"(y/n) what are you doing?" called Samon from the doors. "Nothing." You said. You looked back only to see that Kiji had managed to escape. "Dang it." you said, crossing your arms. Samon rolled his eyes, "Stop pouting and come on. Your brother called for you." You smiled as you thought of talking to your brother, "Okay." You turned around to Upa, who was still standing in the same spot as before. "Come on, Upa." He snapped out of his daze and started following you and Samon. He caught up with you just in time for Samon to let you both into Shen's cell. When you walked in, he was sitting in the far right corner of the cell facing the wall, seeming to fiddle with something in his hands. "Shen?" You said, getting his attention. He turned his head around and saw you. He brought his hands behind his back as he stood, hiding whatever was in his hands from you. You cocked your head to the side, "What's that?" You asked, looking at his hands. He walked over to you, still not showing you what he had behind his back. "When I was about 10 I found out that I had a sister. For a while I was really excited about meeting her. I didn't know anything about you at that time, but I wanted to have something to give you when I met you. Mom threw it away when she found out that this was for you, but I made sure to look through the trash to give it to you." He chuckled, "I had a heck of a time hiding it from them, but I was determined to give it to you. I don't know why I kept it all those years, but I couldn't ever get myself to get rid of it. I've carried it with me through every mission I've ever been on. Now that I finally got to meet you, I wanted to give it to you. It might not be the best and it might be a little banged up, but it's all I have." He said, holding out a closed hand to you. You reached your hand out open-palmed. He dropped it into your hand. You picked it up and looked at it. It was a hand-made necklace. Your family's symbol, neatly burned onto a slim piece of wood hung on a thin, gold chain that clasped in the back. There were two other wooden charms, one on each side of your family's symbol. On the right side there was one with a heart and on the other side there was one with the kanji for sister. You felt a smile creep onto your face as you held it up, admiring it. Upa felt his face heat up as he looked at your smiling face. You carefully clasped it around your neck. You suddenly hugged Shen. It surprised him but he hugged back, happy that you liked it. You began to laugh as you pulled apart. "What?" Asked Shen. "I thought I was going to have to kill you. But now I have a brother! A real brother!" Shen rubbed the back of his neck, "Sor-" "It's okay. You've been forgiven." "(y/n), Upa come on. Breakfast time." You gave your brother one last hug before walking off. Upa went to walk out but he was stopped by Shen. Upa gave him a questioning look. Shen sighed, "Take good care of her. She's a good one." "Wha-" "SEE I TOLD YOU. I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT SEES IT. AND I HAVE PICTURE PROOF." And once again the chase began as you took off after Kiji. "What is he talking about?" asked Samon as they watched. "N-nothing" Said Upa. After a while you gave up and went to breakfast. You and Upa walked into the cafeteria side by side. The line was rather long today so Upa started speaking. "So what happens now?" "What do you mean?" "Xieie is still coming, right?" you sighed and nodded, "Most likely harder than before. Not only have I cost him the damage I caused when I left, but now I've taken another one of his most valuable assets." Out of habit you began pulling on the sleeves of your hoodie. Upa had figured out by now that pulling on the sleeves of your hoodie was something you did while nervous or stressed. He reached for your hand and pulled it away from the sleeve. He took your hand in his, holding it gently. This seemed to calm you down. The like moved forwards allowing you and Upa to grab your plates. You looked at what you were getting for breakfast. There was fresh Youtiao with warm soy-sauce. The lunch ladies gave you four Youtiao sticks and a container of soy-sauce. You walked to the table. You sat at the table waiting for Upa. You looked behind you to see if Upa was coming. In the process of doing so, you spotted Shen waiting in line by himself. Upa sat down next to you. He poked you in your cheek. "Hey what was that for?" You asked, pouting. He shrugged, "What do you expect your face is squishy." "My face is not squishy." He grabbed your face and squished it, "Yes, it is squishy." Samon walked up behind you two, "Upa, what are you doing." He let go of your face to turn to Samon, "Her face is squishy." You glared at Samon when he looked at you. He smirked, "Yes, her face is quite squishy." You turned away from them crossing your arms like a child. You saw Shen looking around the room for a place to sit. You waved him over. He timidly came over and sat across from you, "Hey." You were about you say hey back but Upa interrupted you, "Is her face squishy?" Shen turned to him with a confused expression, "What?" "Is her face squishy?" Before you could stop him, he reached across and poked your cheek, "Yep pretty squishy." You swatted his hands away, "Stop poking MEEEEEEEEEEEE." You said, making Upa chuckle. "Someone's happy." Said Qi sitting on the side of Shen. Upa immediately stopped laughed, "No I'm not." "Sure whatever you say." Said Liang taking sitting on the other side of Shen. "Oh, hi Shen." Said Liang after he noticed him. He waved back uncertainly Upa was about to reply but you decided that you wanted to get revenge for the face squishing. You gave him a peck on the cheek and watched his face turn red. He stopped speaking and instead just stared down at the table. The whole table erupted into laughter.

(Shen's Pov)

I sat at the table cautiously, scared that something bad would happen. When I sat, Upa, Samon and (y/n) were arguing about something. Upa turned to me, "Is her face squishy?" He asked me suddenly. I cocked my head to the side, confused, "What?" I asked. "Is her face squishy?" I decided to poke her in the cheek to see. "Yep, pretty squishy." She pushed my hand away. "Stop poking MEEEEEEEEEEEE." Upa chuckled at her outburst. "Someone's happy." Said Qi. He sat on the side of me. "No I'm not." "Sure whatever you say." Said Liang as he sat on the other side of me. "Oh, hi Shen." Greeted Liang as he sat down. I saw Upa open his mouth to say something, but (y/n) kissed him on the cheek. This completely silenced him, his face turning red. The whole table started to laugh. As I sat there at that table with everyone laughing around me, I finally realized something. What (y/n) said was true.

(flashback)

"You could be happy too. I was deeper than you when I got out. You can leave. While it's true that you can never get rid of it 100%, it's so much better than living like you are now."

(end flashback)

I was happy. I did leave. I knew that I'll never be 100% free from this. And this was much better than how I was living. For the first time in what felt like forever, I laughed in the mist of people who understood. 

Sooo... it's been a while. Sorry for not updating in a million years! I got distracted with school and my oneshot book. Even though I'm falling back of requests for the oneshot book, I'm determined to finish this one! I know how much it sucks to read a book that isn't finished! Anyways, I'm going to finish proofreading the rest of the chapter! I hope you enjoyed and see you in the next chapter! So YEET.