Rise

“I think you’re both pretty.” That one line from Lin Feng echoed around the classroom. A classroom that was now pindrop silent. A moment in time where those words which could’ve only been spoken by the most oblivious of men hung in the air and nothing else. “I think both of you are really pretty.” There wasn’t much Lin Feng could’ve said to make the situation any worse. He was a thick-skinned Nasus, obviously farming up his Siphoning Strike, caught in between a Katarina and Ahri. Both of whom now had their claws out and an intense desire to stain them with his blood. He’d spoken the forbidden words. Tang Bingyao and An Xin turned towards him. They looked at him, stared at him, glared at him.

Ouyang started shivering. He wanted to complain about someone opening a window and letting a cold breeze inside, but the windows were all closed. Then he turned towards Yang Fan and looked at his friend. They’d known each other for years and had built up that unspoken bond of brosmanship. Words were no longer necessary between them. If they wanted to, all they had to do was lock eyes and they could communicate through the force that linked all bros. And in this moment, when their fellow bro Lin Feng needed them more than ever, their eyes found each other and their thoughts communed within the BroForce.

〘D-damn! You feelin’ this? The room got way colder than the shoulder a girl way outta your league gives you when you try to talk to her! We need to do something! If I—〙

〘No! Do not get involved! He got into this mess on his own. There is no way this situation will improve if we get involved. It’ll definitely get worse if you start trying to help him. Let him figure out how to extricate himself from this quagmire on his own!〙

〘YeahYeah, you’re right. Dammit. Even I’m not that stupid. What was that idiot thinking?〙

Ren Rou looked at the two girls glaring at Lin Feng. Then she looked at Ouyang and Yang Fan in the middle of one of their moments where they just looked into each other’s eyes and slightly moved their lips to talk. She wasn’t really a bro, didn’t have the same kind of connection that they had with each other. She wasn’t a bro, but she could be a Sis! She didn’t know how to be one with the BroForce, but she was a woman! She knew how to get a message across without words. She seized Ouyang’s attention without making a sound and pointed towards Lin Feng and the two girls with her eyes. In that single moment, she opened herself to the BroForce, let it wash through and out of her, and synced onto the same wavelength that Ouyang and Yang Fan were on.

〘Do something about this, Ouyang! They’re going to fight!〙

The gears in Ouyang’s head started spinning. It took a hot minute to grease up the cogs and get the engines revving. But when his brain shifted into turbo, he figured out exactly what needed to be done. He grabbed the picture of Lin Feng and An Xin and tapped on An Xin’s shoulder. “An Xin! An Xin! This picture, right? Lin Feng said it was at the Season 1 LPL Finals. Does that mean you’re also into League of Legends? Are you good? I was a Gold scrub, but thanks to Lin Feng I’m at least Platinum now. Probably even better if it wasn’t for those damn teammates I keep getting matched up with!”

An Xin turned to Ouyang, frustrated. But then she saw that twinkle in his eyes and she heard the emotions behind his words. They were genuine curiosity and pride. She smiled, choosing to forget what happened a moment before, and patted her chest. “Yep! I love the game! I’ve been playing since Season 1 and I’m pretty good at it!”