Chapter 46 - Contemplating Consequences

When Yuzu returned to the shop, she knew that there was someone inside before she entered the door. It was a gut feeling that only triggered just before she touched the handle of the front door. The door was still locked from when she’d left in the morning.

She’d been gone for about four hours, which was longer than she had intended, but at the same time she didn’t expect anyone to be home. Was it that she had misread the golden threads? She thought she’d checked to see if anyone would come in during the day when she was gone.

She facepalmed as she realized that she’d only checked the front door, to see if she’d miss any customers by closing the shop. Of course, Zwei and Xiang wouldn’t come in through the front. Was Xiang home, waiting for her? Already a feeling of dread was building up in her as she imagined herself hearing his booming yells.

The bells above the door jingled as she stepped inside. She scanned the room and didn’t see anyone in the shop. Frowning slightly, she walked toward the back.

The sound of familiar soft footsteps approached from the kitchen. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized the other person was Zwei. His lanky figure appeared in the doorway before she reached the counter.

“Ah, Yuyu.” He said, eyeing her curiously under his messy bangs, “Where did you go?”

“Out.” Yuzu said warily, then added, “With Char Char.”

“I was surprised. I don’t remember the last time I’ve come home to an empty house.” Zwei said, waiting for Yuzu to make it to the doorway. He didn’t have a smile on his face, but Yuzu could tell he was in a good mood as he seemed less lethargic than usual. He casually headed back to the kitchen with her when she reached his side. “Xiang came back around noon, he was wondering where you were.”

“Ah... What did you tell him?” Yuzu asked, the hesitation clear in her voice.

Zwei looked at her and grinned, “I told him that I asked you to go pick up some ingredients for dinner. Seeing as how my hand is still hurting.”

“Thanks.” Yuzu smiled back at him before sighing, “I didn’t realize Xiang would come back before he went to the lumber yard.”

“He dropped off that chest back here after he went to check it out at the police station. Good news, no one’s reported it stolen yet. Xiang filed a report just in case someone does come to claim it, but for now it looks like you’re in the clear. He was actually in a good mood because of that.”

Zwei sat down at the table, where he had a few books and forms laid out. They looked like orientation material related to the police force. His right hand was clearly red and swollen, though he didn’t appear to be wearing bandages anymore. When he gripped his pen he did it lightly and held it in an awkward position that avoided the painful areas on his hand.

Yuzu grabbed an orange from the fruit basket and sat down beside him, her eyes flitting to his arm, which was covered in the long sleeves of his dark grey shirt. “How are the burns today?”

“Hurts a lot. Was a bit hard to write the exam, but I managed.” Zwei shrugged, “Better than last night, though. I could hardly sleep.”

“I’m sorry.” Yuzu said softly.

“For what?”

“I dunno.” Yuzu shrugged. 

Even though she didn’t think that she had necessarily caused the incident the night previous, now that she had had time to think about it it seemed a bit too coincidental. In trying to prevent Xiang from taking the box during the evening, she had broken the link between the two. In the real world, the result seemed to have directly manifested as Zwei burning himself while cooking.

She hadn’t intended for that to happen, but it accomplished her goal. This was enough to make her feel guilty. As she sat beside Zwei she wondered, what were the consequences of tampering with the strings of fate? Did it really have to lead to misfortune?

Somehow, it didn’t seem right. If that were the case, what was the consequence of saving Char Char? Surely preventing someone’s death would have more repercussions than stopping her brother from picking up a box? Not only did she not see any consequences, but her gut feeling also told her that the threads of fate did not work that way.

“What are you working on?” Yuzu asked, realizing that she had just been sitting quietly beside Zwei without doing anything. She made an effort to look over at the form in front of him as she started peeling her orange.

“Placement forms for the police force.” Zwei said. “I get to rank the departments I want to enter in order of preference. Since I’m one of the top applicants I’ll probably get my choice.”

“Which one are you aiming for?”

“Special Ops, eventually.” Zwei said, “But you can’t apply for it directly. You have to be appointed from another department. So I’m putting down Organized Crime and Homicide.” 
 
“Are any of those the ones Police Chief Fang is in charge of?” Yuzu asked.

“No, he’s from Three-P. The most boring department.” Zwei grinned, “But I heard rumours that he used to actually be the Chief of Special Ops. It’s kind of hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“Is it? I don’t know what Special Ops does.” Yuzu said.

“They take on the most important cases, and the ones that require the most skill and secrecy.” Zwei said, his eyes alight with enthusiasm, “Even the identities of the members of Special Ops is a secret.”

Yuzu thought about the stern, serious man who she had met just a few nights ago. When she had fallen into the white world for the first time, he had saved her from melting away.

“I can believe it.” Yuzu said after a bit.

Zwei stood up from the table, gathering up the paper and books. “Anyways, I guess I’ll go buy groceries for tonight. What do you want to eat?”

“Oh, um- Actually I have to go back to Tye-An street with Char Char later.” Yuzu said, “I don’t know if I’ll be back for dinner.”

“You and Char Char are real close, huh.” Zwei smiled, “I’ll let Xiang know you went out with her.”

“No, he’ll just get mad.” Yuzu said, “Tell him... Tell him I had to see Grandma Jingyi or something.”

“He won’t get mad,” Zwei said with a frown, “You’re always stuck at home. I’m sure he’d be happy that you’re going out with a friend.”

Yuzu shook her head vehemently, “No way. He hates Char Char. Plus, he always tells me that I need to watch the shop more often. I think he wants to keep me stuck at home.”

“Xiang isn’t like that, not even a bit!” Zwei couldn’t help but smile at his younger sister, “But okay, if you’d rather I said you went to see Grandma Jingyi that’s what I’ll tell him.”

“Thanks, Zwei.” Yuzu sighed.

Yuzu saw Zwei out the door, walking him out to the gate of the backyard fence and waving him off. On the way back into the house she spotted the basket of dirty laundry that was still untouched. With a sigh she glanced at the clock. It was just after two. She still had plenty of time before Char Char came to pick her up to head to the market. 

Which meant she should probably do the laundry, to prevent Xiang from yelling at her later.

As she filled a wooden tub and started scrubbing the clothes with soap, she thought about how mundane the task was compared to what her life had become over the past three days. She pondered absentmindedly if there were any way to use her new powers to scrub the laundry and other chores. 

She wondered what would happen if she connected the strings from the soap and the clothes together, and just for the sake of it focused her spiritual vision on them to see if it was actually feasible. To her surprise, there were no strings coming from those items, or really from any other items in her sight.

Yet she was sure that there were threads coming out of the ornate chest, and she also recalled the tin from Edwin’s master that she had seen through the lodestone, which she had connected to Edwin. 

This meant that only certain items have threads. Items with mystical significance or properties. 

When she was finished scrubbing and rinsing the clothes, she pinned them on a clothesline to dry, and then returned into the house. Without even thinking about directly, she found herself walking into the locked storage room. 

There in its original spot on the shelf was the ornate chest. The threads coming off of it were no longer golden, but white, matching Yuzu’s white thread. She sat down on her haunches to look at it, not immediately picking it up.

Were there consequences to using the chest? To using these powers? The question burned into her mind as she watched the smoky threads in silence. She had completed her goal - to save Char Char. The morbid premonition that had spurred her to action had not come to pass. Or rather, Yuzu had directly prevented it with the help of the chest.

She could stop here. Leave the chest alone. Not try to meddle with the threads of fate anymore. That would be the safest route, wouldn’t it? Even with regards to the Devileyes, she’d done her part by helping Char Char find the mushroom that was supposedly the cure for the disease. She could go to the market tonight and just be a normal person and still do good.

The cautious part of Yuzu went over these points in a calm, logical manner. She didn’t mind a boring, normal life. In fact, that was the better life to have. Facing off against the wolves and the monster was terrifying, and so was the thought of losing probably her only friend. The look in Char Char’s eyes as she accepted death, the trembling of her lips as she spoke her final words of apology to her loved ones before the wolves pounced on her - the premonition would haunt Yuzu for the rest of her life.

After a long while Yuzu stood up and walked to the door. She took one glance back at the chest that was still on the shelf before she left the room and locked the door behind her.

An hour later she tied a cloak around her neck and waited in the back by the fence for Char Char to show up. The girl arrived wearing a fashionable long sleeved shirt with a collar neck tied with a ribbon and a double breasted pea coat. She was still wearing the breeches that she had gotten from the pawn shop earlier, but had added a leather belt with a brass buckle. Her muddy boots had been switched out for another clean but equally expensive looking pair. Across her chest a leather strap ran diagonally down to the satchel bag hanging at her waist. Her long silky hair was neatly combed and tied in a loose ponytail with a dark ribbon.

“Yuzu!” Char Char said, speeding up into a run as she spotted her friend waiting for her, “I almost didn’t make it! I had to ask the maids to help me hide from Corbin. He was looking for me all afternoon.”

She stopped in front of Yuzu, who was resting against the fence with one foot casually crossed in front of the other.

“He was all like, ‘I’m going to go bald like a monk from all the stress that Char Char is putting me through!’, and ‘This is worse than any other job I’ve had in my life!’” The excitable girl laughed as she retold the story, exaggerating her impression of her unwilling chaperone.

Even Yuzu couldn’t resist letting her lips curl up in a small grin.

“Anyways, what do you think?” Char Char extended her arms to her side as she twirled around, looking like a fashion model, “I thought I’d try for something more formal, since we are going to be doing business.”

“Not bad.” Yuzu said, nodding softly.

“I’ll be counting on you to help me get a good deal on those mushrooms. I want to get as much as I can and then hire a carriage to take us to the clinic right after, if that’s okay with you.” Char Char said. “Are you ready to go?”

Yuzu cast a gaze back to the house before she turned to Char Char and nodded.

“Let’s go.”