"Hey! Sis Sakura, what are you doing?! It's us!"
Seeing their boyfriend held at knifepoint, the two girls instantly bristled, ready to leap forward and knock the blade aside without a second thought.
However, before they could make a move, Fu Li blocked them, one with each hand, holding them behind him as he placated them in a low voice.
"Sakura, it's me, Li. I'm not with Dr. MEI."
"Yes, I know. But even if it's you, you won't stop me from taking Rin."
The cold female voice from behind the door was laced with a barely suppressed anguish, leaving Fu Li with no doubt that the imouto-con fox would attack him for her sister's sake without a moment's hesitation.
But that just made things stranger. If Sakura was here, how could Rin possibly have been taken away? Was it because Kevin was among the ones who came?
If Kevin was involved, things would get troublesome. While he wasn't afraid to fight him, a large-scale commotion would be for the worst.
After all, if word of a fight between them got out, it would deal a massive blow to morale.
But as he was pondering this, a slightly immature voice, tinged with a faint tremor, spoke up.
"Um, Sis, I'm okay. If I really am the Twelfth Herrscher... I-I'm willing to be taken away."
"Rin, don't say things like that! I can get you out of here, trust me."
"No, Sis."
The girl's—or rather, Rin's—voice grew a little firmer. One could tell that while she was trying her hardest to suppress her fear, she couldn't hide the terror that came from the bottom of her heart.
And the purpose of her actions was clearly to soothe her older sister, to prevent her from doing something foolish in a moment of impulse.
Faintly, Fu Li felt he was beginning to guess something, but he still lacked confirmation. So he curbed his impatience and listened silently to the sisters' conversation.
"Sis, you've been fighting the Honkai all this time. You know better than anyone how much harm a Herrscher can bring to people."
"No, don't say another word, Rin!"
"Please, Sis, listen to me. I have people I care about here, too. Like you, Sis, and the friends I've made. They are all the most important people in my life."
As she spoke, a sob crept into Rin's voice.
"So, I'm begging you, Sis. I don't want to become an enemy of humanity, and I don't want to hurt any of you. Besides... if it's Dr. MEI, she can definitely find a perfect solution, right?"
So that's how it was. Fu Li now understood.
It turned out that back then, Sakura did indeed have a chance to take her sister away. But Rin, terrified that her powers would harm others, had voluntarily gone with the MOTHs.
As for the nonsense about trusting Dr. MEI, Fu Li, a fellow researcher, treated it as utter bullshit. He knew from experience that there wasn't a single good person among researchers.
The experiments they conducted could only be called just or correct in the current environment. In an era of peace, they would have been condemned to death long ago.
And this was more or less a consensus within the MOTHs. How could a young girl who wasn't even an adult have such trust in MEI?
However, it seemed that reason had been enough to persuade Sakura.
He saw the blade tip that had been at his throat slowly, bit by bit, move away. But from its somewhat strange trajectory, it was clear that Sakura was not the one lowering it.
The strongest assassin would never exhibit such a flaw-ridden motion, even when sheathing her blade. Therefore, it must have been Rin, gripping her sister's hand and pushing the sword down, little by little.
Ultimately, however, Fu Li breathed a sigh of relief. With his [Infinity Gauntlet]-clad hand, he slowly pushed the door open.
And as expected, two figures, one tall and one short, appeared in the doorway.
Sakura was putting on a brave face, her jaw clenched tight and the rims of her eyes slightly red, but she stubbornly held herself erect, unwilling to let her younger sister see her distress.
For some reason, seeing this scene, Fu Li suddenly imagined Rin as a collar—the kind used to leash a vicious fox.
Nope, can't laugh. One laugh and ten years of good karma would be gone.
"Alright, Sakura, no need to be so tense. I'm not here to take your sister. On the contrary, I'm here to help you."
Fu Li sighed and showed Sakura the gauntlet on his hand. On it, aside from the Core of Domination at its center, there was only the Core of the Void.
As one of Vill-V's masterpieces, the [Infinity Gauntlet] was naturally designed to retain the most basic function of the New Second Divine Key [Void Hand, Soul Probe]: ripping out people's hearts.
However, Sakura, being an assassin, naturally wouldn't understand any of this.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Sakura gritted her teeth, unable to contain the killing intent leaking from her body. Fu Li, however, ignored her. He walked right past her and reached out to pat little Rin's head.
And just before this action could cause the fox to go berserk, Fu Li spoke to calm her down.
"Sakura, you probably don't know how a Coreless Herrscher like Seele, who fights for humanity, came to be. But don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."
"Seele?"
Hearing that name, a glimmer of hope flashed in Sakura's eyes. It was enough for her to overlook the hand that Fu Li was extending toward her little sister's budding chest.
This time, however, it was Fu Li who stopped his own hand first. He turned to his two little girlfriends watching from behind him and said:
"Hey, Pardo, Naiyisi, I have a feeling MEI's people are on their way. Buy me some time to get the Core out of her."
"O-Okay, be careful."
"Mhm, no problem, darling."
Pardo and Black Pardo didn't question him. They immediately turned and headed back the way they came, intending to intercept Dr. MEI's team.
Watching them go, Fu Li finally relaxed, turning a bewildered Rin around. Under Sakura's nervous gaze, he reached his hand into her back.
While fumbling for the Core, Fu Li lamented internally how lucky it was that he had reacted quickly. Otherwise, both Pardo and Sakura would have thought he was a pervert.
The Core extraction went as smoothly as ever. Fu Li didn't have to exert much effort to pull the Core from Rin's body.
The moment it was removed, Rin seemed to fall into a daze and stumbled backward into his arms.
Fortunately, Sakura had calmed down by now. Feeling her sister's heartbeat, she let out a sigh of relief and asked, "What's wrong with Rin?"
"She's just temporarily unconscious." Fu Li handed the girl and his own ID card to Sakura, reminding her, "Take Rin to Mobius's lab. I'll handle things with Dr. MEI."
"Until you get a definitive answer from me, do not let anyone find you. Got it?"
"Yes, I understand."
Clutching the ID card and her sister tightly, Sakura was just about to apologize for her earlier outburst when she saw that Fu Li was already walking away. In the end, she could only swallow her words of thanks for the time being.
After this is all over, she thought, I'll have to find a way to repay this kindness.
Author's Notes:
So tired.