First, Second, Third Meeting (here)
You had trudged back to the Cleaners headquarters, disheartened after Fu had bolted away from you. It wasn’t completely unsurprising considering how fragile he seemed, but it still left you feeling at a loss, like you didn’t do enough to help.
What you didn’t know is that Fu slipped into your shadow so seamlessly that he managed to follow you all the way home without you noticing. He only parted ways when you were within sight of the building, at that point Fu thought you safe enough for him to leave. After that he somehow always managed to trail after you, finding you everywhere, no matter how far you went. Of course he stayed silent, never approaching too close. He convinced himself that this was a recon mission, to find out your plans and how much you knew.
Fu knew it was a lie. He found himself feeling itchy, his skin too tight and his breathing too shallow when he went too long without seeing you. His odd symptoms only easing when he hovered near you, watching you.
Over the weeks of his repetitive schedule he had managed to convince himself that he was the one you knew as a child. That was the only logical reason why he felt so safe with you, why you cared about him, why he needed to be near you.
Because you’re his long lost big sister, obviously.
His lips curl up in a grin, giggling to himself, tucked away behind an empty food cart as you chat with a street merchant. Fu’s favorite part of the week was when you’d go to town to buy supplies and gifts. He liked listening to you talk to people, though he struggled with an odd violent feeling that would bubble up when you spent too much time talking to someone.
You tuck a bundle of fabric into your bag “Thanks! I’ll come back next week when you have more of that gold fabric in stock, I’m sure August would love to have some.” you wave to the seller and head down the street to your next stop.
Humming as you check off your to-do list, the sound of a trashcan falling over startles you. Turning to look down a grimy alley you see a filthy, scrawny child shoving rotted food into his mouth “Yo! Don’t eat that, you’ll get sick!” the child literally hisses at you, hunched over on his hands and feet like a street cat.
“I really need to stop taking care of strays.” you mumble to yourself as you crouch down “Do you want fresh food?” you ask, making sure to speak slowly in case the boy didn’t understand you. He stays crouched and ready to run, equally scared and territorial, wanting to protect his meal “Here,” you roll a can of food towards him, something you had picked up earlier in the day “It’s canned chicken.” the boy snatches it, immediately trying to crack it open with his teeth, gnawing on the metal.
You laugh quietly “Not like that,” you mime cracking the tab on top of the can and peeling it back “You open it with your hands.” the child stares at you for a moment so you repeat your words and actions until he finally moves to copy you.
You give him a thumbs up when he succeeds and starts shoveling the meat in his mouth “Great job little dude!” you roll another can towards him and stand up “See you next week!” you head off, already starting a new list of foods you can add to your bag in case you need to feed more kids in the future.
A sickening crunch stalls you, the sound making your gut churn for unknown reasons. You turn back, rushing to where you left the child.
You stare down the alley, wide eyed, heart pounding.
Fu stands there, holding the limp body of the boy in his arms. The child’s neck hanging at an unnatural angle, a wild, manic look in Fu’s eyes. The empty can of chicken falls from the child's hand and rolls forward, hitting your shoe.
“You stole my precious sister's attention.” your thoughts are frayed, trying your best to piece together the situation so you can react properly, but everything feels like static, unable to even move your hand to dial the Cleaners.
“She’s mine! My sister! Mine!” Fu violently shakes the dead boy, screaming in rage as if the child could still hear. At last, your body responds, pressing your thumb against the metal of your bracelet, sending an emergency signal to Seimu who would instantly dispatch the team to your location.
Fu drops the body, finally seeing you standing there, his painted mask smudged, hair messy and clothes dirty. He looked unkempt, feral, like he hadn’t been taking care of himself.
“My sister is here!” his voice changes immediately, coming out in a singsong tone as he sways back and forth, eyes softening “My sister…” Fu stumbles forward, almost tripping over his victim “My big sister.” he grabs the front of your shirt “You can’t give anyone else your attention, only me.” you swallow, trying your best to stay calm “I’m sorry Fu, I shouldn’t have shared my food with him.” trying your best to appease him, your gaze drags back to the little boy on the ground.
Fu nods aggressively, his hands clamping down on your shoulders “Right! Right! You understand so well!” you hope he can’t feel your shaking as you pat his head. He wraps his arms around your waist, rocking back and forth, his grip so tight you can feel your chest rattle as you try to suck in air.
“Fu,” you gasp, eyes watering as he squeezes harder “Fu I can’t breathe!” you thrash, hands pressing against his shoulders, struggling to inhale “I won’t let you go, big sister.” your vision curls in on the edges, lungs screaming at the lack of oxygen.
The pressure is gone in a split second and you collapse, sucking in desperately, coughing. You look up to see Zanka pinning Fu down, his knees trapping Fu’s arms. Enjin smacks your back as you wheeze “You good?” he asks, eyebrows furrowed and you nod, ribs aching.
“Let me go! Don’t touch her! Don’t touch my sister!” Fu thrashes violently, screaming and sobbing, snapping his teeth back at Zanka, a stark contrast to the quiet and timid boy you had been caring for.
Enjin helps you to your feet “He killed a little boy,” you say, pointing at the alley “His name is Fu, he works for the Raiders.” Follo and Gris both cross their arms, sharing a look with the other two men, sure to bombard you with questions later on.
“Let’s get him to headquarters, let Corvus question him and figure out what to do.” at Enjin’s words Fu begins to squirm harder, managing to free one hand and claws at the cobblestone path, trying to crawl towards you.
“Don’t let them hurt me!” a flicker of that familiar personality slips through, the mania falling from his eyes, shattering into the recognizable skittish fear that you were accustomed to “They won’t hurt you Fu.” you say quietly, still feeling sympathy for him, even though he almost killed you and did kill an innocent child.
Raw betrayal floods his face as you watch Zanka and Gris to manhandle him into the back of their truck, binding his hands and feet.
He snaps, once again changing personalities “I’ll kill you! I’ll gut you open! If I can’t have my big sister then no one can!” his voice is cut off as Gris slams the door shut, but you can see Fu screaming through the window, slamming his head against the glass until he knocks himself out.
“You have a lot of explaining to do.” you nod weakly, feeling dazed, turning back to look at the little boy.
“Follo will take you home, go to the medbay and rest. We’ll take care of the rest.” Enjin drops his hand on your shoulder “Corvus is sure to want a meeting after you’ve recovered, just get checked up first.” Follo offers you his arm to lean on, guiding you to the second car where Rudo and Riyo both sat in the back, not being needed.
You can feel Riyo's eyes burning into the back of your skull but you don’t have the energy to confront her, or Follo, who sends you worried looks from the driver's seat the whole way home.
I hope y'all enjoyed this. I had originally planned for this to be a Rudo fic before he got tossed off the sphere, but I ended up tweaking it for Fu.
- Ketchup
