Qu Yi smiles, holding her bags of clothes. “I didn’t know clothes shopping could be so relieving.” She smiles.

  Yan Liang turns to Qu Yi nodding. “Yeah! It’s really great!” Although she can’t remember the last time she did, she does know she likes it.

  Wen Chou joins the conversation. “Well, I think just in general, going out with friends is fun. What you do is irrelevant as long as you’re with fun people.”

  Qu Yi fiddles with her bags. She is showing obvious unease that the other two instantly pick up on.

  “What’s up, Newbie?” Wen Chou asks.

  “Um, well…” She averts her eyes. “This is the first time I’ve ever gone out with friends before. Would we be able to do this more? Or is this, like, a onetime thing?”

  Both Wen Chou and Yan Liang turn to each other, sharing a confused expression before they turn back grinning. Wen Chou speaks up first. “Of course we can go out more, Newbie! There are all kinds of places outside of the dorms!”

  Yan Liang nods. “Yeah! There’s um…” She blanks thinking about it, unable to remember most anything past this last week. “A movie theater, um… Wen Chou you name more!”

  Wen Chou nods, holding up her fingers. “Aquariums, a zoo, some trails. There’s a beach a short trip away. Of course we normally go there in August. This last trip was a real doozy, eh, Yan Liang?” She nudges Yan Liang.

  Yan Liang jumps. “O-Oh! Yeah! Haha!” She attempts to lie.

  Qu Yi’s eyes tear up as she quickly rubs them on her arm. “S-Sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me.”

  Wen Chou and Yan Liang both give her a hug as the three share their moment.

  Yan Liang smiles as she backs up. “A-Anyway! Yi, we have a surprise for you, if you can close your eyes. Wen Chou grab her bags.”

  Wen Chou grabs the bags from Qu Yi with ease. As Qu Yi looks around confused. “A-A surprise?”

  “Yeah! Just close your eyes and we’ll take you to it!”

  Qu Yi frowns, but nods and closes her eyes. “I-It’s not going to be a prank, right? Nothing like leading me into the girl’s bathroom or something?”

  Wen Chou laughs. “What kind of prank would that be? ‘Hey, Yi, chill in the bathroom.’”

  Yan Liang hits Wen Chou with her left hand as she leads Qu Yi from behind. “Just follow the way I’m leading you, and no, it’s not a prank! I promise!”

  The two lead Qu Yi into “The Bodkin Arrow.”

  “Ta-Da, Qu Yi! Open your eyes!”

  Qu Yi’s eyes open to find a store full of archery equipment, bows of all different kind hung on the racks on the walls, different attachments, arrows, scopes, armguards, including even hunting equipment, but this was less exciting to Qu Yi.

  “Oh my gosh…” She stares in awe, turning around the store. “I-I’ve never actually seen a whole store for archery.” Her eyes moisten as she runs up to both Yan Liang and Wen Chou and gives them a big hug. “You guys are the best!” She begins zooming around the store. “Oh gosh, they even have crossbows? Look at the size of that compound bow! This recurve bow feels amazing!”

  Wen Chou and Yan Liang smile as they watch her. They’ve never seen her this excited before. They didn’t even know she could talk this fast and happy.

  “Well lookee here!” A voice perks up causing the three roommates to turn. They see a girl with long and full light cyan pigtails wearing a dark blue T-shirt with a logo on the front, and a white denim skirt. “It’s those from the Yuan Shao class!” The girl smiles. “Here on official business?” She scratches her head. “I have to say, didn’t know you had an archer in your class!”

  Qu Yi perks up, recognizing the girl as one of Cao Cao’s cousins, Xiahou Yuan. She has a bubbly overactive personality, and Qu Yi only met her once before on her first day at Falofhan. “O-Oh, um, they brought me here because, I like archery.” Qu Yi passively raises her hand.

  “Well isn’t this just lucky!” Xiahou Yuan smiles to Qu Yi. “The school can always use more archers, even if you aren’t in our class!” She smiles as she leans forward. “I know you’re not the type for hugs though, so I’ll settle for a high five.” She holds her hand up, awaiting the high five she just spoke of.

  Qu Yi looks to the hand then back at Xiahou Yuan, before slowly reciprocating. “L-Like that?”

  “There you go!” Xiahou Yuan laughs. “Well it’s nice seeing you three here!”

  “Hey!” Wen Chou jumps forward. “Cao Cao said your class was going to be helping the Yellow Scarves with stuff today, so what are you doing here anyway?!”

  Yan Liang’s eyes widen, surprised Wen Chou made that observation. Qu Yi holds up her hand as if trying to calm down a bull. “I-It’s nothing to get so upset about, Chou.”

  “Oh? And you’re already on a given name basis with your roomies as well?” Xiahou Yuan smiles widely. “In that case can I call you Yi?”

  Yan Liang joins Wen Chou in jumping forward in between Qu Yi and Xiahou Yuan. “HEY!” She says even louder than Wen Chou did. “That’s a very rude thing to pressure someone into when you two hardly know each other!”

  Xiahou Yuan smiles and shrugs. “Well, it seems she’s so eager to give it to people quickly!” She turns, but then smiles and pulls down her lower eyelid as she sticks her tongue out teasingly.

  Wen Chou looks to Yan Liang, somewhat happy she’s also agitated, so she knows it’s not just her. She turns back to Xiahou Yuan. “So, why are you here if you’re supposed to be helping the Yellow Scarves thing your president was boasting about? Did you already finish?”

  “Oh, no. They’re going to do that all day!” She leans her head on her arms as she leans up against a rack, one foot bent and resting on it. “I just sluffed!” She smirks proudly.

  “That’s nothing to be proud of!” Both Yan Liang and Wen Chou yell in unison.

  Xiahou Yuan ignores the two roommates and looks to Qu Yi. “Anyway, Yi, how about joining my cousin’s class? It’d be nice to have another archer. We have a few, so you’d be among fellow fans.”

  At this point, Qu Yi understands her roommate’s frustration. This girl is seemingly trying to get on their nerves. “L-Look, Cao Cao already said she’s done with trying to convince me to join her class, s-so I think you should stop as well. I don’t think she’d be happy with you right now.” She averts her eyes, wanting to avoid this escalating further.

  “Ah, I see. Don’t worry. I’d happily take you under my wing and give you all sorts of tips!” She tries to close in on Qu Yi, but her roommates block the way with their bodies, something Qu Yi is thankful for. “I’m sure you could use a nice mentor to perfect your work!”

  “You arrogant-” Wen Chou mutters before Qu Yi speaks up.

  “L-Look, I really like my class. I don’t want to swap to yours. I don’t care what your class has better than mine.” She folds her arms, trying to stay firm and stand up for herself, while ignoring the comment that Xiahou Yuan thinks she’s better than her.

  Xiahou Yuan gives a confused look, but then perks up and smirks. “Ah, I see, I see.” She walks on the other side of both Wen Chou and Yan Liang, passing by Qu Yi. “I understand. It would hurt your pride to give up the title of ‘best archer in class.’”

  Qu Yi’s eyes widen as she turns to Xiahou Yuan, her fists now clenched. She is clearly agitated but is doing her best to compose herself.

  “What was that you piece of-” Wen Chou walks towards Xiahou Yuan with her fists clenched, only for Yan Liang to quickly hold her back.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Yan Liang’s own anger is present on her face as she glares at Xiahou Yuan herself “What are you trying to prove by acting so combative to Qu Yi!? She’s sweet, nice and innocent! Get away from us if you’re just going to act like a bully!”

  Xiahou Yuan’s eyes focus only on Qu Yi, seeing her fists clench for a moment, the only subtle change in Qu Yi who was looking down to avoid eye contact. A sly smug smile spreads on her face. This quickly switches to a goofy over the top smile. “Just kidding you three!” She winks with her tongue out. “You Yuan Shao students are so uptight! I’ll see you around, Yi Yi!” She waves as she leaves the store.

  “The gall of that egocentric clown!” Wen Chou says, clearly annoyed.

  Yan Liang let go of Wen Chou, “I’m with you. I don’t know why she acted like such a bully! I don’t care if she thinks it is joking. Clearly, she wanted to hurt Yi.” She squeezes her hands together as if trying to get frustration out of them. “And she’s stomping over boundaries by trying to give her a nickname using her given name!”

  Qu Yi looks up. Her face remains unchanged, “I-It’s fine you two…” She sighs. “I-I think I told you, but, I’m used to stuff like that at my old school… O-Of course, they never actually attacked my hobbies, as they didn’t spend the time to learn them.” She smiles, trying to put on a brave face. “Y-Yeah, even those here who treat me harshly care enough to learn about me. That’s something, right?”

  Yan Liang sighs, looking at Qu Yi before giving her a hug. “Yi, it’s okay to be upset. The things she was saying were out of line.”

  “Y-Yeah, b-but maybe it’s because she wants to be my rival?”

  Wen Chou looks over with a confused look on her face. “Don’t you already have our neighbor as your rival, Yi? Yan Gang?”

  “W-Well, y-yes? Sort of?” She thinks to herself for a moment before continuing. “It’s not like, she really has anything to compete with me though. M-Maybe what Xiahou Yuan was doing, was like trash talk?” She smiles, “I-I read about how some will do that to try to inspire and bring out the best in you. I-I’ve actually never had someone to compete with in archery either.” She twiddles her fingers shyly. “S-So, i-it may be interesting, also…” She holds her fists up. “I-I’m now very determined to prove her wrong! I-I can do even better than she can at archery with enough practice!”

  Yan Liang eyes widen. “Wha? But Yi, don’t you think you should be upset at how she acted?”

  “W-Well, if I want to be friends with her, I need to learn how she is friends with other people. She seems to be that way with everyone when I see her…” She nods. “I-I think I can still do it. Besides, words don’t mean much anyway. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” She smiles to both Yan Liang and Wen Chou. “And, I don’t want her to spoil my day. I’m still so thankful to be here with you two.” She hugs Yan Liang and Wen Chou, who are surprised but hug her back.

  “Well, we’re glad you’re a roomie, Newbie,” Wen Chou responds.

  “A-Anyway, I wasn’t done looking around. D-do you mind if I…” She wanders off quickly zooming from aisle to aisle. “Whoa! This arrow has this cool design on it! They have a fletcher kit also! That’s so cool! Wha, an armguard! That would be nice to avoid injuries!”

  The two roommates look at each other, sharing a look of gratitude that Xiahou Yuan didn’t ruin the moment, but know they will both be wary of her from now on

  Xiahou Yuan walks farther away from the store before she pulls out her phone and presses a few buttons until, “Calling Cuz” appears on the phone screen. She holds it up to her ear. After a few rings, Cao Cao picks up.

  “Yuan, what’s the situation?”

  “It’s just as you expected, Cuz. I wasted time at the store for a few hours, and the three of them showed up.”

  “Perfect. Were you able to successfully agitate her?”

  “Sure thing, Cuz. Turns out she can get angry after all. I could see it in her hands. They tensed up.”

  “Thank you, Yuan. I know antagonizing someone isn’t exactly something you enjoy doing, but it’s necessary to see that she can get agitated.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Xiahou Yuan stops walking. “Why is that exactly?” she asks, a confused look on her face as she turns to look back to the path she came.

  “It’s complicated Yuan. I need information on what can be done to agitate or provoke a reaction from her. I still want to integrate her in our class, and I know from earlier, she would simply refuse another up front. I need to take in the data I can get from others without pushing the buttons myself. If you understand?”

  “Ah, I getcha, Cuz. You’re out here planning some four-D chess while everyone else is playin’ checkers!”

  “Precisely. Now, I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your day off. Thank you for the important information. We can discuss it more when you get to the dorm room.”

  “Gotcha, have fun with your ‘good deed.’ Any promising students from those Scarves yet?”

  “Too early to tell, but if I find them, I’ll convince them to transfer.”

  “All right. See ya later, Cuz.” Xiahou Yuan hangs up smiling as she thinks to herself, “Don’t know why she wants that girl so much, but I’m sure Cao has her reasons.”

  Cao Cao hangs up and places her phone down on a bench.

  Xiahou Yuan’s sister, Xiahou Dun, sits next to where the phone is placed, wearing the same classroom uniform as Cao Cao. Her raven black hair is styled into a ponytail with her bangs covering her right eye. “Cao.”

  “Yes, Dun?”

  “I’m, of course, not questioning your plan, but can you explain to me, why exactly you want that Qu Yi girl so much?” She shakes her head. “From all the trailing I did, she doesn’t seem to be anything special. She’s just some shy girl who had some sort of fit when she failed at archery.” She chuckles, shaking her head. “Someone like that is pretty weak. I thought we seek the best of the best?”

  Cao Cao nods. “Yes, it is only natural to think someone like that won’t be a good fit, but believe me, Dun, I have my own reasons. You’ll have to trust me for now.”

  Xiahou Dun looks almost offended. “I have never stopped trusting you, Cao Cao.”

  “Could you go help the Scarves in my place for now? I will soon follow after.”

  “Of course, President!” Xiahou Dun stands up and approaches the large pavilion with a crowd of girls in Yellow moving things.

  Cao Cao’s mind wanders. “There are too many coincedences involving her situation. Not coming with the entrance ceremony. Staff actively making sure she’s cared for. I know exactly what is going on.” She thinks back to Qu Yi’s first day. “What I don’t understand, is how she had no clue how given and family names work. If you breathe, you should have the basic knowledge of this, we have been taught this from childhood. Everyone, everyone in the whole world is taught this. How could she lack such basic understanding and still be as old as she is.” Cao Cao turns her head. “Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t know how old Qu Yi is. But she is clearly old enough to know!” Cao Cao sits silently for some time. “An insult to me and everyone else similar to us, the way she is acting.”

  Qu Yi smiles as she approaches the pay counter, she places a dark brown finger guard glove with dark leather protecting the fingers on it. It is old-fashioned, but Qu Yi fell in love with it because it looks like some leather armor an archer would wear back in medieval times. She saw some finger guards, but the thought of wearing this made her daydream of being an archer. She grins, thinking about herself in leather armor, although in her daydream she envisions her old male self.

  “That looks pretty fancy!” Wen Chou approaches the counter to see what Qu Yi is buying. “So that’s something you wear for archery?”

  “U-Um, well it’s optional!” Qu Yi turns, excitement in her voice. “N-Normally there are finger guard ones that are smaller, but this one looks so cool.” She imagines a one gloved archer. The idea makes her smile gleefully.

  “You seem excited, Yi.” Yan Liang smiles. “I suppose you want to test that out when we get back to the school?”

  “Yeah!” Qu Yi nods. “I’ve never had something like this, so I really want to!” The man at the till hands her a plastic bag. She turns around to her friends. “So, now what?” She looks at her bags. “I spent most of my spending money.”

  Yan Liang checks her phone for the time. “Well, we need to meet with Yuan Shao and Shen Pei in the food court in a few minutes. Let’s head there early.”

  Wen Chou smirks. “Can’t stand being late for anything, huh, Liang?”

  Yan Liang frowns. “Is there anything we can really do in that time?”

  Wen Chou checks her phone and frowns. “I guess not, but shouldn’t we ask Newbie if there’s anything specific to look for?”

  Qu Yi looks up to Wen Chou. “I don’t have any more money anyway…” She walks over to the two of them. “W-We can come back, right? M-Maybe I can talk to my mom about some spending money… I wonder since I got this scholarship… if it would be selfish to ask about an allowance...” She pulls out her phone. “I-I did just get this phone though… I don’t want to be a bother…”

  The three start heading towards the food court, Wen Chou perks up at Qu Yi, helping her with some of her bags. “Huh? You haven’t had an allowance before?”

  Qu Yi looks up to Wen Chou. “N-Not really, just holiday money from grandparents.”

  Wen Chou frowns. “Jeez, Yi! If you would have told me that I could have helped chipped in!” She folds her arms. “I get an allowance every two weeks depending on what grade I get on my test.”

  Qu Yi looks at Wen Chou surprised. “W-Well, they were clothes for me, so isn’t it right that I purchase them?”

  “Right shmite!” Wen Chou shakes her head at Qu Yi. “You’re hopeless, Newbie! You’re getting some of my allowance from now on!”

  “H-Hey. Don’t do that! I-I don’t want you splitting your money with me,” Qu Yi says, not feeling right of depriving income from her friend.

  Wen Chou thinks for a moment as the three continue to walk. A smirk grows on her face. “Hey, haven’t you been tutoring me?”

  Qu Yi turns her head slightly. “I mean, I have been helping everyone at our table. That’s just what a classmate should do, right?”

  “Sometimes, but you said you’re going to help us finish the packet tomorrow, right?”

  Qu Yi raises an eyebrow. “Yeah but-”

  “See! Tutoring! And if my average test grade goes up, that means you helped!” Wen Chou claps her hands. “So it’s decided! You get half my allowance from now on!”

  Qu Yi sighs. She hates to admit the idea of getting some money would be helpful, and Wen Chou’s proposition can come without the guilt of burdening her mother for spending money. “Y-You won’t have resentment towards me, right?”

  “I’m the one offering Newbie!” Wen Chou laughs. “Besides, maybe I should be the one fearing resentment since if I don’t understand, despite all your teaching. That’s just on me.”

  “I-I won’t feel resentment for you giving me your money!” Qu Yi protests.

  Yan Liang smiles speaking up, “Yi, Wen Chou never really got good grades.” She smiles further on the inside, glad she remembers that. “So I think the idea is a win-win for everyone.” She side-eyes Wen Chou. “Besides, it might make her take her grades more seriously.”

  Qu Yi turns to Yan Liang confused. “Why would she take it more seriously than she would for herself?”

  Yan Liang smiles. “Because she cares a lot more about others than herself.

  Wen Chou turns her head away from the group, hiding a blush. “S-Shut up, Liang!