"Yi, is he up there?" Ororo asked softly, pressing a finger to her earpiece. She spoke as if afraid that raising her voice even slightly might alert whoever was above.
At the moment, Ororo was already dressed in the standard X-Men uniform, standing before what looked like a somewhat dilapidated monastery. Beside her stood Jean Grey, equally well-armed. Other than the two of them, there was no one else present. In other words—Zhou Yi was not here.
"Yes, he's up there. Sleeping on the roof beams. I'm pretty sure he used to be in a circus—being able to hang himself in midair with just his tail," Zhou Yi's bored voice came through the communicator. Meanwhile, he himself was sprawled on a sofa with a bucket of popcorn in his arms. Beside him sat a pair of girls who looked only six or seven years old, giggling as they watched cartoons on TV.
Clearly, he had been abandoned.
Using the excuse that the school needed someone to stay behind to ensure the students' safety, Ororo had forcibly left Zhou Yi behind. And the result of that decision was that, after dinner, Zhou Yi was stuck watching mind-numbingly boring cartoons with a group of children. To be honest, it was pure torture for him.
"Good. We'll take him down," Ororo said, cutting off the transmission and heading straight into the monastery.
Zhou Yi, meanwhile, could only sigh wordlessly, grab a handful of popcorn, and shove it straight into the mouths of the two drooling kids beside him.
"Careful, little ones. If you bite my fingers, I guarantee the one who gets hurt will be you!"
Faced with Zhou Yi's words—which sounded more like a joke than a threat—the two nearly identical girls glanced at each other and immediately burst into laughter. In such a short time, they had already figured out Zhou Yi's personality. Toward this uncle who always played with them, they felt not the slightest fear.
"Well then, it looks like my words aren't as effective as my actions. Have you decided how you're going to accept your punishment?" Zhou Yi said, cracking his knuckles. "The Tickling Demon King is here!"
To establish his authority—though really just to amuse the kids—Zhou Yi resorted to one of his childhood tricks for dealing with Sharice: tickling. It was incredibly effective, especially on mischievous children.
The two girls immediately twisted into wriggling knots on the sofa. Naturally, their high-pitched laughter filled the room.
"I'm telling you, pal, can't you get those two little monsters to quiet down for a bit? I'm about to lose my mind!" Logan complained from another sofa. With hearing as sharp as a beast's, moments like this made his mutation feel more like a curse.
"Alright, alright. Uncle Logan has spoken, kids," Zhou Yi said. "I'll let you off this time. Now—which one of you is going to bathe first? The slower one will still have to face the Demon King's punishment later!"
"Oh no!" the twin girls screamed, clinging to each other. They had clearly learned to fear Zhou Yi's methods.
"Then what are you waiting for? If you're too slow, the Demon King will follow you in!"
The two girls exchanged a look and instantly transformed into two flowing streams of water, rising into the air before rushing out of the living room at incredible speed. Thankfully, this was a school for mutants—otherwise, anyone seeing two streams of clothed water flying around would probably have nightmares.
"You shouldn't have sent them to bathe," said a bespectacled little boy. "They always like sneaking through the pipes into other rooms to scare people. Besides, with their abilities, they don't even need to bathe."
The boy was Alex, the youngest of the group. Unlike his age suggested, he was intelligent and introverted. While the other kids played, he preferred sitting alone, watching an old television.
And he never used his hands.
With just a blink, the channel changed.
Electronic manipulation—that was his ability. Though likely due to his young age, it only worked on older machines for now.
"Sorry, kid. I didn't know those two had that bad habit," Zhou Yi said apologetically, brushing popcorn off himself. "But at least one thing's certain—they won't be scaring you tonight."
"Hmph!" Alex replied, clearly pleased. It showed in how quickly he started flipping channels. The speed was absurd—something only someone with a supernatural connection to electronics could tolerate.
Logan certainly couldn't.
Shaking his head to clear the dizziness from the flashing screen, Logan stood up and suggested, "How about we grab a drink? Sitting here babysitting isn't exactly exciting."
"Sounds good," Zhou Yi agreed, standing as well. He patted Alex on the head, told him not to stay up too late, and followed Logan. Guided by his keen sense of smell, Logan led him straight toward the kitchen.
"You really like kids, don't you?" Logan asked casually as they walked. "Then why not get married and have one of your own?"
"I don't mind the idea of marriage," Zhou Yi replied. "But with whom—that's the real problem."
"I can tell," Logan said after a pause. "Ororo and Jean both like you. Even Rogue does. But I'm warning you—stay the hell away from Rogue. Otherwise, don't blame me if my claws come out."
"Rogue?! Are you insane?" Zhou Yi immediately lowered his voice in shock. Logan's words completely blindsided him. "She's still a kid! How could you even think that?"
"Damn it, I don't know why I think that—it's just a feeling!" Logan snapped, clearly frustrated. "Just promise me you won't touch Rogue. Do you hear me?"
"I swear. I absolutely won't," Zhou Yi said solemnly. "I'm almost ten years older than them. And honestly, I have zero interest in little girls. But what about you, Logan? You care so much about Rogue—got something else on your mind?"
He said it purely as a prank. Anyone with eyes could see that Logan's feelings toward Rogue were those of a father toward a daughter.
"FUCK YOU!" Logan nearly popped his claws. Barely restraining his temper, he growled, "Do you have any idea what kind of bullshit you're spouting? I'll tell you this—I care about Rogue like she's my own daughter. Don't project your filthy thoughts onto me. It's disgusting."
"Alright, alright," Zhou Yi laughed. "But since you feel that way, why not have a kid of your own? A guy like you should be pretty popular with women. Finding someone willing to have a child with you shouldn't be hard, right?"
"A child…?" Logan froze, a look of confusion spreading across his face. Since returning from Paris, that expression had become disturbingly common. "If I had a child, they'd probably be about Rogue's age by now. Too bad… I don't have that kind of luck."
Loneliness crept into his features—the kind only seen on the faces of old men. Yet on Logan, it felt natural. He had lived for centuries. His body remained eternally young, but his soul had long since withered.
"Don't look like that, man. It hurts to see," Zhou Yi said, patting his shoulder. He hated this kind of gloom—it just wasn't in his nature.
"You don't understand," Logan said quietly. "Victor told me something. A long time ago, I had a wife. A beautiful wife."
Zhou Yi's interest was instantly piqued. "You had a wife? That's good news! Then what happened?"
"Victor told me… she died. Died right in front of me."
Zhou Yi's smile vanished.
"I'm sorry, Logan. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."
"That's not even the worst part," Logan said, tapping his temple. "Do you know the earliest thing I can remember? Waking up in a pile of rubble… with a woman's corpse beside me. The joke is—I had no idea who she was."
"Now that I think about it… she must've been my wife."
A deep, bitter smile crossed his face. And as he smiled, tears slid down from the corners of his eyes—something so natural that even he couldn't stop it.
His memory might not remember her, but his soul did.
Losing the one you love is painful. But at least that love lives on in memory.Logan lost his love—and lost the memory of loving her.
His soul wept, yet he never knew why.Grief without cause—this was true suffering.
Zhou Yi had never experienced such pain, but he could feel how devastating it was. Worse still, Logan was immortal. This void in his memory would torment him forever—like a curse.
At a loss for words, Zhou Yi could only silently pat his shoulder.
"Maybe getting drunk is the best option right now," he said softly. "I'll drink with you. As a friend."
"Thanks, pal," Logan replied with a faint, grateful smile. "You didn't have to share this burden. Sorry for bringing you down."
"No," Zhou Yi said after a moment. "I should thank you. You made me realize something."
"What's that?"
"That love… can really transcend everything. I didn't believe it before. Now I do."
"You sound like some kind of philosophy nut."
"I think so too."
The two men spoke back and forth as they quietly disappeared into the night.
-----------------------
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