A/N: There will be sickness in this chapter.

The Day of Thanks, the happiest day at the Union HQ. Everyone came together with their favorite foods and had a feast, stuffing themselves full with bird and potatoes and hanging out all night.

Xuan was currently cooking soup, something he found he was good at cooking when he made it for Yuuhime. He hummed, when his phone started to ring.

It was probably Yuuhime! She had called him everyday for two weeks straight to make sure he was feeling ok after he got attacked by five massive miramon.

Smiling, he peered down, then nearly knocking the pot over when he saw who it was: Yamato.

He knew the instant he saw the name why he was calling. He almost wanted to just not answer, but he feared that might cause more problems than it solved.

Slowly, he answered his communicator and continued to stir his soup, "Hello?"

"Mr. Tang Xuan!" Yamato sang. "It's The Day of Thanks~"

"I'm well aware." He said, straining his voice to not sound as annoyed as he felt.

"Wouldn't you be a doll and come over for me and Yuuhime's dinner this evening?"

Xuan scrunched his nose. He promised Ling he'd be at the Union's one to try his "special dish."

"Remember our little deal, too." Yamato's voice grew so cold Xuan physically shivered. Maybe it would be ok if Xuan missed today...at least he'd escape Ling's definitely spicy dish.

He glanced at his soup and then out the window. He saw Espers busy outside for the celebration and feast. His stomach twisted in a sickeningly way, knowing that he'd have to miss the one day he felt truly happy and grateful to be alive.

"...I'll be there. Do I need to bring anything?"

"Glad you've made the right decision." Yamato chuckled. "No, don't bring anything, I've got all the food already. It's at 5:00. See you later, Mr. Tang Xuan~"

And he hung up.

Xuan pursed his lips. Now he had to figure out what do with all this soup. He stole a sip and decided it would be too good to not share.

He picked up the pot and set off to drop it off in the kitchen. He also grabbed his bag, which had his phone, some playing cards, a marker and a pad of paper. He'd just write a note so everyone knew it was him who made it.

"Hello, Tang Xuan!" He heard Ye Suhua call, "Did you make that yourself?"

"Yeah, I did!" He smiled, "It's super good, I promise."

"But, what are you doing with it out here?"

"Just gonna drop it off in the kitchen," he explained, "it'll be easier to get it out when it's time."

"Oh, I see." She smiled, before getting serious. "About your burns..."

"I'm still doing everything you told me," He interrupted her, "making sure to wash them gently, using my arms and legs whenever I can to make sure they stay strong, wrapping them up before I go to bed, the whole shebang."

"That's not what I mean, I mean that those burns came from an Esper."

He looked taken aback, so she elaborated, "Those burns are like lighting scars, but are still appearing to swell as if they're brand new. We took some samples from Mona's burns and found divine remnants inside her blood and on her skin, and found it acts like a cancerous cell."

"So you're saying I have Esper cancer? Pffft-"

"This is serious, Tang Xuan!"

"Sorry, sorry-It sounds ridiculous."

The look on her face told him to drop it.

"Uhm, please continue."

"This could seriously hinder you and your life if you continue to get into situations like the one two weeks ago."

Xuan bit his cheek. He knew Suhua meant well, but he saw the time was 4:20; he had to go.

"Well, Ye Suhua," He said starting to walk again, "I need to drop this off, sooo. Bye!"

Suhua was left staring after him as he sprinted into the building.

'It takes me about 30 minutes already to get to that damned house.' Xuan thought to himself, 'So I have to put this away and then basically run to my car...'

"Xuan, hey!" He heard Ling call to him. He felt the twist of guilt in his gut as he pretended not to hear him.

He slid into the kitchen and placed the soup in its place, then quickly wrote a note before sprinting out the back door so he wouldn't have to face Ling.

He successfully got to his car without anyone else talking to him. He felt his communicator buzz. He check it, and saw it was Ling. He really wanted to answer, but he couldn't; he had to leave.

"Sorry, Li Ling," He fumbled his keys, "I'll get back to you later."

***

Xuan's car pulled up. Yuuhime stared at the car, curled in a chair. He'd told her about how excited he was for the Union's Day of Thanks feast, but now he was here instead because of Yamato's threats.

The doorbell rang throughout the house, its shrill squeal making her ears pound. She stood up and waited for Yamato to open the door. Even if she pitied Xuan, she had to admit, she was excited to see him.

"Ah, Mr. Tang Xuan! I'm so happy to have you~!" He squealed just like the doorbell.

Yuuhime was embarrassed to have him as a brother.

"...yeah." Xuan saw Yuuhime and smiled. "Hi! How are you, Yuuhime?"

"Good." She replied.

"The bird will be done soon, sit tight!" Yamato announced.

Yuuhime and Xuan sat at a, quite frankly, too big table for three people to have a feast. The table stretched across the whole room, and had about 15 chairs. Yamato would sit at the front in a nice and comfy chair, while the other two sat on much smaller and normal dining chairs. Piano music played from a hidden speaker, making the whole place seem more fancy.

"...is this really necessary for three of us?" Xuan asked.

"No...I wish Yamato would just be normal." Yuuhime answered.

"So, what's on the menu?"

"Hmm...I know we got a turkey, and some gravy, but Yamato insisted on making all the food, so I'm not one hundred percent sure."

That was suspicious. It made Xuan's stomach turn. Would Yamato try something?

"Hey, it'll be ok," Yuuhime said, noticing his worried expression, "I'm sure it'll be all good. I saw the plates he's gonna use to serve the food in."

Although that lightened his fears, he was still suspicious.

"What do you have in your bag?" She asked, pointing.

"Oh, just my phone, some cards..." He pulled everything out. Well, almost everything. He realized he was in such a hurry that he forgot to grab his pad of paper after he wrote the note about his soup. Oh well.

"Oh, I have a card game I discovered a few days ago." Yuuhime said.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"It's called Go fish! I've wanted to play it."

"Oh? Used to play it as a kid."

"Then you know the rules. Great!" She quickly started to shuffle. "Uhm...would you like to play?"

"Of course, anything for you." He responded, and she blushed, but had a big grin on her face.

She dealt the cards out, "Do you need any refreshing thought?"

"Nope, I'll remember as we play." He slid each card she dealt into his hands, one at a time.

"Alright, then!" She placed the deck in between them.

Go Fish was a very boring and slow game to Xuan. He didn't hate it, but the game was designed for small children to learn shapes and numbers, not for two adults to play while waiting for food.

But the way Yuuhime giggled every time he held out a card for her, every time she made a face when she had a card he needed, every time she hummed along with the music, his stomach felt less twisty and his guilt of leaving Ling hanging was more bearable. The thought that Go Fish was just a children's game was replaced with Go Fish was her game, a game she didn't get to play as a child, but could now.

"And I won again!" Yuuhime snickered. Xuan could only goofily smile at her. She blushed a little at his goofy face, so she made one back.

"Perhaps you'll win this next round." Yuuhime said as she shuffled the cards.

"I'll be betting on it." They turned and saw Yamato standing in the doorframe. His eyes glinted like he was about to tell a joke, but instead of telling a joke, he placed a bowl of salad in front of the two.

"Uhm, do you need help carrying the other food in?" Yuuhime asked. She tried not to sound as annoyed and snarky as she usually did, wanting to sound more like how Xuan sounded.

"Oh, no, dearest sister," Yamato said sweetly, "Just eat up~! The rest will be out shortly!"

The two nodded. Xuan felt even more suspicious than before, but what else was he supposed to do? He was stuck here, might as well try to eat something. Besides, Yuuhime was eating the same food. If Yamato put anything into it, why would he let Yuuhime eat it?

Still, he had to be careful. He slowly chewed and made sure not to eat anything he saw as suspicious.

Yuuhime bit her cheek. How had Yamato made the salad literally dry? It was lettuce and dressing! How did he do it? Did he let it sit out? She knew that if the salad was this dry, how bad would the turkey be? She really hoped he wouldn't give Xuan and herself a stomach ache with all this terrible food.

Perhaps that was his master plan. Xuan had just noticed how disgustingly dry the salad was. He must be trying to make him sick. Checkmate, rich boy! He just had to eat small portions of everything. That way, unless Yamato had drugged the food, he would be fine.

Yamato came swinging into the dining room once again, this time with a moving tray full of food, ranging from gravy to potatoes to bread to finally, the bird itself.

He noticed the two thinking very hard. He assumed Yuuhime was trying to figure out how he made the salad dry. Even that was a mystery to him!

Xuan, on the other hand, was more tricky. He knew that he was suspicious of him, but he wasn't even doing anything that night. Well...except for being a bad cook.

Yes! What a shocker! Yamato, in all his glory, was a bad chef. He didn't think he was that bad, but alas! His cooking was so bad it had an official ops chief wondering if he was getting to get poisoned.

"Bon appétit!" Yamato announced.

"...Yamato." Yuuhime hissed.

"Yes?"

"...Why are the rolls...pink?"

"Uhm. I can explain."

The two looked at him. Yuuhime looked annoyed, Xuan looked like he read hiding how nervous he was.

"I tried to make orange rolls to match the leaves, honest. But I misread and put pink instead of orange. Honest mistake, you understand."

No, neither of them understood. Why try to dye rolls when you can't even make a salad?

"Hmph!" Yamato glared down at the two seated below him. "You WILL eat my food, and you WILL enjoy it."

Yuuhime gritted her teeth. She knew they should have ordered take out.

Xuan was convinced he was going to be bed ridden for days after this. He was already thinking of what to put on his headstone.

Yamato liked the food, at least.

"So, Mr. Tang Xuan. When are you going to propose?"

"W-what?"

***

Yuuhime had never felt more embarrassed in her life.

Yamato had relentlessly asked Xuan about their relationship. Xuan tried really hard to pretend like he was too busy eating to answer, but had the complete opposite excuse when he had to run to the bathroom to "get rid" of Yamato's cooking.

"Perhaps I should have had a little help." Yamato had said in response to Xuan's mess.

Yuuhime wanted to cry. Xuan was crying, silently on the floor of the guest bathroom. Yamato was calling a cleaner to clean up the kitchen and dining room, laughing to himself about the whole thing.

Xuan was right after all. Well, mostly right. Yamato didn't intend on making him sick.

"I'm so sorry, Xuan." Yuuhime said, choking back tears.

"It's-it's not your fault," He sighed, "h-hey, don't cry."

She sat beside him. It was a funny situation they were in; both wanted to be the strong one, but both just needed to cry it out.

"What time is it?" He mumbled.

"About eight," she mumbled, "you've been in here for an hour."

He groaned, "I have to get home soon..."

"Do you need me to drive you home?"

"I'll be ok." He got up, legs shaking.

"At least let me take you to your car." She followed him, helping him stay steady.

He didn't say anything, simply letting her take his arm and guide him through the giant maze that was her house.

"Goodbye, Mr. Tang Xuan!" Yamato said loudly, "Glad to have you here, doll."

Yuuhime went cold. Xuan couldn't even feel anything but pain now.

'Thanks for nothing, you...' Xuan clenched his jaw. He was so tired, and it was only one night with him.

He stumbled into his car. Yuuhime made sure everything he brought left with him, his phone, his cards, even the cheep pen.

"Get better soon." She whispered. He gave a small nod and drove off.

As she walked into the house again, she heard Yamato calling for her.

"The cleaners weren't working today! Can you believe that? So, you must clean this all up!"

"...ok." She growled as he retired for the night. She scrubbed the pots and pans, wishing to disappear off the face of the earth.

Or, maybe just into cave. With cell service. So she could still call Xuan.

***

Xuan prayed that no one was around the dorms. He didn't want anyone thinking he went and got drunk, or ask him why he wasn't at the feast.

He slid into his apartment, locking the door and then crumbling onto the ground. He was so tired.

Tonight, he wanted to die. He was so sick of everything.

Esper cancer.

Nosy and over-caring brother.

Sickness.

Guilt...

He had gained lots this Day of Thanks, but he wasn't grateful for any of it.

He slowly got up and went to his bathroom. Where he intended to wash his face, he ended up staring at himself. The more he stared, the more anger built up inside him. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer. He swung his arm into the mirror, shattering it into pieces that flew all around.

His fist pounded. He looked down at it and saw the burns on his fingers bleeding. He quickly wrapped them up and went to his bed.

He fell face first into his pillow and curled up. All he wanted was to sleep.

...and maybe snuggle with Yuuhime. But mostly sleep.

***

Yun sipped the final contents of his juice and glanced at the apartment building his brother lived in. He saw Xuan was pale when he was driving and silently followed him. Luckily it wasn't too far, but watching Xuan stumbling and panting up only a small fleet of stairs was worrying.

What had those Espers at the union fed him? Did Ling force some spicy dish into his mouth? Stupid, stupid...

He jumped when he heard people coming, so he quickly hid behind some trash cans.

"I'm gonna go knock on his door," He heard Ling shouting, "and you can't stop me!"

"He has his reasons for not showing up," Yun Chaun replied, "I'm sure of it. Just ask him tomorrow."

"Why? It's only eight, Xuan goes to sleep at ten."

"I'm talking about you. You're delirious, go. To. Bed."

Ling grumbled but finally dropped it. By this time, Yun had heard all he needed.

'So you weren't at the Union's little party, Xuan? Then you were with Yuuhime.' That annoyed him beyond words.

He really wanted to kill them both.

It would be hard killing an assassin. He'd manage.

***

Chuan finally managed to get Ling to bed, then ran back out to the trash cans. Peering around them, he found that although nobody was there now, someone had been there. The footprints were enough of a sign.

He sighed. He wasn't sure who that person was, but he knew he'd seen them before. If he'd mentioned it, though, Ling would probably attack first and ask questions later.

He narrowed his eyes. The footprints led away into the alleyway. He pulled out his communicator and took some pictures.

"...probably should of told someone." He grumbled as sent the pictures out.