Fii y on her back, a curtain of white hair spilling like a snow-tinged waterfall over her pillow. Her pierg, sky-blue gaze was fixed on the pop ceiling above, each bump aure a meditation, a distra from her present misery. Despite Sheri's unwavering nagging to take care of herself, the alien feeling of self-restraint remained just that—alien to her.

  Getting up was hard. Falling bato her fort zone of her own stubbornness was far too easy.

  To ease her restlessness, the room offered a window view, invitio retreat into daydreams. Her sanctuary for the few hours. If only boredom wasn't one of her sworn enemies...

  Outside, people meandered in their mundane routines, pletely oblivious to her plight.

  If the gangs knew she was bedridden, would they try to take advantage of the situation? Start something up in the slums while she was stu here? Probably not.

  The scare from the revetion of her killing Prime must have been effective enough to keep them from stirring up any trouble, even without her present. Virgil was likely behind some of it, too; making sure everyone khey'd both end them if they misbehaved. Then again, aation she had with the gangs, Virgil had ten times more.

  But that didn't mean every new gangster, or freshly hired musclehead, khe rules or the pyers. You never knew when a drifter or two from out of town would spark trouble...

  The gangsters at least respected the ie of the unwritten codes of the slums was that you left the ics alone. Period. The staff were invaluable to everyone's survival. Even the gang leaders uood that a ic's tinued operation aramount to their is. This wasn't a w enforced by her, but rather, one born from y in these fractured unities. So, barring any bizarre, unpreted emergency, she was safe here.

  Her stomach rumbled ominously.

  Let's think of happier things. Yes. Take my mind off everything...

  With her white hair casg over the edge of the bed, she pyfully wove individual strands together, crafting a long, fine braid. This wasn't merely a distra—it was a test of her self-trol. Weaving the lo, most beautiful braid she could manage became her personal challenge, a way to beat boredom. And Sheri explicitly told her not to leave the room, or else she'd staple her to the wall and really get her stu here.

  Despite her efforts, Fii couldn't shake the disfort of her skin. Not only was her tummy still pining, but her skin seemed to crawl too.

  "Gotta take a shower soon," she muttered. But maybe ter. After all, lying ft on her back, bored out of her mind, referable to anything right now.

  The door to her room creaked open, catg her attention with its intrusive sound. Lifting her head to peer at the entrance, she met the dark, almond-shaped eyes of the person she least expected to see here again—'Cobra' Kasumi.

  As their gazes locked, a moment of quiet, awkward surprise hung in the air.

  "Oh," Fii mumbled, breaking the silence. "Hey, Kasumi."

  "You," Kasumi said in a tohat seemed to match her apprehension, her delicate hands still gripping the doorknob, the door half-ajar. Dressed in her usual style, Kasumi wore a bck crop top that funted her toned abs and a studded leather jacket that enveloped her slender form. Dark-colored jeans hugged her legs, the frayed ends teasing her ankles, while a pair of bat boots grounded her step.

  Her raven-dark, shoulder-length hair, meticulously straightened, framed her fa sharp trast to Fii's own unruly white mane.

  With the epitome of the perfect resting bitch face, Kasumi regarded Fii coolly, a small frown furrowing her brows.

  "Sheri mentioned a patient rec upstairs," she began, her gaze wandering around the room with an almost exasperated familiarity before settling ba Fii. "hought it'd be you here, though."

  Her voice carried a slight uone of judgment, which she skillfully tried to disguise by clearihroat. "The real question is, what could possibly have taken you down?"

  "It was... purple pudding," Fii admitted after a pause, her voice tinged with equal parts regret and embarrassment.

  "Purple... pudding?" Kasumi's tone shifted, and her eyes widened in what looked like genuine amazement. The ridiculousness of it all brought a tentative smile to her lips, which she quickly subdued.

  "It was something," Fii replied with a nod.

  She tiwirling the strand of hair in her hand, curling it absent-mindedly into a swirl that vaguely resembled a question mark. It was just her natural reflex whenever her hands o keep busy.

  "What are you doing here, anyway? Are you sick or something? Don't you have a gang to run?" Fii asked, a small smirk tugging at the er of her mouth. The words, albeit harmless, carried an uninteing.

  The moment those words left her mouth, she instantly regretted them.

  An audible huff echoed in the room as Kasumi rolled her eyes, shiftitention elsewhere. After a drawn-out silence, Kasumi's icy response was tinged with annoyance.

  "What gang? What's left of the Neon Vipers have disbanded and rebrao anroup." Her gaze firmly pnted on the window, deliberately avoiding Fii's dire. "I'm just a lone wolf now."

  "Right, that sounds abht," Fii replied with a nervous ugh.

  A lone wolf? You sure? Still got that bck jacket that screams gang member...

  The weight of their shared history settled between them like a lead bhere was an iensioween them; one could almost feel the spark of past enters and unresolved flicts hanging in the air, like the quiet before a thuorm.

  Attempting to dispel some of the awkwardness, Fii awkwardly cleared her throat, feeling the familiar sensation of knots iomach.

  "So, uhm..." she began, her words carefully measured, trying not to upset Kasumi. "Are you pnning to, y'know, reform the gang or something?"

  "No," Kasumi replied curtly.

  Sileretched for a moment before she tinued, her tone softer, almost introspective. "Why would I bother rebuilding a broken system when I carve out a better path for myself?"

  Fii could hear the shift iohe bitterness slowly dissipating like a retreating tide. That didn't stop her from running her fihrough her hair, a nervous habit she was still fighting to break.

  Just as Fii prepared to unother attempt at versation, to break the stalemate of silen the room, Sheri appeared at the doorway, casting a skeptical g Kasumi. "I thought you went to che the stocks downstairs?"

  Kasumi shifted on the spot, her posture stiffening as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "And I thought you were supposed to be w, but here you are. Just casually... stopping by to chee."

  Sheri cocked an eyebrow, her amusement evident, though the usual pyful spark in her eyes was strangely absent. Something was amiss.

  "To be fair," she tered, a smile tugging at her lips, "I'm always cheg up on you. And don't avoid my question. Your lurking in here was not part of your tasks today."

  Fii sat up on her bed, her curiosity piqued by the ued exge. "Wait... is Kasumi w here? At the ic?"

  Kasumi's frown deepened, her gaze dartiween Sheri and Fii as if deg which battle was worth pig. Finally, she ceded, her shoulders drooping in a blend of annoyand defeat.

  With a huff of exasperation, she pushed past Sheri areated bato the depths of the ic, her parting shot delivered with a biting sarcasm. "See you ter, then." To Fii, the message was crystal clear: Do not get involved.

  Sheri, caught off guard by the swift departure, simply stared after the retreating figure, her usually calm and posed demeanor momentarily disrupted. Turnitention back to Fii, she gave her a weary look, ohat mirrored Fii's owional fatigue.

  "She's helping out arouhese days. After some..." Sheri's voice trailed off, leaving an unspoken story in the air. Then, with a soft exhale, she gathered herself and tinued. "After some is, Edith's gone, and I'm alone running the pce. So, she's been w as a part-time assistant here, since her ga kaput."

  Sheri closed the door and leaned against it, her hand lingering on the doorknob for a moment too long, as if sidering her words carefully. "Holy, I don't uand why you two 't just get along. You're not so different, really."

  She couldn't help but grimace. Fii knew Kasumi to be one of those stubborn mules who refused to budge even an inch. If their past enters were any indicatioemper was notorious and always on edge, but at least she was tough as nails. Under different circumstahey might have gotten along...

  She had no i in reigniting old hostilities, that much she could firm. Not when Kasumi's icy exterior, hardened by their past frontations, had cooled somewhat into indifference.

  Was there a genuine reason they were rivals in the first pce? They had only ever fought oer all.

  To be ho, the old Kasumi and the current versio like different people. The temper and rashness were still there, but... a spark was missing. Was it just a ck of vi? Her eyes still had that iy, but it was as if a vital part of her was absent.

  Fii thought about this for a moment, her finger h at the edge of her mouth as she often did when deep in ption.

  Kenzo's death probably had something to do with the ge...

  Now, it was almost like Kasumi was ag as a watered-down version of herself. She couldn't fault her, though. Fii had also beeated at the time. These days, every song of Shunkashuto's was a bittersweet reminder of Kenzo's memory. A mencholic twinge always gripped her heart whenever she heard any of their music.

  It must be worse for Kasumi though. They were lovers after all...

  "Fii? Are you listening?"

  At the sudden snap of Sheri's fingers, Fii's attention jolted back to her surroundings. "What?" she responded, her fusion pin on her face.

  A small, knowing smile tugged at the ers of Sheri's mouth. "You okay, Fii? Did you take a mental vacation again?"

  Clearihroat, Fii sheepishly reached fss of water on the bedside table. "Ah, I just have a lot on my mind right now," she said, the cool liquid soothing her dry throat. "Lots of things going on and..."

  And before she could delve into details, ruck again, pooling heavily i of her stomad sending a chill up her spine. Not the ideal time for a tactical retreat to the bathroom—but there wasn't much of a choice here, was there?

  "Eep!"

  Sheri quickly moved aside as Fii darted past her, all but diving into the bathroom. The sound of rushi and the ensuing cmor echoed through the room, followed by the unmistakable heaving from beyond the bathroom door.

  Once again, Fii found herself, weary and sweat-drenched, stretched out on her bed like a cloth left to dry in the sun. The artificial light in the room seemed harsher, grating on her nerves, mirr the uled state of her gut. Her restless fingers unsciously fiddled with her hair, twisting and twirling its white strands, as if it could distract from the storm brewing inside.

  Sheri's presence had been repced by the hollow silence of solitude, punctuated only by the hum of the ic's cooling unit. It wasn't noisy; it was the persistent background hum that usually lulled her to sleep. But not today. Today, it was the irritating drohat didn't let her sleep.

  A knoterrupted her misery, startling her from her reverie. Expeg Sheri to che her once more, Fii braced for more 'structive criticism' from the stern-faurse. Instead, Quinn's tousled blond head popped into viesided grin on his face as he stepped over the threshold.

  "Figured it's been a while, so you might need some pany to stave off plete insanity," he quipped, sauntering in, his arms den with... something.

  "Huh," was all Fii managed, her throat dry from earlier escapades.

  Quiled on the edge of her bed, the weight of his presence slightly dipping the mattress. His dark scks rustled softly as he readjusted himself, his toolbelt creaking lightly and hanging around his waist like a sash. There were those telltale smudges of oil and grime on his button-down, adding a touch h charm to his appearance.

  "You look... uh..." He frow her sweat-soaked form, "haggard."

  The remnants of her previous episode still g to her skin, an unwele sheen of sweat coating her flushed face. She probably reeked too.

  But holy, she didn't particurly care about it. She had no energy to spare. Opening one eye, she peered at Quinn. Her mouth twisted into a pyful seasi fierce. "Wow. That's how we're starting this chat? What a charmer."

  Without missing a beat, Quinn chuckled, running a hand through his disheveled blond mop. He bent down and kissed her forehead, despite her state of disarray. In his eyes, there arkle, an enduring affe that seemed immuo her current dishevelment.

  "Gotcha this," he announced, pulling out a paper bag with a flourish. Inside, Fii k would be his home-cooked soup.

  Her boyfriend had a pent for showing love through the nguage of food. Even if it wasn't as gourmet as the street foods at her usual haunts, the fact that he took the time and effort to cook for her made her feel...

  Loved.

  "The soup's got real chi broth, ginger, and green onions," he whispered, ing closer to her, "not that fake, imitation stuff you think you like." His breath, carrying the aroma of whatever creation he'd brought, wafted past her. As he reached out to dab a cloth at her sweat-slick forehead, Fii leaned into his touch, sav the warmth of his presence.

  The paper bag kled softly as Quirieved a covered bowl and a spoon from it. "Soup's meant to be warm. And no, your me excuses won't cut it this time. I didn't sve away over a stove for nothing."

  The rich, savory steam from the bowl teased her nostrils, awakening a huhat momentarily silehe disfort in her belly. Was he really going to make her eat now?

  Quinn popped the lid off, the spicy aroma of the chi broth filling the room, tig her nose and summoning a bubbling sense of anticipation from deep within her. Ginger and green onions peeked through the clear, amber liquid, a visual feast in their ht. A few clumps of rice added a f touch to the ensemble, making the dish look, if ig, at least patable.

  As Quinn dled a spoonful of the steaming broth aables, bringing it gingerly towards her lips, Fii inhaled deeply before parting her mouth, accepting the .

  Warmth filled her mouth, the taste of real, unadulterated chi dang oohe blend of aromas from the onions, the spice of the ginger, and the silken feel of the broth coalesced into an explosion of fvor that momentarily overwhelmed the siess still gripping her gut.

  "You're too good at this," Fii murmured, taking aentative sip after swallowing the first.

  "Fttery isn't going to fill your stomach. I expect at least half the bowl," Quied, an affeate yet firm gaze fixing upon her. "You he energy, babe. No skimping."

  His finger ruffled the bangs hanging over her face, affeately mussing her already disheveled hair.

  "You're enjoying this too much," she shot baarrowing her eyes at him while swallowing another morsel of broth. "Wait, wait! Too hot!" Her toingled from the scaldi of the soup. "Ow."

  "Don't gobble. It's not a race. Enjoy it slowly," he cautioned.

  The meal progressed with ease, peppered with shared memories, light-hearted banter, ale ribbing. After her sed helping, Fii, despite her reservations and under Quinn's stern insistence, succumbed to the demands of sleep. Feeling full, safe, and loved, she drifted off into a restful slumber.