ahah i wasn't sure if by the end of this chapter i was rushing things, but i figured the third chapter was just about a good enough time to... introduce him. i'm not really sure how i should be pacing things lol there are characters that i can put in order to make this story more... slice of life? but i'm not sure if y'all would be interested in them ahah. note for sure though that as friendship is one of the genres for this fic, chapters will be oriented around these type of bonds. and then, of course, the main ship will also be slowly developing~

thank you for calling meixing adorable ^^ as her creator it does make me very elated to hear that~

Chapter Three

We briefly shift perspective to Leo and Sam, who exemplifies Meixing's persistence. After that, she just proves them right.

"You know, this reminds me of the first time I met you, Leo." Samuel Witwicky's voice is dry as he glances from the book in his hands to the Chinese girl sitting a few tables away. "When you showed me your website and talked about... you know, that. I basically had a heart attack and tried to throw you off completely."

Leo shrugs, adjusting the sunglasses perched atop his nose. "You were really fishy, I gotta admit. It sucks that the cream of my crop is gone, but..." He shudders at the memory of Egypt. "Yeesh, never wanna go into that again. Not really keen on being buddy-buddy with your buddies, but it's better than your buddies' enemies."

"This attempt at obscurity is really annoying." But Sam understood the necessity of it, so he doesn't comment further. Instead, his attention is redirected towards the reason that the two were in the library in the first place. "We've been tailing her, as much as we could anyway, for a few days. It doesn't seem like she knows anything more though. She could be harmless."

Leo cringes. "Excuse me, you weren't the one who was chased down the corridors by the tiny Asian woman."

"It's your fault for making that dumb website anyway. It's a good thing no one else paid attention to it, or else there'd be a lot of problems right now." The government had been doing an eerily excellent job of masking the existence of Cybertronians. It made Sam wonder what else they could be hiding, but for now, he had more prominent worries on his mind. "What did she ask anyway?"

He steals a glance towards the girl, who's deeply immersed in her studies. "She just asked me about my website. Why did I close it? Where did I get the information? I didn't answer any of her questions, obviously, but yeesh, she's terrifying." He leans closer to Sam. "You know, this is a bad idea after all. If she wanted to expose your buddies, wouldn't she have done it already? I mean, I know I would have before, but that's in the past. We can just leave her alone." He rubs his wrist subconsciously. "She knows kung fu or something. I don't wanna die in college, man."

Sam bites his lip and shakes his head. "But how does she know? It's dangerous. This is for consideration of both sides, you know. Sure, there's the scary part of a security breach or whatever. But if she has some ties to us, she might be targeted. Or if she's on the other side..." Memories of the Decepticon Pretender come flooding back and Sam pales considerably. "Yeah, uh, this time I have a taser on me. So we're safe."

"Are you really sure? Because-" Leo's interrupted mid-sentence by a looming shadow. Both men look behind them to see the figure of the librarian, irritated yet pleasantly smiling.

"Excuse me boys. This is the library. Shut up or get out."

XxXx

Meixing observes the two roommates forced out of the library unwillingly with narrowed eyes. Their attempts at secrecy were rather pathetic- practically everyone could hear the words of those two, given the quiet environment they were in. By their conversation though, it was quite clear to the Chinese youth.

They both knew something. Although she hadn't tuned into their entire conversation, as she really had been focused on her work and only noticed the two when she overheard other students whispering about the inconsiderate heathens that shouldn't be talking in the library, she had heard quite enough of it. Now the problem was how would she go about getting information from them?

The youth pushes some of her black locks out of her eyes, frowning. It was obvious that secrets must be held, so going around them would be difficult. Just as those two had their secrets, she also had hers. If they clashed, then there wasn't going to be advancement on either side; it would be a stalemate, so to speak.

Ah, so this was where the problem of her lack of knowledge in the English language came into place. If she was more proficient, then perhaps she could use some persuasive words to get the information. Too bad they couldn't speak Chinese...

"Aiyah..." She sighs, closing her notebook and putting her materials away. "Doing this because Héng Pào told me to keep secret. Is very hard." Now that she recalled it, she hadn't exactly promised the metal being anything. And yet, here she was, chasing fellow students down the halls in an attempt to keep its secret. It was embarrassing when one put it that way, and in some instances it could be said that she was losing face for her family. But... keeping a secret was important. And because the strange, metal alien had requested it, only to her as the sole witness of its actions that night... surely her parents would be proud of her. She would be keeping face in a more discreet way, of course.

She shuffles along, leaving the library with her head tilted towards the ground as she sinks herself in her thoughts. It was a very long shot, coming to America just to see Héng Pào, and even now it was still a long shot. There were no signs of its existence here. The only lead she had was the former website, but even that was slowly starting to come to a dead end. Meixing... was alone in this. She couldn't confide in her roommate with this. She couldn't confide in her other acquaintances for this. Searching for the one who had revealed to her another part of the world... was her mission alone, it seemed.

"It be okay," she reassures herself, suddenly lifting her head up in determination. "I will find. Do not look down on conviction-!"

"Hey, what are you doing?! Look out!"

Meixing whips her head around at the warning, which had came from someone a few meters away. Her eyes widened at the silver vehicle headed towards her at a frightening speed; flashbacks of that night in Shanghai has her rooted to the spot out of fear and the Chinese girl fixates her gaze on it, wondering if this would be her end.

Much to her fortune, the car had already slammed on its brakes. A hideous screech emulates from the harsh friction of its tires defying the pavement it drove on and her hands fly up to cover her ears in recoil. People are already starting to gather and their voices surround the Chinese girl.

"You idiot! Why'd you go out on the street?"

"Did she... try to kill herself?"

"No way..."

"How scary..."

Meixing frowns and rounds on all the people with a protest. It wouldn't look good for her family if they started talking about how their daughter seemed to try to kill herself in the first week of university. "No! Simply did not pay attention! Was not intentional!" However, the youth then glares at the vehicle, whose driver's door opens hastily. The driver seems to be torn between being angry or being worried- frankly, his anger should be unreasonable.

"You...!" Meixing jabs a finger at the taller man. "What you doing on school zone?! Driving fast is dangerous! Someone could be hurt!" Now that her fear had subsided, she figured it would be best to direct her own frustration at the one who had reignited such memories in the first place.

"You're the one who came out on the street!" He retorts, pushing her finger away. "If I hadn't hit my brakes, you would've been roadkill, human!" He winces. "Er, girl!"

Meixing huffs, folding her arms across her chest. "Speed limit is thirty! You drive eighty, at least!" Well, that was simply her guess. But judging by the tread marks in the pavement and her knowledge of physics, it would be reasonable to guess that number. "No need to hit brakes if not drive fast!"

"You could've moved! What were you doing, just standing there anyway?!"

"You go fast! Even if moved, might have been hit regardless!"

Spectators started to take sides. They saw logic in both arguments; she shouldn't have went out on the street and he shouldn't have been driving so fast in this area anyway. Although, as people started to notice the car the man drove, they were certainly more keen to take his side. Meixing scowls at the attention- this wasn't really what she wanted, and she turns on her heel to leave. She had to get back to her dorm to drop off her belongings before she could start tailing one of the two boys, after all.

"Stupid rat," she mutters. The driver pauses, his gaze brightens for a split second and he scowls at that. Suddenly, there's a vice-like grip on her forearm and she's jerked back from the sudden force.

"What did you just call me?" Challenging blue meets surprised brown- she certainly had not expected for him to be able to understand Mandarin. She's all too aware of their closeness then. Her own father scarcely hugged her and her mother only hugged her whenever Meixing had done an excellent job in school.

And yet, here was a stranger, whose irritated face was half a foot away from her own and whose hand was pressing on her arm quite forcefully. It must be an American thing, one that Meixing isn't too sure she's all that fond of.

"Are you going to hit me?" She responds flatly, glaring at him provocatively. His grip loosens and his smoldering gaze falters at that. She takes the opportunity to slip her arm from his grip and stretch it out, making sure she wasn't in his area of reach anymore. "At least you have some decency. Well then, goodbye. I certainly doubt the school officials will allow a reckless driver to stay on campus any longer."

She can feel his piercing gaze on her back as she makes her way back to her dorm. Meixing presses a hand to her heart, willing it to calm down. She had almost died and she had talked back to a stranger- both of which she hadn't expected to occur today. Sure, she wasn't that special; she knew plenty of other Chinese women who would have been as defensive and mouthy as her, perhaps even more so. But still, it had scarcely been a week since she had arrived at this campus and she was already picking fights with people.

Hopefully she'd never see him again.

... But she had spoken too soon.

He is very much invading her personal bubble, she discovers with much displeasure, as he uses one arm to block one of her escape routes. His frame is larger than hers, though she suspects that if she were taller, this difference wouldn't have been so disadvantageous to her. He's certainly looking quite peeved, she notes from her position in the improvised human cage, and she wonders how he had managed to find her. It had only been a few hours since their encounter and this university was quite large.

Silence is placed between them, before he decides to speak.

"They think I did it on purpose." By the sounds of it, he had escaped whoever 'they' was. Most likely the school officials. He lifts a finger and jabs at her shoulder, mimicking the gesture she had thrown at him earlier. "I have a reason to be here so I can't leave. Besides, it wasn't my fault to begin with. So you're coming with me to get the story straight." As if he was used to things going his way- at least, it sounded like it did. That, or he normally forced for things to go his way. She wouldn't be surprised, honestly.

Meixing returns to him a blank look. "Why should I? I could sue you for attempted murder, yes?" Of course, she wouldn't go that far- that would be lying. But he was wasting her time and she needed to catch Leo again. Now was about the time he was going to leave class, so if she didn't escape this persistent man soon, her chance would be lost.

The man seems shocked at that. "Wh- attempted murder?! I just said I didn't do it on purpose!" He snaps back. "Rude! If you knew what I've been doing for you hu-" He shuts his mouth immediately, clearing his throat. "Er, I mean. I'm in the... military. I protect people like you. There's no reason for me to kill you."

She arches a skeptical eyebrow at that. "... Military? An undisciplined man like you?"

He huffs, frowning. "You call it undisciplined, but I'm just being free. I don't see why I have to be restricted. I'd rather have as much fun as possible. Being bound by every rule is... boring." Of course, he would obey his superiors when it was necessary. But as for restrictions in battle and playing pranks on certain soldiers? Nah, he'd wreck havoc whenever he wanted to. Their angry protests be damned.

Meixing pauses at that. Having as much fun as possible? But if there was no set of rules to follow, then how would order be kept? She needed restrictions to guide her. That was how she could live.

They both locked gazes then, contemplating what to do with each other. The man seems more intent on grabbing her and dragging her over on his whim, and she doesn't doubt that he'd be able to do so. However, the chances of her complying were less likely if he were to use force. He must know this, which is why he hasn't moved just yet.

Finally, Meixing decides to try and compromise.

"I need to find someone. Then I help you." Making her final decisions, she grabs the stranger's wrist, albeit with hesitance, and begins to drag him along with her. The man seems surprised- even a small yelp escapes, and he makes mild effort to dig his feet into the ground, as if he was deciding whether or not to go along with her. He also cringed at the touch, as if he either wasn't used to it like she was, or he was genuinely disgusted by the idea of someone like her touching him. "You know this better idea. Or else might not help you to get out of trouble." Then his protest does seem to dim, although he's definitely looking displeased by the turn of events. One could even say he was pouting.

However, it was good that he was wise enough to see the situation and analyze it. No matter how reckless and immature he seemed to be, she notes with underlying judgment.

Well, she didn't care. This was going to play in both their favors ultimately, so she figures he should just quietly go along with her.

Quietly was ideal. He most certainly is not the quiet type of person at all.

"Who are you searching for anyway?" He asks. If he was going to be forced along this, he might as well be informed as to what he was getting himself into.

"None of concern." Though she could easily switch to Mandarin and he could do the same, her mother had told her to improve her English. Practice made perfect.

"I think it is, seeing as the longer you delay my innocence, the more in trouble I'll be in later," he retorts. Meixing pauses and relents.

"Name is Leo Spitz. I have question for him," she replies. The man stiffens at the name, recognizing it immediately.

"... What kind of question?"

"..." She shakes her head. "That is secret. I cannot tell, because I made promise." Meixing pauses. "Well, I think I made promise. Not sure. But will take it as promise." She finally stops pulling him and they stop in the hallway, a few feet away from where Leo's classroom was. Meixing turns to face him, finger pressed to her lips in a form of secrecy. "Target very slippery. Please do not get in way."

"I'm pretty sure this is what humans call stalking," he mutters, casting his gaze aside.

"Not know what you talk about. Stalking mean follow and harass. I only follow and ask question when he have free time," she replies back, arching an eyebrow. Sure, there was that one time she had gotten peeved and outright chased him, but he had insulted her family- no one got away with insulting her family. Meixing was a very strong advocate of filial piety. She had been raised as such, after all.

"Sure, if you say so." Then he sighs and refocuses his eyes back on the smaller woman, before he blinks once, as if he is seeing her for the first time. As irritation is finally cleared from his vision, the oriental features of the Asian girl before him slowly settles in his mind. Before finally, recognition alarmed in his mind. Flashbacks of Shanghai and the problem he had encountered are vivid. His mouth drops and a scrambled scream escapes his throat immediately, finger pointing at the other in mild accusation.

"AHHHHHHH!"

If she wanted him to be quiet... well, it would be a long way until she actually got her wish.