10:15; 27 of October

Li Guang, Intisar, and Yuuhime were watching the newest episodes of The Sunflower Warrior, eating the flavored popcorn from the movie theater nearby.

"I can't believe they actually betrayed him," Li Guang gasped.

"I can," Intisar retorted, "The clues were there, you just had to look."

Yuuhime agreed with this, even if the betrayal hurt her poor soul.

"Oh, yeah, Yuuhime!" Li Guang scooted closer to her, "I'm gonna go hang out with Tang Xuan after this, so I'm gonna need you to text him in about...2 and a half hours?"

"And why is that?" She cocked her head at her friend.

"Hehe, I wanna see his reaction. Pretty please?" Li Guang pressed her hands together with a look of desperation on her face.

Yuuhime acted like she was considering it. Of course she would go along with Li Guang's shenanigans, but she liked to mess with her as well.

"Alright, I'll remember," She said. Li Guang made a small yiss! sound, pumping her arms.

"Ok, ok, stop talking about Yuuhime's boyfriend and let's get on with this last episode!" Intisar interjected.

***

12:10; 27 of October

"Alright, Mr. Poster boy!" Li Guang said to herself as she pulled up to the cafe she decided to interview Xuan at, "You better be on your a-game today, because if you're even going to hold hands with Yuuhime, you have to get my approval!"

Of course, she didn't really mean that. She would like for Yuuhime to date someone she also liked, but if she really liked Xuan, there was no place for Li Guang to stop her. It was just that so many Union members had an ego the size of the planet and then some.

Walking in, she saw that Xuan was there, awkwardly waiting for her in a hoodie, a baseball hat, and sunglasses.

"Tan-"

"Sh! Let's go over to the corner," Xuan sighed as he led her to the corner.

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"There just so happens to be a reporter here today," he explained, "just my luck...but anyways, you wanted to talk?"

"Mhm," She nodded, peering over the menu, "I wanna get to know you since you and Yuuhime seem to be close."

Xuan's face went as red as his hair, "We're just friends."

"Must be good friends," Li Guang already thought this was going to be good.

"Y-yeah, haha." Xuan also looked over the menu. She smiled mischievously as she waited for Yuuhime to message Xuan.

"Oh, I'm sorry, someone just messaged me," Xuan said as he pulled out his phone. Yes...YES...MWAHAHAHA...

"...are you ok?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Yessss..." She responded.

He hated to admit it, since Yuuhime often referred to Li Guang as her "bff," but Li Guang was a very strange girl.

He looked at the message, which was from Yuuhime, and it simply said, 'I was asked to text you.'

He cocked his head, then narrowed his eyes at Li Guang, "...aha."

She frowned, "What?"

He sighed and put his phone down, "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm an explorer!" She explained, "I'm also a bounty hunter."

"I see," He nodded.

"What do you like to do in your free time?"

He paused. What did he like? He liked to...train...and...video games.

"I...like to hang out with my friends, and play video games," He answered. Li Guang noted this. She also noted how hesitant he sounded.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" A waitress came over to take their orders.

'Perfect!' Li Guang said to herself, 'I'll see what kinda food he likes, that'll make a good conversation starter.'

"I'll have your green drink!" Li Guang said.

"I would like to try your pudding mix." Xuan said.

The waitress nodded and left.

"Pudding mix, huh?" Li Guang asked with interest in her voice, "Why'd you chose that?"

"I love pudding." Xuan waved his hands around, "Always have, since I was young."

"That's nice," She nodded.

The silence that followed lasted for a long time. She had no idea what to say to him; all the questions she made the night before left her mind.

"So, how did you and Yuuhime meet?" Xuan asked.

"Oh, I was at a resort," Li Guang explained, "I saw her and I was impressed by how soft and silky her hair looked!"

"Her hair is very pretty and soft..." Xuan smiled.

"So I asked her for her hair care routine," She continued, "And she gave it to me, but it was too hard for me. When I went to ask her about it, I found out she did it with her 14 arms!"

Xuan chuckled at her story, "That's really funny. I didn't expect her to have a bunch of extra arms when I met her, either."

"Where did you meet her?" Li Guang asked. Xuan tensed up a little bit.

"We met on a cruise ship." He finally said.

"That's fun," Li Guang said.

There was another silence.

Finally, their order arrived.

"Thank you so much!" Li Guang said.

The waitress nodded and swiftly left.

"Mmmm..." Xuan sighed as he took the first bite. She sipped her drink, watching him and his every bite.

"So, I know Yuuhime really enjoys your company," She started.

"S-she does?" She saw his cheeks flush, already getting flustered.

"Mhm, she talks about you a lot. She likes to talk to you."

Even though his face was red, he gave a soft smile, "That makes me happy...I like being with her too."

She realized she might be having too much fun with teasing Xuan. It was ok; she was learning a lot too.

"Have you been alone with her?"

"U-uh...Yeah. We went to an amusement park together."

"No, I mean alone alone?"

She realized she worded that way wrong when he had to duck his face down.

"We're just friends." He reaffirmed after a few minutes.

"Yeah," She nodded, "Yeah."

***

1:30; 27 of October

The rest of the hang out went swimmingly. Li Guang definitely saw the appeal of the ops chief, and she was glad Yuuhime could have a guy like Xuan in her life.

At this point in time, the two of them were waiting for a bus to take Li Guang home.

"You said you met Yuuhime on a cruise, right?" She asked.

"Yeah." He responded.

"Why were you on the cruise?"

She saw his face darken slightly, but he kept a smile on his face. "It...was nothing. Just a small mission."

Small? She knew getting on a cruise was already expensive. On top of that, Xuan was now acting strangely; he was silent now, when before he was chatting away with her.

"Ok." She responded. She'd have to ask Yuuhime about it.

A blue bus came to a stop in front of them. Li Guang got up and waved to Xuan as she got on.

All she knew now was that Xuan was the perfect guy for Yuuhime. Even if they stayed just friends, he was kind (despite having an ego) and really cared about others. She held expected that from him, but one never really knows.

***

5:00; 27 of October

"Hey, Yuuhime!" Li Guang said through the phone, "I've a question for you if you got the time?"

"Of course..." The tired and upset voice of Yuuhime came from the other end.

"Oh! What's wrong?" Li Guang asked, concerned.

"Well...I'll just start from the beginning..."