The Demonic Clan of Yiling (MDZS Fanfic)

Mixed Signals (Pt.1)

The sword swung down on him with immense force, but Xuanyu held his ground. Even though Xue Yang was a lot stronger then him, Xuanyu had a more refined technique due to spending years studying several different cultivator's fighting styles. Xue Yang forced a step forward and Xuanyu's knees bent. The taller boy smirked, thinking that he had won, but suddenly there was a flash of red and he was forced to defend himself from A-Qing's attack.

"Hey! I thought we said no teaming up!" Xue Yang yelled while in a though battle with the girl. A-Qing was exceptionally agile. What she lacked in size she made up for in speed.

"I'm not teaming up! You were just wide open!" A-Qing counted and slashed at the older boy's legs. He jumped to dodge and backed away to gain some distance. Xuanyu noticed that he had his back to him and went in for the attack. He felt a little bad ambushing him like this, but he refused to be the one to clean out the donkey shed. 

Just as he was about to swing down with his sword, Xue Yang grabbed the hem of his sleeve and threw him in A-Qing's direction while she was mid charge. The two collided with each other and let out pained groans when they landed.

"You're right! Teammates wouldn't have such uncoordinated attacks." Xue Yang laughed as he stood proudly over them. A-Qing kicked out with her leg and knocked Xue Yang flying forward, straight in Xuanyu's direction.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of the bigger boy when they inevitably collided. However it wasn't nearly as painful as he expected and when he opened his eyes he found Xue Yang laying on top of him. Face to face with his chest, frozen in shock.

Xuanyu blushed and shuffled backwards, forcing Xue Yang back to reality. He blinked a few times and tried to hide the shy smile that wanted to lighten his face. He quickly sat himself on his knees and examined the boy he just fell on top of.

"Are you okay?" He asked sounding genuinely concerned but smug at the same time, something only Xue Yang could do.

"I'm fine." Xuanyu answered. His cheeks were still flushed and his heart was beating a little faster than normal, but he could blame that on training and not his small crush on Xue Yang.

"Get over yourselves!" A -Qing rolled her eyes as she picked up her sword and dusted it off. "It's not like you broke anything." 

"I'll break you now." Xuanyu growled at her, making Xue Yang laugh.

"I think you woke the monster." He whispered to her in a not so subtle way. He too had picked up his sword and was holding it in a defensive way as Xuanyu stood up.

"Something's awoken within him, that's for sure." She winked at Xuanyu and cackled evilly as he swung down on her with his sword.

---<~>---

Xuanyu sighed as he gathered the cleaning supplies from storage and headed to the donkey shed. As you can guess, he was not the winner of their little battle today. The way he had been taken down a mixture of pure genius and evil on A-Qing's part. The girl really knew how to use her opponents weaknesses to her advantage. Meaning she convinced Xue Yang to pin Xuanyu down, while she counted. As if her little trip up stunt earlier wasn't enough. Xuanyu was seriously considering spiking her next meal with some laxatives from the clinic as pay back.

He pushed the door to the donkey shed open with a glum expression. The donkey lifted its head and huffed at him in disappointment.

"Fuck you too! Sorry I can't be your prized Wei Shifu!" He snapped at the donkey who snorted in response.

"Now now A-Yu, no need to get violent with it. It's just an animal." Someone snickered from behind him. Xuanyu spun around and saw Xue Yang leaning on the doorframe with his signature smirk on his face.

"Did you come all the way out here, in the cold, just to watch me clean up shit and gloat?" Xuanyu rolled his eyes and continued his job. Xue Yang let out an exasperated gasp and covered his heart in a very Wei-Wuxian-like manner.

"Do you think I'm that petty?" He asked and Xuanyu snorted.

"No. I know you're that petty. You do it all the time when it's A-Qing or A-Yuan." He stated and Xue Yang grinned.

"Yeah, I can't really act innocent can I?" He laughed and stepped in with a kind smile. "Shifu sent me to help you, so he could talk to us together. Something about a the Nie sect requesting our assistance." 

"That doesn't surprise me. Sect leader Nie is passive when it comes to violence. I don't actually know of a time when he willingly went on a night hunt. He's probably trying to pawn off some dangerous incident to us, so that he doesn't have to deal with it himself." Xuanyu explained while he changed the hay. 

"Or it could be that he's close to Shifu and wanted to do us a favour by boosting our reputation." Xue Yang shrugged while refilling the donkey's feed.

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that. He's still passing his problems onto us." Xuanyu said bitterly and Xue Yang stared at him.

"You okay? You've been pretty pissed off since training. If you don't want to clean the shed you can just go, I'll finish up here." He offered but Xuanyu scoffed.

"Stop being so nice. It's disturbing."

"Oh! So you like it when I'm mean then? Sorry I didn't realise! I thought all the lectures meant you didn't!" Xue Yang said, his words laced with sarcasm. "Talk about mixed signals much." He added in a mutter, but Xuanyu heard it and felt his blood boil.

He threw the hay in his hands down and glared at the other boy.

"Mixed signals!? You want to talk to me about mixed signals!?" He yelled, making the donkey jump.

"Woah, calm down! It was just a joke!" Xue Yang exclaimed and tried to sooth the animal.

"Oh great! Another one of your fucking jokes! Stop playing with my head like you're some dog with a stick! I'm sick of it! Just go! Get out! I don't need your fucking help!" He shoved Xue Yang out of the shed and slammed the door behind him.

"Wait... What the hell!? Xuanyu, what the fuck was that!? What the fuck did you mean by that!?" Xue Yang pounded on the other side of the door.

Xuanyu covered his face out of stress and embarrassment.

"I don't know! I don't know!" He said half laughing in embarrassment, half shouting in anger. He sucked in a breath and chuckled weakly. "I don't know... Just go back home, A-Yang. I'm tired and I just want to get this done in peace and quiet. I'll be done in a bit." Xuanyu said and Xue Yang sighed on the other side of the door.

"Alright. It has been a long day today. I should've asked before just barging in, my bad." Xue Yang apologised.

"It's fine. I shouldn't have lashed out like that. I'll see you in a bit." Xuanyu smiled softly as he heard Xue Yang's footsteps fade. Once he could no longer hear them he let out a huff and sank to the floor. 

"I'm such a prick..." He mumbled and the donkey nudged him gently. He rubbed it's nose. "Sorry I scared you Apple. He just drives me crazy and sometimes I can't take it. He says I give off mixed signals. Well he's the damn king. I just can't tell with him. It pisses me off!" Xuanyu groaned and Apple snorted in agreement.

Xuanyu chuckled and rubbed her head as thanks, before standing up and going back to cleaning the shed.