[-] Despite A-Yuan's offended expression, I tug on her hair again. Yuan Xiao involuntarily puts her hands over her own hair and gives her an empathetic look.
[Yuan Xiao] Kind soul, you're acting weird...
[A-Yuan] What the heck are you doing???! [○･｀Д´･ ○]
[-] Just when I gather the courage to give her hair another pull, I hear a faint crackling sound in the air. The silence permeating the area around us only intensifies the hubbub of the surrounding streets.
[player] Yuan Xiao... Did you hear something?
[Yuan Xiao] Could Miss A-Yuan's hair be shouting in protest...?
[-] Suddenly, a tearing sound cuts through the silence.
[Yuan Xiao] Aaahhh!! {var:Shake}
[-] I look at A-Yuan and see her face slowly splitting apart as a deep crease extends downwards from her forehead...
[player] Aaahhh!! {var:ShakeScene}
[-] Unable to believe our eyes, Yuan Xiao and I stumble backward while clutching the tea tightly in our hands.
[-] Her face split down the middle, "A-Yuan" slowly closes in on us. Her lifeless eyes are locked on Yuan Xiao and me, and the corners of her mouth are upturned into a twisted smile.
[-] She slowly hands her phone to us. The dark blue screen flickers, and an electric current buzzes softly from it. Four pallid words glare at us from the screen.
Hand over. The tea.
[Yuan Xiao] Supernatural beings want this tea too?! Just what kind of tea is this??!
[-] We obviously can't give her the tea like this, but just when Yuan Xiao and I are about to turn and make a run for it, I suddenly realize that a familiar face is coming into view as "A-Yuan's" splits apart...
[player] Noah?
[???] What can I say, boss?
[-] Kutsuji emerges from the nearby convenience store. He reaches out and pulls a full-coverage mask from Noah's head.
[Yuan Xiao] No wonder it was so sturdy! It was one whole piece. That's what made the hair so realistic...
[Kutsuji] I never imagined you'd be so rough with our local celebrity. Tsk tsk, I'll be making a note in your dossier after this: "Not above harming the beauty."
[player] Don't add weird random stuff to my file.
[Kutsuji] I'm afraid I must. Intel on you is expensive, and I have to ensure there's a good reason for that.
[Kutsuji] But enough with the pleasantries for now. Shall we make a trade?
[player] What's the trade?
[Kutsuji] A piece of intel for a bag of tea.
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