pure imagination || jing yuan, blade, & dan heng

thirteen

"You didn't have to walk me home, you know," y/n said with a small laugh. Her mood slightly dampened from actually breaking down a little and in front of Gepard no less!

Gepard gave a light smile as he shook his head, "nonsense. If I let you walk home alone like this, then I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

She found herself smiling. Gepard has always been her knight in shining armor. Ever since they were kids..

"Don't touch her!"

A boy pushed as hard as he could against a man twice his size. Anger clear on the boy's face as he stood in front of girl who was injured on the floor.

"Stay out of this boy!"

She closed her eyes when they finally come up to her door.

"Thank you."

Gepard felt his face grow hot when she had turned to hug him tight. His arms immediately wrapping around her waist in return.

"Of course, y/n. I-"

"No, not for that... i mean, thank you. For everything, even back then."

"Always, y/n. Now get on to bed. You need some rest. And tomorrow you can call Sampo and we can deal with the laundered money problem."

She nodded as she let her hands drop away from him as he ushered her inside the safety of her apartment.

"See you tomorrow then?"

"Of course."

When the door closed shut and he heard the lock click, he went back down the stairs and down to the sidewalk, but he soon stopped and glanced towards an alley.

"And you are? I apologize for not introducing myself earlier but I and my friend were kind of having a moment. Though, I guess I should thank you for not interrupting."

From the shadows, a figure emerged and Gepard was quick to get into a fighting stance when he recognized the man's face immediately.

"Huh, Stellaron Hunter, Blade. Fancy meeting you here. Granted, I shouldn't be surprised to find someone like you skulking around in a dark alley."

Blade held up his hands in defense as he smiled. However, the smile was anything but nice.

"Easy there, Silvermane Guard. I just came here to see y/n. We were supposed to meet up last night to discuss a little job offer, but she sort of forgot it seems."

Gepard relaxed a bit as quirked up am eyebrow, "so? Doesn't mean you should be sniffing around her place."

Blade shook his head, "I'm not looking for trouble."

"Highly unlikely considering your reputation."

"If I were you, then I would start acting nice."

"And why would I," Gepard countered.

"Stellaron Tailor. The shop's sound familiar? Keep talking to me like that and I'll have the place closed down by Monday, and then Y/n really will be out of options."

Gepard narrowed his eyes at Blade, "were you the one who gave her the laundered money?"

"Laundered money? Hmm, doesn't sound familiar. Sure I knew of her debt, but i wasn't aware she paid it off with illegal cash. And if that's what you're curious about, then I suggest looking into Dan Heng and Jing Yuan. Surely you heard of them?"

Gepard thought for a moment. If Dan Heng and Jing Yuan are involved, then things just got worse...

"Cat got your tongue, Captain? You suddenly got all quiet on me."

"Shut it, Blade. How am I supposed to be sure that Jing Yuan or Dan Heng had anything to do with this, or maybe you're just trying to set them up to put my attention elsewhere?"

Blade shrugged, "i guess you'll just have to trust me then," he answered while turning to leave.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

Blade looked over his shoulder and smirked, "elsewhere. I was planning on having a little talk with y/n, but I'll just do that another time when you're not hanging around like a little pest."

And as Blade left, Gepard could only seethe - many thoughts running through his head.

Damn it.