The city was settling into evening.
Shop signs blinked awake one after another, their reflections stretching across puddles left behind by yesterday's rain. The last trace of sunlight lingered somewhere beyond the buildings, swallowed little by little by an indigo sky.
Violet left the main road without warning.
She slipped into a narrow alley between two old apartment blocks as though she'd walked it a hundred times before.
Yè Yī noticed immediately.
"This isn't the fastest way."
"It isn't."
She didn't slow down.
"The faster roads are easier to watch."
He let that answer sit for a moment.
"...Watch?"
She nodded once.
"Some routes have eyes."
That was all.
Qiū Huà Bǐ walked a few paces behind them, hands buried inside his hoodie pockets.
His gaze drifted over the walls.
Old security cameras.
Broken drainpipes.
Windows with curtains half drawn.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Yet Violet had changed direction the instant they reached this neighborhood.
She hadn't hesitated.
She'd avoided something... or someone?
The alley narrowed until only one streetlamp remained overhead.
Its tired orange light flickered every few seconds.
An empty drink can rolled across the pavement.
The wind carried it several metres before it tipped onto its side.
Violet stopped, but not gradually.
One step. Then none.
Qiū Huà Bǐ nearly walked into her back.
Neither of them spoke.
The silence stretched just long enough to become noticeable.
The air felt heavier, like static before a storm.
Yè Yī felt there was more to this.
"What now?"
Violet turned her head slightly.
Not upward or toward the street, but toward the roofline behind them.
"You can come down now..."
Her voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
"...Mù.Xiāo.Xiāo."
A soft sound answered.
It wasn't like footsteps or a dramatical landing.
Almost... like the sound of clothing brushing against air.
Someone dropped from the roof.
She landed lightly enough that the puddle beneath her barely rippled.
Yè Yī's eyes narrowed.
Young.
Long dark hair.
Black trousers.
Purple shirt beneath a short jacket.
Nothing about her clothing stood out.
Everything about her did.
She stood perfectly still.
She wasn't tensed nor relaxed.
Simply... still.
The streetlamp painted one side of her face gold while the other remained hidden in shadow.
Her expression never changed.
She lifted one hand, gave a tiny wave.
Almost as though she'd learned somewhere that greetings were expected.
"...Hi."
Silence returned.
Qiū Huà Bǐ stared confused.
"...You were on the roofs?"
She nodded.
"I was waiting."
"Was she following us?"
Another nod.
"Mm."
No explanation followed.
Yè Yī looked toward Violet.
"...Who is she?"
Violet folded her arms.
"Night shift... Someone who doesn't sleep at night."
The newcomer tilted her head.
"I do sleep.."
A pause.
"...Sometimes."
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked between the two girls.
"I have absolutely no idea what's happening anymore."
Nobody disagreed with him.
Violet seemed almost... too comfortable.
She looked at the quiet young woman in front of her.
"We'd like to see Ān Tián Kuò."
Mù Xiāo Xiāo blinks once, her head tilts, that faint, sharp awareness flicking on, then nods — a small, almost robotic motion.
"He's working."
She blinked once.. then her eyes move to Yè Yī.. then Qiū Huà Bǐ.
She studied each of them for exactly one heartbeat before looking back at Violet.
Another pause.
Then...
"It's about ET."
She tilted her head again.
The name seemed to settle somewhere behind her eyes.
"...Oh."
She turned immediately and began walking.
Without checking whether anyone followed.
Qiū Huà Bǐ watched her disappear farther into the alley before lowering his voice.
"...Does she always talk like that?"
Violet started after her.
"Usually less."
"Seriously? It's like she's saving words."
Yè Yī remained where he was for another second.
"...Who is she?"
Violet glanced back over one shoulder.
"Depends."
"On what?"
"Depends who's asking — the student.."
She smiled very slightly.
"...or the Specialist."
He frowned.
Qiū Huà Bǐ spoke as if trying to push the title off his own neck.
"She means you."
Yè Yī seemed unfazed though.
"I didn't ask for titles."
She faced forward again.
"Too bad."
The answer lingered far longer than the footsteps that followed.
Ahead, Mù Xiāo Xiāo never looked back.
She simply walked through the growing evening as though she already knew they would follow.
And somehow... they did.