Chapter Text
“So… the retrial is today?”
“Yeah. The retrial is today.”
It’s not Domi and Vanitas’ best post-sex talk, but in all fairness, it’s probably not their worst either.
“What do you think will happen?” Domi asks, buttoning her shirt back up. “Best- and worst-case scenario.”
“Best case scenario, the jury agrees He Xuan was framed, he gets released, and everyone gets a happy-ever-after,” Vanitas replies, as he pulls up his pants, perches on the edge of his desk (it still needs wiping; he avoids the edge), and picks up the pouch of tobacco. “Worst, He Xuan is found guilty again, he keeps his charges, and he does something to hurt Shi Wudu.”
“Do you think he’d actually kill him?” Domi cocks an eyebrow. “Or just hurt him.”
“I like to think he wouldn’t kill someone. He’s intelligent, had a bright future,” Vanitas explains, slowly rolling a cigarette, a permanent scowl on his face which likely won’t leave until later. Or never. “But… it’s hard to get into his head and figure out what he’s thinking. He has a lot of bitterness pent-up. He’s not mentally well, or physically well. One push and… I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it.”
“You have to think about it. If you think there’s a serious risk of him harming Shi Wudu, you have to put him on a watch,” Domi says, knowing it’s not what Vanitas wants to hear, but he needs to hear it. Lowering her voice, she adds, “You don’t want another death here, do you? So—”
“No,” Vanitas spits. That was harsh. Rolling his eyes, he slides off the table and goes to the fire escape door, propping it open with one foot and lighting the cigarette. “It’s… fine. I doubt he’ll be found innocent. Shi Wudu’s fabricated evidence was too strong. Maybe we’ll just… hope he doesn’t let it get to his head.”
Domi nods along, unconvinced. “What time is it?”
“This afternoon. We need to leave soon, though. I’ll grab him after I have a smoke.”
“Who are you taking as back-up?”
“I’ll take Jeanne. I trust you alone with Noé more than her. I don’t want to leave her alone too long or she’ll fuck with Pei Ming, and that’s just grim.”
“Oh, I’m flattered,” Domi chuckles, “Don’t worry. I’ll hold down the fort. You just go and… Damage control?”
“There’s not much damage control I can do,” Vanitas snorts, taking a long drag from the cigarette, frowning across the horizon. It’s cloudy, like it might rain, the sky dark as if it’s not only 9am. “Everyone should be at breakfast. I told He Xuan he didn’t have to go.”
“Wow, a pushover.”
“Shut up! I just don’t want him to have a freak-out about being forced to take his insulin and eat now of all times!”
“Is Shi Qingxuan in the room with him, then? That’ll really help his mood.”
“No. She’s actually at breakfast,” Vanitas replies, still staring into the distance, the smoke from the cigarette rising in his view. “Noé said she was saying in therapy how He Xuan has been acting really… off. Quieter than usual. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad sign.”
“I’m surprised there’s even such thing as quieter than usual for He Xuan,” Domi snickers, “He’s never said more than a few words to me.”
“Nor me,” Vanitas shrugs, “but Shi Qingxuan was with him for a really long time. You learn, I guess.”
“Do you think you know me well?” Domi smirks.
“Well enough,” Vanitas snorts, taking one last long inhale of smoke before flicking the cigarette onto the grass. “Alright. I’ll go get Jeanne and He Xuan. You go find Astolfo and Noé and make sure they’re not fucking in the showers.”
“Got it,” Domi nods as she turns to do her job. Once he’s alone, Vanitas takes a moment to gather his thoughts and triple check he’s got all the documents he needs. After checking everything again five more times, he draws in a few deep breaths, and leaves the room, in search of Jeanne. Most of the prisoners have dispersed following breakfast now.
Soon after leaving the office, Vanitas finds Jeanne leaning against the doorframe of room two.
“Jeanne!” he yells, “Quit flirting with Pei Ming.”
“That’s rude,” Jeanne huffs, pulling away from the door and letting it fall shut. “I was flirting with Ruki, actually!”
“I don’t wanna know,” Vanitas grumbles, “Where’s He Xuan?”
“In his room, I think,” Jeanne replies, “We’re leaving now?”
“Yeah. I’ll get him.”
Taking another deep breath, Vanitas walks along to room three, knocking on the door before cracking it open. Reiji is on his bed, cross-legged, reading a book, while He Xuan is flat on his bed, staring at the bunk above.
“He Xuan,” he says, “Time to go.”
“Hm,” He Xuan scowls and nods, putting on his shoes. He doesn’t utter another word, standing up to follow Vanitas. Briefly, Reiji glances up from the bed, looking as if he wants to say something. Maybe good luck, or something provocative, and Vanitas doesn’t want to risk it; he subtly shakes his head at Reiji, and the other immediately looks away again.
Once they’re in the corridor, Jeanne puts the handcuffs on He Xuan in preparation for him leaving the prison, which he doesn’t protest to.
“Are you ready?” Vanitas asks quietly.
“I have to be,” He Xuan grunts in response. He doesn’t utter another word the whole journey to the court.
“Ahahaha, I’m not freaking out! I’m not freaking out at all— Why do you guys keep looking at me like that?!”
Shi Qingxuan frowns as Yuma, Azusa, and Xie Lian all snicker at each other, none of them buying her dismissive, nervous laughter. Okay, so she is shitting herself, thinking about He Xuan’s retrial; he’s due back any time now. If he’s found guilty, they’ll be spending a very awkward few years in prison together.
Thankfully, she’s not here alone. After pacing around the corridors, trying to spark conversation, Shi Qingxuan came across Yuma and Azusa in the canteen, watching Reiji and Ruki play chess together. She doesn’t know anything about chess; the sexual tension between Reiji and Ruki was far more interesting than the game. A couple of hours passed before Yuma and Azusa got up to smoke once it stopped raining, and she convinced Azusa to donate her a cigarette. When they went outside, they found Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, and half an hour after that, Hua Cheng had to go to therapy, glaring at all of them as if they had a duty to protect Xie Lian in his absence.
Naturally, Xie Lian noticed Shi Qingxuan was nervous, and the conversation veered to the retrial happening right now.
“It’s normal to be nervous,” Xie Lian says, leaning against the fence. Shi Qingxuan refused to sit down because the ground was wet, Hua Cheng apparently convinced Xie Lian he wasn’t allowed to sit down in case he caught a cold or something, but Yuma and Azusa are hardcore, so it seems, and have been sitting in a puddle for an hour.
“I know…” Shi Qingxuan sighs, pacing in circles. “I’m just worried about He Xuan. I don’t know what my brother really did, I can’t imagine him framing someone else like that, but… I also can’t imagine He Xuan murdering someone in the way he supposedly did. If He Xuan did ever kill someone, he’s too smart to get caught.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Yuma snorts.
“It makes sense,” Xie Lian replies, “I don’t know the full story, although San Lang told me some parts. If my understanding is correct, there were glaring holes in He Xuan’s crime, which Shi Wudu used to pin the blame on him. If He Xuan is as smart and cunning as you know, it’s unlikely that really happened.”
“Exactly!” Shi Qingxuan says, thumping her head against the fence in defeat. “Ahhh… I just don’t know what to do. There’s nothing I can say to He Xuan to make this okay. He probably hates me now too.”
“He Xuan doesn’t hate you…” Azusa speaks up.
“He will! It’s my brother who hated him and drove him away in the first place!”
“Why’d that shit-face Shi Wudu hate He Xuan so much anyway?” Yuma asks, “He’s dull, but pretty inoffensive from what I can tell.”
“Nothing to do with him personally,” Shi Qingxuan replies, “He didn’t like the fact He Xuan was from a poor family. He was always mad at the fact he smoked; he thought it was his fault I started drinking — which makes no sense anyway! He Xuan never drank alcohol. Not with me, at least. He also thought he was quiet and untrustworthy… It seemed like a pointless grudge, but he genuinely believed he’d ruin my life if we stayed together.”
“Damn,” Yuma scoffs, “What an asshole.”
“Well… my brother isn’t that bad.”
“Look, I know you’re delusional or some shit,” Yuma says, “but he did bad shit. Didn’t you say he dumped you in it too?”
“I-I mean… ahaha…” Shi Qingxuan returns to her anxious cackling, finally relenting and sitting on the ground beside Azusa, curled up with her knees to her chest. “I guess he did, but I should’ve noticed anyway…”
“You weren’t in a state to notice something like that. Don’t blame yourself,” Xie Lian says. He smiles softly at everyone sitting on the ground, giving up and joining them in the puddle, placing a hand on Shi Qingxuan’s shoulder. “Let’s just hope the retrial outcome is good, okay? And if not, Shi Wudu might get what’s coming to him.”
In disbelief, the other three turn their heads to him, gaping.
“What?” Xie Lian questions, completely taken aback by their shock. “I’ve heard enough about this.”
“Nothin’, you just…” Yuma mutters, “That was crazy out-of-pocket. You always seem so… innocent.”
“Oh. Ahahah.” Xie Lian takes his turn on the nervous laughter. “Anything but. And I’m autistic.”
“I could tell,” Yuma snorts.
“Has Hua Cheng heard a lot from He Xuan?” Shi Qingxuan asks.
“In parts,” Xie Lian says. It’s clear he’s not telling the full story, but apart from his sassiness, he generally appears to know when it’s his place to say thing. (Shi Qingxuan doesn’t want to know what he’s said about her behind her back).
“Like what?”
“Haha… Don’t even worry about it.”
“How am I supposed to not worry about it when you say it like that?!”
“No reason! It’s just—”
Before an uncomfortable conversation can proceed, the door opens and Domi steps out. She forces a sad smile, meeting Shi Qingxuan’s pitifully hopeful stare.
“Afternoon,” Domi nods to everyone, before re-focusing on Shi Qingxuan. “Let’s go. I need to talk to you.”
“Ahaha, that doesn’t sound good at all!”
“It’s a neutral statement,” Xie Lian tries to reassure her. To him, in all his life experience (and autism), it probably is neutral, but Shi Qingxuan knows ‘we need to talk’ is never positive. “Good luck.”
“I definitely need it!” Shi Qingxuan continues chuckling to herself the whole time she follows Domi through the corridors and into one of the therapy rooms. Her heart is pounding in her chest as she sits down on the sofa opposite Domi.
“Damn,” Domi mutters, looking around her then back up. “I’m never usually in the therapist chair.”
“It suits you,” Shi Qingxuan says, “I think you’d be a great therapist.”
“Yeah, no,” Domi snorts, “Alright, so today—”
“I know. I think… I already know,” Shi Qingxuan sighs, cracking a pathetic, wry smile. “You wouldn’t call me in here like this if He Xuan was being freed. You’d let him tell me himself.”
“… Yeah,” Domi nods subtly, folding her hands on her lap. “Sorry. There’s no subtle way of doing this.”
“… I know,” Shi Qingxuan murmurs, keeping her head down too. She lifts her feet onto the sofa and wraps her hands around her legs, tucked into her chest. Everything feels numb, her head a little dizzy. She knows what’s to come before Domi even says it.
“Vanitas called from court. They’re coming back soon,” Domi explains, “It wasn’t a success. He Xuan was found guilty again by the new jury and he’s keeping the murder charge.”
“Ahaha… ha…” Shi Qingxuan tries to laugh, but before she can stop it, tears begin pouring down her cheeks. “Ah…”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Domi says, clearly a bit lost with how to react. She stands up anyway, sitting beside Shi Qingxuan and wrapping an arm around her. “Vanitas will know what to do.”
Although she says that, Domi doesn’t sound too certain. Shi Qingxuan doesn’t know what he can do — lock He Xuan up alone for a crime he might do? Talking things out is hardly going to make He Xuan forgive Shi Wudu. When Shi Wudu hears of this, he’ll be as smug as ever.
“They’re on the way back now,” Domi continues, “For now, maybe don’t mention it to He Xuan.”
“I won’t. I swear I won’t,” Shi Qingxuan says, “If he wants to talk to me, I know he will.”
But he won’t want to talk to her. Why would he?
Not many people in that prison were excited for the outcome of He Xuan’s retrial. Most were terrified, fearing what would happen when He Xuan faced Shi Wudu again; or for those who didn’t know the full story, they feared how He Xuan would react keeping the charges he tried so hard to be excused from.
Hua Cheng, however, was excited for the outcome. He didn’t cross paths with him for the entire day until evening, when Xie Lian gets whisked away by that quack doctor to discuss his blood tests, and Hua Cheng decides to take pitch outside until he’s reunited with his long-lost lover (they’ve been apart for less than twenty minutes so far).
There, he discovers He Xuan sat cross-legged in the corner, legs crossed with a number of snuffed out cigarettes on the ground at his feet. Instead of his usual cold resting-bitch face, his expression is completely blank, like there’s no life behind his eyes.
“Evening,” Hua Cheng greets him, smirking as he approaches and gestures to the ground beside him. “May I?”
“Whatever,” He Xuan huffs, taking a long drag of smoke. His eyebrows furrow, shooting Hua Cheng a pissed off look. “I’m guessing you want all the details.”
“Some time, but not now,” Hua Cheng replies, slipping out a cigarette for himself. “The outcome?”
He Xuan’s eyebrows furrow tighter, as he throws the finished cigarette across the ground and slumps back against the fence. He fiddles with a strand of hair, a touch of maybe sadness in his eyes replaced the frustration which appeared briefly when Hua Cheng asked him.
“Guilty as charged,” he says with a fake mocking tone. Mocking the whole justice system which fucked him over. “I’m staying here.”
“Poor you,” Hua Cheng responds sarcastically, lighting his cigarette. “What now?”
Wordlessly, He Xuan just shrugs and lights another cigarette for himself. He seems to want to answer, but for whatever reason, his words get caught in his throat.
“I’ll phrase that better,” Hua Cheng continues, a teasing, innocent smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “What will you do to Shi Wudu?”
Almost, almost, He Xuan smirks. But he holds it back, simply snorted and maintaining nonchalance as he replies, “I told you: I’m convicted of murder. I have a life sentence. What else would I do?”
“Are you really going to kill him?”
He Xuan, drawing in a long drag from the cigarette, just shrugs. “Might as well.”
“I’m impressed,” Hua Cheng comments, “You’re darker than you seem.”
“Is than an insult?”
“Whatever you want it to be.”
At his response, He Xuan huffs and pulls his knees up to his chest. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”
“Or that,” Hua Cheng snickers, staring down at the ground, idly turning cigarette between his fingers. “If you want, I can help.”
He Xuan’s head whips around to him immediately, eyebrows raised. “What?”
“Mm, don’t tell gege,” Hua Cheng says, “but as things stand, I’ll leave prison long before him. I know I can’t do enough to get a life order like him, but adding a few years for another murder might be beneficial for me.”
“You’re insane,” He Xuan deadpans. “You really want to help kill a man so you can stay with Xie Lian longer?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done it.”
“You—” He Xuan begins to speak, but falters as soon as he starts. What could someone say to that?
“Is that a yes?” Hua Cheng asks.
“How would you even help?”
“Create a distraction? Hold him down? Plug his mouth? Your choice. I’ll be your accomplice.”
“You’re fucked in the head,” He Xuan scoffs.
“Look who’s talking,” Hua Cheng smirks, “Do you want this plan to fail? I can guarantee he dies a painful death.”
“… Alright,” He Xuan relents. Not that it needs much convincing: as long as Shi Wudu dies by his hand, the rest doesn’t matter. “Hold him down.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow. There’s less staff and Vanitas has a day off, so there’s no doctor on site.”
“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?”
“I’m stuck in prison,” He Xuan grumbles, “There’s not much else to do besides thinking.”
“You need a lover, I think,” Hua Cheng grins wider. “How about getting back together with that ex of yours?”
“Don’t,” He Xuan hisses, glaring at him venomously. “I’m going to murder my ex’s dear brother. She’ll never want to look me in the eyes again.”
“I think that’s where you’re wrong,” Hua Cheng says, “but we’ll see, won’t we?”