Yes, he speaks the language, and yes, he knows all there is to know about Ming De University, but how did that make him a TOUR GUIDE again? His friends had laughed and told him it was good for him — get out there, meet some other students, show off his ‘wonderful people skills’. Si was less excited about it, and had responded with childish pouting and kicking a chair or two. Now given the usual circumstances, he would have simply DECLINED. This time was different. This was a foreign exchange student, and the principle had asked their group to take on the honours of showing her around and to make sure she got on alright despite the language barrier. The F4 in turn had instantly duped Si into doing it by himself.
Before he knew it, he was standing right in front of her, rather willing to call it quits and leave without saying a word… but knowing there would be annoying consequences, if he did. “Are you Katherine Pride?” he asked in English, with no smile or friendly look at all. Instead, he stood there with his hands in his pockets, scowling, just waiting for an answer that would disappoint him either way.
china. 𝙿𝙾𝙿𝚄𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽: over a billion. 𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽: the other side of the world & just about as far from her problems as she can possibly get.
months ago she’d cheerily crossed off the days on her calendar with glitter gel pen, counting down until the one she’d board that plane & get away from it all. while not exactly malibu, or cancun, it makes up for the lack of sun & beaches in anonymity, in the fact that no one will think to look for her there.
at o’hare international, weighed down by a year stuffed into suitcases, packed for any eventuality (which, for once, actually seems like a plausible notion), & the stresses of grabbing last minute snacks for the long flight, finding her gate (it was so much easier to travel with the x-jet), all of the million & one little things kept her occupied until landing. until she could properly second-guess the impulse that dragged her there.
it had taken hours to find her apartment; the airport was a haven but just outside the gleaming glass front doors, no one spoke english, & her own chinese began & ended with the handful of phrases from her guidebook on the plane. wo jiao kitty. ni ne? not exactly useful for inquiring about which overcrowded bus she needed to take to the city.
once she finally arrived to her new home away from home, set down her bags, kitty broke & called her mom in tears. she’s traveled, hell, she’s traversed the endless void of space, literally been out of this world, but there surrounded by the bare walls of her new room, rusted bars on the window, sitting cross-legged on a bed as hard as plywood & breathing in the musty air, she's suddenly twelve again, shipped off to summer camp, ecstatic until the sun sets & she’s in her cabin, in overwhelming, unfamiliar surroundings feeling dwarfed by everything around her. small.
worse, she’s alone. totally alone with her grief. living with the x-men was the greatest thing that ever happened to her... & the worst; her parents are ill-equipped to talk her through her problems. like what’s she going to say? “i still wake up screaming to mystique masking herself as any one of my friends in scenarios both real & imagined, like her stranding me somewhere to watch me squirm like she’s done countless times to us, to scott in mexico...” well, good news: apparently she doesn’t need mystique for any of that, she’s got it covered. still, it’s scary knowing she’s beyond mom & dad’s ability to help, separated by a distance that’s now as literal as it is metaphorical, & that’s lonelier than being just one soul in a billion, adrift.
at least school gives her something to focus on, the familiar pace of class & homework & quizzes & projects. trying to find her way to her tour guide, however, takes her back, to the first day she transferred to bayville high, to being out of sync with the language of a school that everyone intrinsically knew. everyone mills about with purpose, no one looks lost, except for her, & they all have their groups of friends. she had her own circle from day one at high school, the rest of the x-men to show her the ropes & eat lunch with, & here again she’s just the broken cog that doesn’t quite fit in the machine. & it’s so stupid; starting a new school is so....so inconsequential now, but the acid gnawing through her stomach clearly didn’t get the memo, & only intensifies as she approaches the modern, curated campus. china was supposed to be about running away, not worrying about new friends or missing a tour or wondering whether she’s been stood up.
thankfully, it’s not long before her guide shows, asking after her. unfortunately, he looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. me too, bub. still, she buries all of the uncertainties hastily beneath a polite smile, like those times as a kid when cleaning meant stuffing everything unsightly under the bed, in the closet, out of sight.
❛❛ yep, that’s me: kitty pryde. or kate, whichever. nice to meet you. ❜❜ she adjusts her bag, her notebook & pen & morning coffee so she can offer a hand to shake. ❛❛ are you in the computer science department too? ❜❜