Zhao Yunlan sighed deeply, it should have been an easy job, but he had been too optimistic.
This neighbourhood was usually quiet, nothing really ever happened here, so when he suggested patrolling the streets, it had been more of a symbolic gesture, a way to show his father that he could be responsible, it wasn't supposed to be 'for real'.

What he thought when he volunteered to be on patrol during the summer was that it would simply mean making a few rounds back and forth every night, before going back home, proving to his father that he could be trusted.

Why did he have to come up with such a weird idea? It would take much more than that to make his father believe in him anyway.

Things weren't supposed to go this way, he should be home by now, telling his father that everything was alright, but no, this woman had to be here right when he passed through the area.

This house belonged to a family that was spending the summer with some relatives, he was sure of that, a couple with two small children not old enough to legitimately come back home by themselves.
Even with the dark, his sharp eyes saw a shadow moving towards the back of the house. He didn't even hesitate, he followed it straight away.

The door at the back was open. He didn't notice any sign of breaking in, but he could see that it was slightly opened. Whoever was that he saw was skilled.

He spared only a second wondering if he should enter or call for reinforcement, which meant calling the actual police or his father, then he slowly, silently pushed the door open enough to get in.

It was dark, so he stopped to let his eyes try to catch what he could of what was around him. He walked very slowly, focusing on any sound and then following a faint rustling noise. He saw a small light and went in its direction.

It turned out to be coming from the kitchen. He took out the gun that he had secretly taken before going out, his father's gun. It was a special weapon that his dad needed in his unique line of work. If he knew that Yunlan had taken it, he would be furious and probably never trust him ever again.

Yunlan never touched it, but for some reason tonight he took it with him before going out. Maybe he had a feeling something would happen, or maybe it was just that tonight his father was home sick and wouldn't have been able to go out whatever emergency presented itself.

His father wouldn't need his gun tonight, so he took it pretending to be like him.
Not that he would ever admit as much.
It was a love-hate relationship: he loved him as a son loving his parent, but hated his coldness. He admired his strength but couldn't stand his arrogance.

Gun in hand, he entered into the kitchen and saw a woman at the table.
She was eating.

He aimed his weapon at her and asked, "who are you? What are you doing here? This isn't your home".

Apparently startled, the woman old enough to be his mother but still young and beautiful, turned towards him.
She regained control over herself very easily and looked calmly at him, "this is not your home either, kid, what are you doing here?"

Annoyed at being called a kid, he raised his gun a little to intimidate her, but she only smiled.
"Your gun can't kill me, kid. Care to join me for dinner?" and she gestured to a chair opposite her own, that Yunlan could clearly see thanks to the light of the candles she had put on the table.

Yunlan was taken aback by her confidence, but understood what she meant.
'She must be from Dixing', he thought, thinking of the neighbouring world he had never visited.
He didn't know how they did it, but in the last few decades more and more people from there had reached our world.

He knew a lot about them because sometimes it happened that they would cause troubles and it was his father's job to stop them.

He smirked, sat down but kept his weapon aimed at her, "think again, woman. This is the Guardian's gun, ever heard of it?"

He watched with satisfaction as her expression changed. 'She's finally taking me seriously' he thought.

"So you're the Guardian's son, huh? What's your name?"

He didn't reply, and she smiled.

"My name is Pipi, are you here to arrest me? Or kill me? Isn't it going a bit too far?"

Actually Yunlan had never fired a gun before, and using his father's gun would have caused him a lot of troubles, not to mention that he didn't like the idea of shooting her at all. There was just something about her that he just liked, she was so very different and yet she reminded him of his mother.

His mother was the person he loved most in the world, so he felt well disposed towards this woman even if he didn't understand why.

He didn't want her to know, though, he wanted to look tough. So he said,
"This is not your property, are you a thief?"

She studied him silently then answered with a shrug, "I suppose I am, since I have no money to pay for this soup"

"Soup?" He looked at what she was eating, was that all she took?

She gestured to her bowl, "it's quite good, do you want some? Unfortunately there were no fresh ingredients, but that was to be expected"

Yunlan looked puzzled, "did you sneak in here to steal a soup?"

She shrugged again, "I was hungry"

Yunlan didn't know what to say, but he unconsciously lowered his weapon. She smiled and stood up and he cursed his own stupidity. Had he forgotten that people from Dixing had special powers? What could he do if she decided to use hers against him, whatever her 'talent' was?

He didn't have to worry though. She made no threatening move, she just went to get another bowl and filled it with soup before placing it in front of him.

"Eat with me, I never have company. There will be time to arrest me after the soup"

She looked gentle. Weird but gentle, and he found himself accepting the spoon she was handing him.
"You're not going to use your special talent against me, are you?" he asked sounding very much like the kid that he was.

She smiled at him, "I wish I had super speed, I would be out of here already" she joked.

They ate in silence, a surprisingly comfortable one. The situation was surreal, he was alone in someone else's house with a woman that could do who knows what to him, eating stolen soup and feeling totally at ease.
The soup was good too, and they both finished their bowl.

"Now you're my accomplice" she said joking again and then chuckled.

He looked at her reproachfully, but then she said "actually I do have a special talent, as you called it. Do you want to know what it is?"