When Ling Yi opened her eyes, Yekase was already sprawled there, thumbing her phone, screen glowing like a pale fish scale in the morning.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Doctor. When can I unlock the ‘Dew’ form?”

“Go wash up first. Stop daydreaming about new toys.”

“Eh—”

Disappointment drained her voice, dragging out like taffy for a full five seconds.

“Why? I beat an enemy born of the same source as me, and even got its item—”

She jolted, hand sweeping the air like a net.

“—Where’s my item? Where’s the Key?!”

“You got the Key in a dream. How’s that supposed to exist in daylight?”

Yekase stifled a laugh, put away the phone, and sat up, her tone cool as steel. “A Flashblade Key isn’t whipped up on a whim. You need data, hardware, and energy. Even if I can still recall that pile of data, the hardware takes lab-grade machines. Flash Energy doesn’t appear out of thin air. Solve those two, then I can knead you a new form.”

“Sounds like the next life…”

“Not that long. We just need the right spark.”

In truth, it hinged on her next contact with Jiang Bailu. Half comfort, half candor, like tea half-sweet, half bitter.

“Okay, what are we doing today?”

“I’m going to school.”

“Uh.”

Right. He’d almost forgotten she was a normal high-schooler, a bird bound to daily flight, not an anime lead who lives in clubrooms and romance.

“Then I’ll head home…”

“Doctor, don’t you want to tour my school? The high school division of Heavenly Heart High School is the most beautiful campus in Twin Towers City.”

“I couldn’t get in even if I wanted.”

To walk through a school gate unchallenged, to have a room and a chair waiting for you—Yekase had lost that right years ago, like a bridge burned behind her.

“Use invisibility. Invisibility!”

“That’s bound to the motorcycle. And it guzzles fuel.”

Ling Yi gaped. “It uses fuel too…”

Yekase gaped back, a flicker of sarcasm like a spark. “What else? If I’d built a perpetual-motion machine, would I still live in that beat-up place?”

“Fair. I can’t argue with that…”

They stepped out. Ling Yi veered into the bathroom. Yekase drifted to the living room, footsteps soft as dust motes.

Ling Youguang sat at the table with a newspaper, steady as a mountain. Lin Mei was in the kitchen making breakfast, steam curling like morning mist. Ordinary, warm, a small hearth of family. It pulled Yekase into her second high-school memory in ten minutes, and then farther, toward an old home hundreds of kilometers away…

Damn it. After cutting ties for years, why even stir those ashes?

Even if she suddenly craved a triumphant return to boost local tech, her new face wouldn’t be recognized. The thought felt hollow, like a drum you can’t beat.

“Morning, Uncle, Auntie.”

“Morning,” Ling Youguang nodded, voice flat as stone.

Lin Mei poked her head from the kitchen, warmth like a ladle of soup. “Where does Little Leaf go to school? Need a ride?”

“No, no. It’s pretty close.”

Damn. Better invent a school profile fast…

She realized that after hiding so long, no one had ever asked her about school. Maybe because she nested indoors on workdays like a snail. Now she’d blurted “pretty close,” and the options had shrunk to a tight ring.

Ling Yi was too gentle to pry. She’d patch any slip without judgment, soft as rain. Yekase had almost forgotten how much of her life was guarded by lies.

Don’t panic. There’s still time to fix it. Think—what schools are nearby…

Besides Heavenly Heart High School, there were only two well-known private schools. Dropping those names would invite a swarm of trouble.

…Great. Maybe do panic a little.

She could’ve said “I need to go home to change into my uniform.” Regret bit hard, sharp as broken glass. She almost wanted to shatter a window and reset the scene. Her customer-service smile was cracking like dry paint.

“Mom, where’d you put my face wash?”

Ling Yi’s voice carried from the bathroom like a bird call. Yekase bowed her head and focused on breakfast.

“Small cabinet by the mirror!”

“Oh!”

After a while, Ling Yi appeared at the table with her backpack, bright as a sunbeam.

Breakfast was pan-fried fish and toasted bread. She sandwiched fish with bread, the textures marrying like wave and shore, then tapped Yekase on the shoulder. “Doctor, I just remembered something.”

“What?”

“It’s my turn for classroom duty. I’m gonna be late.”

“You just want to ride my bike…”

“Eheh.”

Fine. Call it a reward for beating ‘Dew.’ Yekase cleared her own breakfast with quick bites, clean as a blade. She bid Ling’s father goodbye. “Uncle, we’ll head to school first.”

Ling Youguang nodded. “Take care.”

“Remember a carton of milk—”

“Got it!” Ling Yi tugged Yekase out the door, breeze nipping their heels.

“Don’t pull, don’t pull…”

Yekase sighed, tired as a wilted leaf. She slapped the keys into Ling Yi’s hand. “There’s only one helmet. You ride to school. I’ll walk home.”

“Invisibility…”

“Still stuck on that? Go invisible on a busy street in broad daylight—are you trying to scare people to death?”

“I could go invisible first, then step onto the street…”

“Brilliant. Then pop visible at the school gate, right?”

“Uuugh.”

They headed back to the rental. Yekase went to the shed and rolled out the bike.

“Ah?”

“What’s wrong?”

Ling Yi traced shapes in the air, hands fluttering like sparrows. “Why’s it a little e-scooter? In thermal imaging last night I saw something… bigger, cooler…”

“You misread,” Yekase said with a smile, light as foam.

She snugged the helmet onto Ling Yi’s head.

“Mmmfffmmm…”

Ling Yi made a kettle-noise, then wobbled off, scooter buzzing like a bee. Yekase watched her vanish around the corner. She turned toward the rust-stained stairs, climbing like a weary ant—

“Big hermits hide in the city, Doctor. I thought you’d flown far and found higher ground. Turns out you live here.”

…

…Dammit, why…

“Is there a chance I was on my way to hang out with you?”

“You’d better be.”

Jiang Bailu stood with both hands behind her back, looking up at Yekase halfway up the stairs, face calm as a winter lake.

Yekase let out a long breath and sat on the step, bones heavy as sand.

“Not planning to apologize for last night?”

“I’m the mad scientist under a Sinister Organization. Do villains apologize for villainy?”

“Then I’ll apologize first.”

“…”

“Also, the design of ‘Dew’ is excellent.”

“…”

“Want to sit at my place?”

“…”

Jiang Bailu nodded quietly, like a reed in light wind.

Easy to handle. With this tone, maybe she could be asked not to make trouble anymore.

Yekase walked down and stood by her side.

“You’re taller than me now.”

“Mm.”

“All the Keys, you’ve modded them?”

“Mm.”

“You even bypassed Flash Energy’s checks.”

“Mm.”

“That’s good. Even if I leave, with you here, Consortium X won’t be wiped by other groups. The leader might start valuing R&D and give you a raise…”

Yekase took a few steps toward the apartment. Jiang Bailu didn’t follow. She turned back to the former disciple—

“Doctor, why are you leaving?”

There it was. The thorn she knew would pierce.

Jiang Bailu frowned and pressed on, words sharp as sleet. “You abandoned everyone in R&D. You let robots you built be destroyed by others. You hide yourself with a new face, to play house here with a seventeen-year-old girl?”

“…No. Do you have a strange, wrong impression of me? I only met Ling Yi two days ago.”

“Then what do you actually want? The leader’s told me more than once—if you’re still alive, if you return, she’ll try to meet any terms. Nine-to-five, weekends off, extra budget, more staff… Just say it.”

“What I want, huh…”

Yekase smiled bitterly, like biting a green plum. “I just felt tired. So I ran. That’s all.”

She stepped close, took Jiang Bailu’s hand, warmth crossing like a small bridge.

“Look. Now I can walk down the street holding your hand, and no one says a thing. Maybe I did it for this. Maybe I changed to make up for the years I failed you as a mentor.”

“…You’d better be sincere.”

Jiang Bailu’s eyes rimmed red, like dawn around a dark cloud. She held Yekase’s hand tighter.

“Show me your life.”

They climbed together and stood at the rental’s door.

Yekase opened it, moved to the back of the room, and spread her arms, a host in a sparrow’s nest.

“This small? Clean, though…”

Thanks to Ling Yi, she thought, affection like a thin glaze.

“I wake up when my body wakes me. If I have ideas, I make a few gadgets. If not, I game, or stare at the sky.”

“Waking naturally… I’m a little envious.”

“After a batch, I sell them on the black market. It’s real field research. Compared to my old cave of theory, I now know what buyers truly need.”

“Your workbench?”

Yekase patted the dining table, wood scarred like old bark.

“Here? What about precision…”

“Speaking of that, can I borrow Consortium X’s labs? After I left, they’re basically yours.”

“What are you making?”

“Duplicating the other Keys.”

“That little girl wants them?”

“Yeah.”

Jiang Bailu’s face dropped, shadow thick as stormcloud.

“I see… That’ll be troublesome. But I’ll think of a way for you.”

Yekase showed her the recent project list, poured her tea with rising steam, and they sat, talking in loose threads, time flowing like a slow river. Still, Jiang Bailu’s mind drifted, a kite tugging its string.

“Doctor… I think I understand you a little. Seeing you safe and steady calms me.”

“Then—”

“But I still can’t accept your choice. You can climb higher. You can see sights no one has ever seen. I’ve dreamed, countless times, that if I follow you, even I could…”

Jiang Bailu rose, retreated to the door, and pulled open the iron gate, hinges crying like an old crow.

“So I’ll keep going, to prove you’re wrong. I’ll push the Flashblade System forward my way, then beat that little girl head-on. If I do—”

“Then I’ll return to Consortium X, as your assistant.”

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

After Jiang Bailu left, Yekase flopped onto the floor with a thud, limbs spread like a starfish.

She watched summer clouds drift past the window, white boats in a blue sea, and sighed.

“Man, I can’t even slack off. Is this the fate of geniuses…”