"I'm saying this in your best interest, Mister Yunlai."
The purple-haired man went over the documents once more. It was certainly a sweet deal, one that would guarantee his company's prosperity for at least a decade. There was still one detail that bugged him, though.
"Miss Elaine, there are still some dark areas in this contract. Is the deal you're offering me even legal ? I understand that it would be extremely profitable, but still."
The businesswoman sat opposite of him merely laughed. To Yunlai, it sounded fake.
"Come on, now, it's not that bad. Most of it will be overlooked anyway." She leaned over the desk. "I know a lot of people who would kill for the contract you have in your hands, you know."
The noble looked out the window. It was true. He was a fortunate man. His opulent lifestyle was built on his industrial empire. He had worked hard to get there, to make sure that the name of Yunlai would be well-known, feared even, as a leader in the ore department. But sweat dripped on his forehead, and Elaine noticed it, offering him a deal he couldn't refuse.
"You have a daughter, right ? One day, you will retire, and she will inherit all of this. But it is a fragile empire." Elaine accompanied her statement with a wide movement of the hand. "The best thing you could do now is offer her stability, and that's exactly what this deal is about."
He still twirled his moustache, hesitant. "Stability...but at what cost ? I'm not talking about money, but integrity. My daughter is honest and ambitious, Miss Elaine." His fingers tapped on the desk. "If she finds out that I made a deal with the Abyss-"
"She doesn't have to know."
Purple eyes met golden ones. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of a deep sadness trapped within hers, but it was all in a blur.
Her fingers tapped on the desk. "We do things for our loved ones, Mister Yunlai. Things others might call 'unethical', or 'illegal'. But we do them anyway, because morals cannot stop us. But who do you think the people acclaim ? Honest losers or underhanded winners ?" Yunlai's guard was faltering. Now was her chance to strike. "Our world is a battlefield. Be your daughter's shield, Mister Yunlai."
Speaking of his daughter...
"Dad, what the hell are you doing ?"
A young purpled-haired woman stormed into the office. Going by the way she was stomping towards her father, one could tell that she was more than slightly irate.
No. Keqing was furious.
"What is all of this about a deal with the Abyss ? Don't tell me you're going to trust these snakes !"
Elaine simply snorted at her jabs. Poor girl. In this world, her strong ideals won't lead her very far. Or maybe they will. She did seem very determined.
But her father had signed the contract before she could do anything.
"I'm doing all of this for you, Keqing." He let out a tired sigh. "Miss Elaine, I suggest you take our contract to safety before my daughter does anything rash."
Keqing tried to snatch the precious document, but Elaine was faster. "My pleasure." With a humble bow, she took her leave and walked out of the office.
Thankfully for her nerves, the doors closed before she could hear all of the various insults the girl sent her way. Keqing certainly had a wide vocabulary.
As she exited the building, Elaine looked for somewhere she could change. Oh, well. An empty alleyway would probably do.
Throwing her wig into the trashcan, Lumine let out a sigh of relief. The Abyss was forcing her to do some crazy shit, but she still managed to not mess that one up.
Using a fake identity to help the organization expand was certainly not her favorite pastime, though.
"Now I just have to wait for Enjou to come pick me up."
"Hey, princess."
She didn't have to wait long.
The blonde crashed in the passenger's seat. "So, where are we going ?"
Enjou handed her a cup. "I'm dropping you off somewhere. Coffee ?"
Lumine downed the cup in one go, but still raised a brow. Why was he being so evasive about the location ? Now that she took a closer look at him, Enjou looked panicked. His fingers were crushing the steering wheel, and he flinched lightly whenever she moved. Weird. Usually, he was the one making her feel uncomfortable.
"Are you feeling a little tired ? I can drive to the next location." she offered, trying to test the waters.
"You don't know where we're going." he refused. "Also, that was your last assignment."
"For today ?"
"…"
"Enjou ?"
"No, for a while."
What was that supposed to mean ? Had she reached some sort of quota ? It didn't make sense. He had told her that she needed to work more, and now her schedule's suddenly free ?
"Am I getting some sort of vacation ?"
"You could say that."
Enjou scoffed, but she felt that he was still stressed. Which was bad, because his nervousness was now spreading to her. Lumine could already feel the first signs of a stomachache.
"Enjou, what the hell is going on ? Did the higher-ups send some orders that I don't know about ?"
He avoided her eyes, but still talked. "There's been a huge leak. Apparently, a lot of traitors managed to infiltrate our ranks and spilled everything to the authorities. Politicians who were affiliated with us are falling left and right, so the higher-ups decided to get rid of everybody who's deemed useless or potentially traitorous. You're in the first category."
A bead of sweat ran down her neck. "Wh-what do you mean, useless ? I helped the Abyss on a lot of-"
"It's still not enough. I don't make the rules, Lumine." A vein appeared on his forehead. "I'm not happy about this, but if I disobey orders they'll have my head."
Out with the trash. After four years of barely getting by, everything came back to bite her in the ass. Her only and biggest mistake was joining them in the first place. If she hadn't let herself get lured in...
But now, she was going to get consumed.
"So you're going to take me out ?" Her head was hurting like crazy. She could already see it. Aether, standing alone in the rain, at her funeral.
If he even wanted to have anything to do with her, that is.
"That was the plan, originally. But a man from outside the organization offered an alternative."
A man outside the organization ? She would like to ask about that, but everything just wouldn't stop spinning. At first, she thought she was just having a panic attack, but there clearly was something more. Then it hit her.
"The coffee. What the hell did he put in my coffee ?"
Before she could fall completely unconscious, she heard something. She knew Enjou as a criminal, sadistic shit, but his voice sounded oddly melancholic.
As if it was the last time she was hearing it.
''Goodbye, Princess.''
Ayaka hummed a little song. What time was it, exactly ? She had been gone for about two hours, but she felt like time was longer outside of the dorm. Either that, or she just felt really at home there. About time. She had been living with Aether for several months now.
"I really hope he got started without me. This guy, if I didn't force him, he would only study the bare minimum."
Holding her bag of groceries with one hand, Ayaka searched her purse for her key with the other. She turned the handle, but froze when muffled sounds reached her ear. Voices ? Did Aether invite a someone over ? Hoping really hard that she was just imagining things, Ayaka pushed the door open.
What a terrible mistake.
"IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH A STUBBORN LITTLE SHIT..."
"YOU DID NOT DO THAT !"
"...I WOULDN'T HAVE RESORTED TO THIS !"
"DAIN, I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Completely oblivious to her presence, Aether grabbed the blond man by his collar. She had never seen him like this, but she immediately recognized the glow in his eyes. Pure fury.
"WHY NOW ? WHY NOW OF ALL FUCKING TIMES ?" Aether clenched his fist, ready to bury it in Dainsleif's face. "WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING NOW ?"
Tears of guilt and incomprehension rolled down his face. Dainsleif, eyes dry, calmed himself down first.
"I simply did what I had to do. I faced my responsibilities, for both you and Lumine. Meanwhile, you're living here like nothing's wrong, and you blame me when I step in ?"
Aether simply couldn't stop shaking him. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STEP IN YEARS AGO, DAIN ! BUT YOU DID NOTHING ! NOW YOU FINALLY DECIDE TO DO SOMETHING, BUT AT THE WORST FUCKING TIME ! THEY COULD HAVE KILLED HER !"
Another jolt of anger lit up Dainsleif's pupils. Grabbing Aether by the wrists, he forced him to let go. "Listen here, Aether. I don't owe you or your sister shit. I never wanted to take your two stupid asses in, but you know damn well that Linda loved you both like a mother !" He gritted his teeth before saying : "I'm only doing this so her soul may rest in peace."
Aether's teary eyes were filled with contempt. "So it's all for you, huh. I should've guessed. You were always a shitty dad, and an even shittier husband. You're right on one thing, though. She loved us. And she had no love left for you."
The slap came at an incredible speed, but Aether blocked Dainsleif's wrist this time. "Linda was a wonderful woman. She deserved someone way better than you." he continued, unbothered. "And when you lost her, you spiraled out of control. Even lower than before, and I didn't even think that was possible. Now that you've played the knight in shining armor, please leave my life for good. And Lumine's too. She's suffered enough already, and I don't want her to know it was you."
Dainsleif pulled his wrist back. "Gladly. I hope I never have to see your ungrateful face again. No need to come to my funeral, son. Tomorrow or in fifty years."
"Don't worry, we won't, dad."
As Dainsleif walked out the door, he didn't even bother to look at Ayaka.
Aether, on the other hand, looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"Wh-what are you doing here ?" he stuttered, his lips shaking dangerously.
Ayaka took an apple out of her shopping bag. "I'm...back with the groceries ?"
"I owe you an explanation."
"You don't owe me anything."
Holding their cups of tea, she sat down next to him. "Here. You'll feel better with a hot drink."
Aether accepted the kind gesture, and let the cup's warmth spread to his fingers. With a weak smile, he took a sip. Surprisingly good. Staring at his reflection in the hot water, he finally found it in himself to tell the full story.
"Before anything else, I want to apologize for losing my cool, being loud, and making a mess. But also, I gave you the worst introduction possible to my adoptive father, Dainsleif."
His roommate's eyes widened. "This man adopted you ?"
"Yeah, as much as I wanted to call him 'Tall Blonde Bitch', for seven years, I was forced to call him Dad." Aether let out a chuckle filled with nostalgia. "He hated it when we called him Dain, so of course we did just that."
Ayaka shook her head in fake disapproval. Was it her silence or her smile that made him feel so at ease when telling his story ? Both and neither at the same time. It was precisely because she was Ayaka, and not somebody else, that he felt so inclined to talk. But she could soothe his aching heart even without knowing the details. Aether was sharing the details, because he felt the need to lay himself bare, to be completely transparent with her, to let her gaze deep within him.
And that's exactly what he did.
"Alright, so, Aether and Lumine , aged ten, finally find a foster home. Or, in other words, a couple crazy enough to take them in. Dainsleif and his wife, Linda, couldn't have children but really wanted to be parents, so it was a win-win situation. That feeling lasted for about a month."
Was Ayaka even aware that she was stroking his hair ? "So, what happened ? Did your relationship slowly deteriorate ?"
Aether sighed. "Not exactly. It's just that Dain stopped feeling the need to keep up a facade and showed his true colors. The guy never liked us, unlike Linda, who was completely crazy about her adoptive kids. She'd always listen to us, give us advice, show genuine interest in the things we liked, surprise us with gifts, all that stuff." The emotion shook his voice a little. "It was a new feeling, but I finally had a mom, you know ? Sometimes, I think that if it had just been her who adopted us, we would've lived a somewhat normal life. But of course, the happy times didn't last."
Seeing the sadness take over, Ayaka wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Aether...I'm so sorry."
Aether was more flustered by the embrace than anything else, but he certainly didn't complain.
"I'm fine. So, Dain himself was the problem. I guess he didn't really like children, because he would always criticize every effort she made to make us happy. Not only that, there were also tons of shouting and hitting. And when she had the audacity to protect us, he would just let the insults flow. I'm actually surprised that he never hit her directly, but his words hurt just as much. And he was sure that he was in the right the whole time." Having finished his tea, Aether laid back on the couch.
"I did a bit of digging, and eventually found out that their marriage wasn't doing too well even before the adoption. But rather than taking it as an opportunity to fix their relationship, Dain decided to be a petty shit. This situation dragged on for years, until Linda got sick."
Him and Lumine were powerless back then, and could only watch as a tumor devoured the woman they called mother. Meanwhile, Dainsleif basically gave up. On both his wife and his adoptive children. So the siblings didn't have a choice.
"We figured that with our foster mom slowly dying and her husband clearly not giving a crap about us, we had to stop relying on them." he continued. "After Linda passed away, we made plans to move out, but then..."
"You had your accident." Ayaka finished for him. "And I'm guessing Dainsleif couldn't care less about your hospital bill, right ?"
"Yeah." he sighed. "You know what happened after that. Lumine joined the Abyss, and our relationship deteriotated. While still trying to get her out, I managed to keep up with my studies, landed a scholarship, and here I am."
"What happened, then ? What was he doing here ?" she asked.
Aether took a deep breath. It all felt so surreal, he hadn't really registered what Dain had said yet. Saying it out loud would have normally been an emotional hurdle for him, but with Ayaka, it was different.
His golden eyes stared deep into hers. "Lumine got arrested this morning."
"Huh ? But I thought the Abyss didn't have to worry about the authorities." she asked in disbelief. "How was she found out ?"
"She was drugged and dropped of at a police station. According to Dain, some officers already knew she was coming. The Abyss didn't hesitate to get rid of her, probably because she doesn't have a lot of information that can actually threaten them." Aether gritted his teeth. "He saved her. He got her out of the Abyss. The man I hate the most did in a few days what I couldn't do in years. I can't even be happy about it. In the end, I'm really the one being petty."
"Aether..."
He sneered at himself. "And now, Lumine is going to end up doing time because of me. We don't even have a lawyer, for fuck's sake."
"But it's going to be alright."
Before Aether knew it, Ayaka had fully embraced him, letting his head rest on her shoulder. She felt incredibly soft. In an almost motherly manner, Ayaka stroked his blond hair, comforting him with a gentle smile.
"You've been through a lot, huh ? Both you and your sister." she whispered. "You two need each other, just like when you were little. But don't worry, Aether. Lumine is not the only person you can rely on. I'll be by your side through it all."
He felt something break within him. A weight that he had been carrying alone for far too long. Aether shed a single tear.
Ayaka was kind, smart, strong-willed, beautiful, but most importantly she was there for him.
How could he not love her ?
Leaning further into her embrace, he wondered. When did it all begin ? This constant need to be with her, to make her smile, to show her new things ? He wasn't sure.
But it felt like he'd been waiting for her his whole life.
"I guess you're the one person I just can't let go."
It was more than a comforting embrace. They were both well aware of that.
Maybe that was why she didn't shudder when he wrapped his arms around her.
Why he could just gaze endlessly into her light blue-gray orbs.
As he held her chin, both of their hearts fluttered. And when their lips finally met, a mix of pleasure and fulfillement washed over them.
It was addictive. Each and every breath they took from the other's mouth only fueled their desire for this moment to last longer. Just one more. One more second linked together.
Slowly, they were drifting into eachother. Their embrace growing more frantic, they soon found themselves out of breath. Leaving him only a few seconds to gather his oxygen, Ayaka quickly went back in for more. She had subconsciously been waiting for this for months, and it had finally become a reality. To hell with etiquette, she couldn't even repress her soft moans.
"Mmmm~...Aether..."
But Aether broke the kiss way too soon.
Maybe it was for the better, because her hands were already feeling under his shirt. Still, something felt wrong.
Just as she was about to question him, he spoke up.
"I...I can't put you through this." He looked away. "I'm in a really bad headspace right now, and you shouldn't have to deal with my problems. I'm sorry. Let's just pretend this never happened, okay ?"
He got up to leave, but she stopped him.
"You are not putting me through your problems, Aether." Her hands gripped his shoulders. "I'm getting involved because I genuinely care about you."
He shook his head. "And that's the single biggest mistake you could ever make. You deserve to be happy, Ayaka."
Why did it feel like his heart was being ripped in two ? Why did he have to give up on his own happiness for the sake of others?
Oh, right. Because he was too scared to be selfish.
Cupping his cheeks, Ayaka finally said what she had been holding on for so long. "Aether, I love you."
His eyes filled with a deep sadness. "I love you too. And that's why I won't allow you to suffer for my sake."
Before she could say anything, the door to his room closed. As they got closer than ever and laid their feelings bare in front of one another, it somehow felt like they were strangers all over again.
Aether let his back slide down against the door. A deep sigh escaped his lips.
His foster dad was a prick, his sister was in jail, he had forced himself away from the woman he loved.
...
And he hadn't even thanked her for the tea.
Wow. Tragic, huh ? I hope I managed to provide a good enough backstory, I'm honestly a little harsh on my own writing, so your unbiased opinions would be nice !
Dainsleif was basically my secret ingredient, I tried to use him as a way to wrap up the backstory's plot and prepare for the finale.
The next chapter will be the last one, so buckle up, because this ride gets amazing right at the end ! (I hope.)
And don't worry about Ayaka x Aether, or the siblings' relationship. I don't like sad endings :)
