Xiao Yu placed two plates of green onion pancakes with egg on the table as Yu Yan walked in.
"Making breakfast?" she asked as she hopped onto the chair.
Xiao Yu nodded as he placed a glass of milk beside her serving, "Stay at home today. You should rest more."
"Why? I'm perfectly fine," she snapped, "That yi neng doctor is really good at her job."
"You don't like school, shouldn't you be happy to miss a day?" he asked her as he untied his apron and sat at the table.
"What am I supposed to do at home? I don't know this area so I can't go out," she replied as she began eating.
"Nap like you always do, I'll pop in during lunch break," he said.
"Sure," she nodded, "If you need me, I'll be sleeping."
Xiao Yu chuckled, "Just like that? You're not putting up a fight?"
"Why should I? If I get the chance to miss school of course I'll take it!" she shrugged at she continued to eat.

"Hey Yu Yan?" Xiao Yu spoke up.
"What?" she snapped.
"Can you come with me to the piano competition audition this Friday?" he asked her.
"No, why?" she replied as she continued to eat.
"I'm confident that I'll be at 110% if you're there supporting me," Xiao Yu admitted, as he glanced at her.
"Am I only worth 10%?" she questioned with a hint of a smile of her face.
"Sorry, the almighty Jiang Yu Yan deserves 200%," he joked in response.
"That's more like it," she smirked, proudly.
"Then will you come support me?" he asked.
"You better pass the audition or it'll be a waste of my time," she threatened quite playfully. Xiao Yu's lips curved upwards as he finished off his breakfast.

"I left a bowl of frozen buns in the microwave just in case you get hungry - just turn the microwave on for a minute and then bring them out," Xiao Yu explained as he slipped on his shoes to leave. He unlocked his door and turned back to her, "Will you be alright alone?"
She scoffed, "Hurry and leave, Little Fish - you're such a worry wart!"
Xiao Yu stared at her, thinking, before an idea popped into his head. "Give me your phone," he said and she handed her phone to him.
"Why?"
Xiao Yu pressed a couple of buttons before handing it back to her, "I've put my number on speed dial, if you need me just call me okay?"
Yu Yan raised an eyebrow, "Why would I need you? Just go."
Xiao Yu nodded, "I'll see you later," but before he finished, Yu Yan had already left his sight. He smiled and shut the door behind him.
 

~*~*~

"Egomaniac, you should just go home," Ya Se said at school, "Without your dragon tattooed pan, you've become even weaker."
Xiao Yu sat with his brothers outside on a brick wall, "Ya Se is right. Xiu will be back soon with your pan so you should just rest in the mean time."
Da Dong groaned, "I'll get really bored at home and Yu Yan is already on sick leave, I don't want to leave you guys alone."
Ya Se laughed, "Egomaniac, we don't have to be with you every moment in our lives - we will find other things to do if you're absent."
"But I'm the leader of Zhong Ji Yi Ban! I can't leave you guys - what if something happens?" he asked.
"Da Dong, even if something does happen you'd be pretty useless anyway," Xiao Yu pointed out quietly with a small smile.

Ya Se sniggered, "Right Xiao Yu? We're not missing anything without him."
"Aww you two are so mean!" Da Dong pouted playfully, "You just want me to leave," he faked a bitter laugh.
"My mission since day one," Ya Se added, acting serious though he was not. Xiao Yu smiled, amused. "Hey Xiao Yu, how is the new flat?" he added.
"It's cosy, thanks," Xiao Yu answered.
"But why would you want to live alone in such a small flat? You should just live with me in my mansion, we have lots of spare rooms," Ya Se replied.
"I wouldn't want to be a bother," he answered.
"Xiao Yu, please!" Ya Se put his arm around his shoulder, "Your presence would make no difference!"
"Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it, but I prefer to be alone," he responded.
"Hey guys" Da Dong spoke up seriously, "Do you think Yu Yan is doing okay?"
"Why?" Xiao Yu inquired, turning to him.
"Are you worried because of her father?" Ya Se asked and Da Dong nodded.
"Uhh," Xiao Yu began, "To tell you the truth..." he trailed off.
Ya Se and Da Dong stared at him, "What?" they asked.
"Yu Yan... she's er... been living with me-"
 

"What?!" Ya Se and Da Dong both exclaimed in shock.
"You're joking right?" Da Dong asked but Xiao Yu looked away, shyly.
"No way, Xiao Yu!" Ya Se laughed, "How come?"
"She got kicked out," Xiao Yu responded in a small mutter, "And didn't have anywhere to go."
"Oooohhh~" Da Dong grinned, "I didn't know you two had gotten that close!"
"It's not what you think!" Xiao Yu defended.
"Its not?" Ya Se questioned, "But if someone like Yu Yan agreed to live with you, then it must be what we think!"
"Ya Se!" Xiao Yu burst out, embarrassed, "Was there something going on between us when I stayed with you for a few days? After all, my situation was similar to hers!"
Ya Se sighed with a small nod, "Ah, you have a point there."

Xiao Yu then got up to leave, "I'll see you guys at class, I'm going to check up on her," he said quickly to avoid answering any other questions.
Then he left.

Ya Se and Da Dong watched him leave. "See that Egomaniac? We do have better things to do than see you all day," Ya Se laughed as he, too, got ready to leave, "Go get some rest at home, I'll request leave for you."
"Narcissist are you leaving me too?" Da Dong wailed.
"I'm going to see Wu Xiong," he replied before walking away.
Da Dong sat there alone, "My brothers have girls they would ditch me for," he sighed, "I guess I'll go see the pigeon lady in the park on my way home then," he muttered.

 

~*~*~
 

Xiao Yu looked over at the gates to Ba Le High School the next morning, seeing a huge crowd of students blocking the entrance. He crossed the road and noticed that the entrance was blocked my several students from different high schools and they were all yelling and screaming. They were being restrained by police officers who tried to fend them off. Confused, Xiao Yu quickly slipped in through a small gap and hurried to his classroom.

"This is all bullsh*t!" Xiao Yu heard Ya Se yell and he quickly jogged into Zhong Ji Yi Ban to see everyone crowded around Jin Bao San's laptop.
"Egomaniac would never do something like this!" he continued, clenching his fist angrily.

"Ya Se, what's wrong?" Xiao Yu asked as Jin Bao San turned the screen to face him so that he could see for himself.
"The idiots on KO ONE WORLD are accusing Egomaniac of being the one behind the yi neng muggings," Ya Se began.
"That's not anything new," Xiao Yu admitted.
"But now they claim that they have 'evidence'," he added, making quotation marks with his fingers, "They have pictures of the attacker with a pan: netizens are assuming its Egomaniac's dragon tattooed pan and now this whole thing has blown up in the high school realm," he explained as Xiao Yu looked at photographs of someone holding a silvery pan that was surrounded by an aura of red yi neng.

Xiao Yu leaned into the screen, "But these pictures are quite blurry and besides, Da Dong doesn't even have his pan with him. It's with Xia Tian," he said.
"That's what I've said as well," Ya Se replied before releasing a frustrated sigh, "We need to get to the bottom of this before Egomaniac is framed even further."
Xiao Yu nodded, "No wonder there's a group of angry students outside the school gates," he muttered.
"This whole situation is ruining our reputation and we barely have any leads to go off on to find the true culprit," groaned Ya Se who slumped down into his desk.

"Will Dong Ge come in today?" Jin Bao San asked.
"He better not before he's murdered at the school gates," Ya Se sighed, "I'll text him to let him know."

The rest of the day seemed to drag on and on for Xiao Yu. Even when he was playing the piano in the music room, time went slowly. At last it was the end of the day and Xiao Yu was finishing off his cleaning duties. As he wiped the chalkboard clean, he thought of Yu Yan's father all of a sudden.

He remembered his dark aura and how scared he and his brothers had gotten after seeing him. He remembered how dizzy he had felt as soon as they made eye contact and he remembered how suspiciously he was dressed. "Could Yu Yan's father be a clue...?" he whispered before shaking his head, "I can't make wild and baseless accusation like that. I can't judge others from appearances...." he trailed off feeling a twist in his gut, But something feels just so off about him...

Xiao Yu stared at the now clean chalkboard, "But... if he's suspicious, then isn't Yu Yan also suspicious?" he arm fell to his side before he knocked on his head a few times, "Xiao Yu, you're just thinking too much. Yu Yan is innocent."
 

~*~*~
 

Ye Zi exited his friend's home - but in all honesty, Ye Zi and Yu Yan's father were like servant and master who just treated the other as a friend figure. He exited through a portal and ended up in the park. It was nightfall and there were no people in sight. The streetlights flickered and the wind rustled through the trees.

Ye Zi smirked confidently as he looked down at his weapon. Suddenly, he was brought to the attention of lots of flapping noises. He turned the corner to see Pigeon Lady (Portrayed by Diana Wang) sitting at a bench feeding pigeons. A large pigeon sat on her head of grey locks and stared down at her and she threw bird seeds across the floor for her pigeon friends. Ye Zi's face darkened, "I never knew pigeon ladies could have such high battle points," he whispered, menacingly.

Ye Zi held out his weapon that was glowed a vibrant red, scaring away the pigeons that surrounded Pigeon Lady. Pigeon Lady looked up to see red before darkness overwhelmed her and everything turned black.

Ye Zi then spotted a pigeon watching him as it perched at a corner on the bench. Its pale grey feathers were streaked in a light green and its ends looked as though they had been dipped in murky blue paint. "Oh hello there, long time no see," he smirked, instantly recognising this strange coloured bird.

Da Dong climbed over the fence to get into the park. He had promised to keep Pigeon Lady company tonight as it was her 68th birthday. He had bought an assortment of different types of expensive bird seeds but he hadn't had time to wrap it so had just put the box into his backpack. As he jumped over the fence and skipped through the trees and down the park, he saw a flock of pigeons flying away quickly. "Pigeon Lady?" he called out slowly, running over to her usual spot. His eyes widened when he saw her body sprawled across the floor and he saw a figure standing beside her, cloaked in a long black coat.

"PIGEON LADY!" He yelled, hurrying over to her, "Hey you! Stop right there!" he yelled to Ye Zi but Ye Zi sped off using his super speed. Da Dong pressed his lips into a tight line as he bent down beside Pigeon Lady, "Pigeon Lady, wake up!" he called, shaking her. He touched her face that had turned a pale grey and he felt a shiver run down his spine when he felt her ice cold skin. Without wasting a second, he called an ambulance.