of leaving the comfort of her room, but she grudgingly does so after she sticks the note atop the box of mooncakes. All students were required to settle in their dorms by the end of the day, and if her roommate was not here, Meixing already had a bad impression of her. It was horrible of her to do so- why should she judge someone she hadn't met? But punctuality was important. Shouldn't one arrive early rather than late? It was the best course of action. Of course, sometimes her parents had no qualms about arriving past a certain meeting time.
Sometimes Meixing truly wonders about her own morals, if they varied a bit from what her parents' morals was.
Deciding that she would be spending most of her time in the library, as Meixing had already created a profile of what kind of personality her roommate had, she makes her way to it. Though in the application, it said her roommate also preferred a quiet environment and slept at decently normal times... maybe it was unfair of Meixing to judge her so easily.
But, well, that was how she and a vast majority of her people were like. And to be honest, everyone was usually judgmental anyway. Why should she seem like the bad guy, in that case? (A bit self-righteous, that she is...)
A crumpled piece of paper slaps against her ankle, snapping the youth from her thoughts. Meixing leans over and unravels it, arching an eyebrow at the advertisement. Deciphering the letters comes much faster than being able to speak them, evidently. "Real... Effing... Deal?" Her gaze skims over the other key aspects. "Giant... alien robots?" Her eyes narrow in apprehension. It was a discarded piece of paper, obvious that no one paid attention to this sort of gimmick. But, if the website was real...
Meixing hastens her pace to the library, logging in whenever she ceased fumbling around the letters on the keyboard. Excitement rose up in her expression however- this was the first sign she had seen ever since she had landed in America. Though it was bad that this was going around. If she could find out more about who founded the website, she would have to find a way to shut their mouths about Héng Pào and then get them to help her find-
Hey! Sorry about the inconvenience, but this website is currently inactive! No robot aliens that the government is trying to hide exist! Oh, but if you want kitten calendars, come to the Hamilton Hall at room 2331. We're almost sold out, so hurry~!
- Former CEO, Leo Spitz
Disappointment and relief befalls the youth instantly. Héng Pào had told her it was a secret, so she was glad that no one else seemed to know. But if that was her only clue to his whereabouts, then it was now a dead end, wasn't it? Still, it was weird how the founder of the website decided to give up the website... she wondered how old the paper was. Either he lacked conviction... or he, too, was told that it was to be a secret. The events that rained upon Shanghai about half a year ago spoke to the true secrecy of this matter- the government had covered it quite nicely. Terrorist attacks from an unknown group. It was quite interesting how they had masked the presence of the alien robots.
But anyway, that wasn't her current concern.
"Excuse me, where Hamilton Hall?" She asks the librarian. Bad English be damned- if she was going to lose hope now, then what did she work for the past half year? She kept a steady pace throughout campus, as it would be bad if she got pulled to the side for running- did they yell at students for running in college? Anyway, Hamilton Hall was an all-boys dormitory... but it should've been okay if she was just visiting.
Her knuckles raps the door of the room the site led her to, the harshness was unintentional, but she was unsure if anyone was going to be in their dorms at this time. She waits in agitated silence- she can hear voices arguing who should open the door- but finally the door creaks open and the tanned face of a young adult appears.
"Who are you?" He arches an eyebrow.
Meixing clears her throat. "I- my name Meixing. Saw your closed website. I have... questions." Another pause. "But would like to buy cat calendar." Already fumbling over her words- confidence in another language wasn't the highest currently, the Chinese youth hastily bows in order to show a semblance of formality.
"Oh!" He laughs and opens the door for the other, scrambling to another part of the room. Meixing stands in the hallway silently, pressing her fingers together awkwardly before the man reappears with a plethora of kitten calendars in his arms. "I'm Leo! We're doing a special on the calendars right now. Two for five dollars!"
Did she really want a calendar...? She sighs. Well, if she could get information in exchange for it, she supposed she would have to submit. "Alright. I buy this one... and that one." She hands Leo the money and in exchange, she receives calendars. Wonderful.
"Thank you for doing business with me! Come again!" He's in the middle of closing the door before Meixing immediately throws her foot in the doorway, halting the other in his action. Her lips are pressed tightly into a thin line as she gives the other a determined look.
"Wait." She said she had questions, didn't she? This proved he didn't really listen to what others had to say, so she knows she will have to be persistent.
Leo blinks, before he hesitates. "Whoa- wait, we just met, I know I'm a stud and all, but this is-"
She has no idea what he thinks she wants, but there's a feeling telling her that he's misinterpreting the reason for her forcefulness. "Tell me what you know." She presses a hand against the door, intent on forcing it open. "About robot aliens. You used to own website about it."
Then horror flashes upon his face and he's hastily trying to close the door, much to the dismay of her foot that was wedged between the door and the frame. "I know nothing! There's no robot aliens! It was all a... lie! Yeah, I just wanted attention! Bye now!"
Unfortunately, her posture is unstable and she has no chance of sending a kick to the other. With his bigger frame, she's shoved out of the doorway immediately and into the opposing wall, wincing as the collision knocks a breath out of her. When she realizes what had happened, she frowns deeply and rolls up her sleeve, placing the calendars on the floor.
"What did you just do?" A hiss escapes the livid youth and she poses herself in an offensive position. If the angle and the force she jumped from was right, she had a good chance of kicking the door down despite her small frame. This... was definitely not why her parents made her learn martial arts, but at least it was going to be useful for something. She ignores the male voices that seem to be arguing behind the door again- it was probably nothing.
Meixing inhales deeply and leaps forward, but halts immediately when the door opens and a different face appears. The sudden stop causes her to stumble and she falls forward, headbutting the young man in the process of trying to regain her balance.
"Aiyah!"
"Agh, shit!"
She falls onto her bottom, rubbing her head and hissing out curses in Chinese. When she tries to identify the newcomer, he's also rubbing his head and wincing, tears pricking the corner of his eyes. Their gazes meet and silence fills the tension in the air.
"..." She knows when it's time to withdraw. Grabbing the calendars and rising to her feet, albeit unsteadily, Meixing makes a run for it.
"Ugh- wait! You-" The man also attempts to give chase, but the headbutt earlier forces him to remain sprawled out on the floor. Meixing is also not spared from the pain, but as she was more experienced in handling attacks like that, she only trips at the end of the hallway, out of sight of Leo and his... it was most likely his roommate.
"That Leo man know." Meixing rubs her forehead, waiting for the pain to ease. "He know something. I will find what he know."
"Shouldn't you call that big guy-? Y'know, the big boss or whatever."
"I... we don't know for sure if she knows anything. She could have just saw your website and gotten curious. But I thought you deleted it already!"
"Well... I mean, I did a disclaimer and all. Said no alien robots existed. But I'm using it now to advertise my kitten calendars!"
"I can't believe you still have those... anyway, this is our problem. Er, mostly yours, but I guess mine since we're roommates... ugh."
"It'd be so much easier if we just told them so that they could deal with her themselves..."
"But what if she really doesn't know? Then we'd just drag her into a war for nothing."
"... If you ask me, she looked ready for war when you opened the door."
"... She was going to attack the door, not me."