Archive of Our Own

As Wuyang's one and only sister (and an elder one at that), Anran takes it upon herself to ensure that he gets the full sibling experience. Protect him from danger? Duh. Encourage him to pursue his dreams, even if it disappointed their parents? Obviously. Pretend that his existence is the bane of hers and that she'd rather have anyone else as a brother? Naturally.

Tease him about his embarrassingly obvious crush on one of their allies? Of course.

i.

"Hey," she whispers. Wuyang side-eyes her—they're having a strategy meeting, and she's usually locked in during them, but when an opportunity arises, who is she to ignore it?—before turning his gaze back to the front of the room. Anran supresses a laugh. "Hey."

"What?" he hisses, peeking at her again. "Why aren't you—"

She smirks. "Mizuki's here."

Wuyang's eyes widen. "Really?" He not-so-subtley turns around, and Anran can tell when he spots him because his face brightens. Anran glances over her shoulder just in time to see Mizuki lifting his hand in a casual wave. Oh, she's going to hear about this in detail later (because, no matter how much she teases him, her brother will still go over their every interaction with her to look for any possible sign his feelings are returned).

(They are. He just hasn't realized it yet.)

"Hey," Commander Chase calls, and Wuyang jerks back around. "Is there something going on back there?"

"No!" he blurts, his face reddening. Shit, Anran wants to laugh so bad, but she also really doesn't want to get yelled at. "There's nothing— sorry," he mutters, shrinking down in his chair. Anran folds her hands in her lap and smiles innocently when Brigitte and Juno send them curious looks.

Commander Chase arches an eyebrow. "You're sure?"

"So sure," he says quickly. She exchanges a glance with Winston, but they must believe him, because the meeting continues smoothly from then.

Well, Wuyang kicks Anran's chair leg a couple of times, but she probably deserves that. Not that that stops her from kicking him back.

He slides down in his seat when the meeting ends, scowling up at her. "I don't like you. I hope Brigitte's cat leaves fur in everything you own."

"That's not very brotherly of you." She spots Mizuki heading their way and grins. She could warn Wuyang, but, well… he is being mean. So she waits until Mizuki is right beside them to say, much louder than necessary, "Oh, hey, Mizuki!"

Wuyang tries to sit up, but he moves so fast he ends up crashing to the ground with a yelp instead. Anran snorts so hard it hurts. It's completely worth it.

Mizuki stares down at him. "You good?"

"Fine!" Wuyang sits up, wincing. "I just… slipped. I'm fine." He looks humiliated, and Anran's nicer big sister instincts finally begin to kick in. She should probably help him up.

But Mizuki is reaching a hand out before she can, and Wuyang hesitates before allowing himself to be pulled up. It sort of reminds Anran of a rom-com scene: cute, but also a little ridiculous. She rolls her eyes.

"Come on, Wuyang," she says, and her brother jumps like he'd forgotten she was there. Rude. "Lunchtime."

"Oh, right!" But Wuyang doesn't take off immediately like he usually does. Instead, he glances at Mizuki—who's just sort of hovering awkwardly by them now, and Anran really can't believe how ridiculous they are—and then asks, quick and nervous, "Uh, do you— do you wanna join us? Maybe?"

"Oh." Mizuki sounds surprised. "Um… yeah. Sure."

Anran can't even bring herself to be annoyed at the prospect of third-wheeling when Wuyang looks so happy.

ii.

"Do you guys think Mizuki has a girlfriend?"

Anran blinks, her conversation with Brigitte withering and dying right before her eyes, because what? "What?" she says, turning to look at Wuyang.

Her brother looks as surprised as her. "Um. Sorry. I was just… thinking. Out loud." He drops his gaze, fidgeting with his sandwich wrapper. The longer Anran stares at him, the redder his ears get. "Never mind! It doesn't matter!"

"Uh, it totally does. What gave you that idea?" Even if Anran wasn't convinced that Mizuki has a crush on her brother, the idea of him having a girlfriend (or, y'know, a boyfriend) seems highly unlikely. Then again, she doesn't know him all that well.

Wuyang shrugs, still not looking at them. "I was just thinking about it. He's got this friend… Kiriko? I think that's her name. Um, he talks about her sometimes, and today we were training—"

They were training together? Just the two of them? Anran's eyebrows fly up. "Oh?"

"—and we stopped for a bit because she was calling him," Wuyang continues, ignoring her interruption. "It wasn't, like, a super couple-y conversation or anything, but… I don't know. He just sounded really happy talking to her, I guess, so I started wondering…"

Alright. It's not the craziest assumption, sure. But Anran still rolls her eyes, bumping his arm with hers. "Come on, Wuyang, girls and boys can just be friends."

"I know that!" Wuyang looks at her long enough to also roll his eyes before going back to his sandwich wrapper. He flicks it against his cup, frowning. "But, like… they could be. Dating, I mean."

"And they might not be!" Brigitte flashes an encouraging smile. "You could always ask if they are. Just to be sure!"

Wuyang looks scandalized at the very thought. "No way! He'd probably think I'm weird."

It takes every bit of self-restraint Anran has to not say but you are weird! She'll save it for later. "I feel like that's a pretty normal question to ask a friend, yeah? For example—" She turns to Brigitte, grinning. "Brigitte, my good, platonic friend, are you seeing anyone in the romantic sense?"

Brigitte giggles. "No, Anran, my friend, I am not."

"Just another way we can relate to each other, then! See?" she says to Wuyang. "Normal."

Her brother stares at her. "You're so weird. And unhelpful."

"You're weird and unhelpful," she counters, sticking her tongue out. "Fine. I'll ask him for you. How about that?"

"Absolutely not."

(She does ask him later. Mizuki looks weirded out that she's even speaking to him, but he answers honestly, even going so far as to say, "I think Kiriko would die laughing at just the idea of dating me." This seems to be enough for Wuyang, though he does ignore Anran for the rest of the night for going against his request.)

iii.

"What," Anran says, not even bothering to keep the amusement from her voice, "is that?"

Wuyang is quick to hide his hands behind his back, but it's too late—Anran's already seen what he's holding. It's not something she'd ever expected to see him with, that's for sure. "Uh, what's what?" he replies, adopting an innocent expression that will never fool her. "I don't have anything."

Anran raises one eyebrow. "So that's not a Lucky Lucky Good Luck Amulet in your hands?"

Her brother flushes. "How do you even—"

"I've seen them around." She holds her hand out expectantly and he heaves a dramatic sigh before handing it over. It's sort of nice looking, for a lucky charm, but she still holds it up disapprovingly. "They're a scam. You know that, right?"

"Of course!" Wuyang has the nerve to look offended. "It's not even for me, it's for— um." He clears his throat. "Uh, it's for… Mizuki."

Ah. That makes a lot more sense. Anran drops it back into his hands, smirking when he quickly pockets it. "And why did you buy him a good luck charm?"

"Because he lost the one he already had," Wuyang states, like Anran was just supposed to know that Mizuki carried something like that around. "He acted like it wasn't a big deal, but we spent, like, all morning looking for it, so I went into town to see if I could find him another one. And I did!" Her brother looks immensely proud of himself.

Anran's proud of him, too. It's a sweet thing to do. But that doesn't stop her from saying, grinning all the while, "You really went all the way to town just in case some place had one of these things? Wow. You've got it bad."

Wuyang is whining about how mean she is when Mizuki runs in. He looks more stressed than she's ever seen him (which is saying a lot). But his expression smooths over when he spots them, and he sounds casual as anything when he says, "Oh, hey."

Anran coughs in an attempt to cover up her laugh. "Hi. Wuyang has something for you."

Mizuki's brows furrow. "What?"

"It's— not much, really," Wuyang stammers, flashing Anran a betrayed look as he pulls the charm back out. Mizuki's eyes widen. "It's not the one you lost! I felt bad that we couldn't find it, so I went and… got you a new one?" His voice goes high with uncertainty as he holds it out.

Mizuki takes it slowly, carefully, cradling it in his hands. After a moment, he looks up, probably to say something (thank you to her brother, if he knows what's good for him), but then Fika is bolting into the room, meowing up a storm.

Instinctively, Anran covers her nose with her sleeve—Fika is probably the cutest cat she's ever met, but she activates her allergies like crazy—but she's saved when Brigitte runs in, looking frazzled.

"Fika! Bad girl, come here!" she scolds, bending down to scoop her up. "I'm so sorry, Anran," she adds, flashing her an embarrassed smile. "I was trying to get this—" She removes something Anran hadn't even noticed from around Fika's neck— "and she just took off."

"All good," Anran says, even though she's already starting to sniffle. "What is it?"

Brigitte drops Fika and lets her run off again. "I'm not sure." She holds it up, frowning curiously, and Anran really can't hide her laugh now. Thankfully, Wuyang and Mizuki don't seem to hear her; Mizuki is muttering something that has her brother smiling at him full-force.

"That," she says, taking the identical Lucky Lucky Good Luck Amulet from Brigitte, "is nothing."

iv.

Man, Anran really wishes she had her phone on her right now.

"This is adorable," she whispers, slapping a hand over her mouth to hide her grin. Wuyang shoots her a murderous glare, but he's blushing so hard it doesn't look very threatening at all. "The cutest thing ever, seriously."

"Shut up, Anran," he hisses. They both freeze when Mizuki shifts, muttering something in his sleep before slumping down further into Wuyang's side. It's the first time Anran's ever seen Mizuki asleep. It's oddly fascinating, and also a little funny because his hat has slipped off and is now sitting on his arm.

Anran holds her breath, waiting, but Mizuki doesn't wake up. So she giggles, taking a seat on the couch opposite them. Wuyang huffs. "So," she says, gesturing at them unnecessarily. "What, uh, what's going on here?"

"It's nothing," he insists, sounding very much like it is something. "We were watching a movie—"

"Aww," Anran interjects. "Like a date."

Wuyang rolls his eyes. "Hana and Lúcio were here, too. They just left because, well—" He shrugs the shoulder that Mizuki isn't currently using as a pillow. "They didn't want to wake him. And… neither do I." He glances down at him, his gaze softening. Part of Anran wants to be disgusted in a typical older sister manner, but, honestly, it's a little cute.

She pretends to gag, anyway, and Wuyang scowls at her. "You're so—"

"What's happening?"

Anran snickers when Wuyang jumps, even though she did, too. Mizuki blinks at Anran, looking exhausted despite his nap, and then he looks up at her brother.

She can see the moment the realization hits him: his eyes widen, and he sits up so fast he knocks his head against Wuyang's.

Anran winces with them. "You guys good?"

"Fine!" Wuyang says, rubbing his jaw.

Mizuki just looks faintly horrified. "Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Or, um, fall asleep on you. That was… an accident."

"Oh, what? Don't apologize! I don't— I didn't mind." Wuyang waves off his concern casually, though Anran knows he's feeling anything but casual right now. "I mean, you were tired, right? I get it! All good!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! It's fine!"

"But—"

"Oh, look, he's awake!" someone crows from the doorway. Anran turns to find Hana pointing accusingly at Mizuki. Lúcio—and Brigitte, who must've followed the commotion—wave at Anran. She waves back. "I bet you were faking that whole time, huh?"

Mizuki rolls his eyes. "What the hell would I have faked falling asleep for? The movie wasn't that boring."

Hana has a mischievous glint in her eye that Anran resonates with greatly. "I bet you just wanted an excuse to lay on—"

Abruptly, Wuyang stands up. "Good night!" he says loudly, and he's gone before Anran can stop him.

"Night?" Lúcio says, baffled. "It's, like, four p.m."

Anran catches Hana's eye and they both giggle. Mizuki narrows his eyes. "You guys are so weird," he mutters, and then he's gone, too. Anran wants to call after him that she can totally see his blush, but she'll let it go. For now.

Brigitte watches him go curiously. "What was that about?"

"Oh, y'know. Just boys being obvious. Right?" she says to Hana, and Hana grins.

"So obvious."

v.

Sometimes Anran finds Wuyang lounging in his room on his phone. Very typical little brother behavior, especially since they have parents that are (rightfully) worried sick about them twenty-four/seven and call every possible chance they get.

So when she stops by his room to see if he wants to train with her and hears him talking, she assumes he's on the phone with their parents. Therefore, she doesn't think twice about opening the door, poking her head in, and saying, "Hey, Wuyang, do you—"

And then she's being assaulted by a pillow.

"Anran!" her brother exclaims—well, he kind of shrieks, actually—and she blinks through the strands of hair that were knocked loose. "Why don't you ever knock?"

Like he knocks on her door. What a hypocrite.

"What—" She blows the strands aside, squinting. Wuyang is sitting on his desk chair, looking as though he'd just thrown himself into it with no regard for posture or anything, and Mizuki—

Mizuki is apparently here, too, half-laying on her brother's bed and staring at her with wide eyes. His mask is gone. After a very long moment of silence, he finally nods and says, far too casually, "'Sup?"

Holy shit.

"Wuyang," she says slowly, turning towards her brother. His face is buried in his hands, but she can still see the bright red blush on his face. "Were you two—"

"Stop," he groans, his voice muffled. "Please. Just kill me."

It's impossible to not grin. "Holy shit." She lowers her voice to mock-whisper, "So who finally confessed?"

"Anran!"

"Come on, I need to know! I listened to you pine for months—"

"Oh my god." Wuyang jumps up, grabs the pillow he'd thrown just a minute ago, and hits her again with it. Anran doubles over laughing and lets herself be shoved from the room. "I'll talk to you later," he hisses, and then the door is slamming shut.

A few doors down, Brigitte peeks out from her own room. "Anran? What's going on?"

She falls back against the door with a thud, heaving a dramatic sigh. "Wuyang kicked me out because he's with his boyfriend." From inside the room, she hears somebody laugh.

Brigitte's eyes light up. "Oh! Took them long enough!"

"Right? Way too long."

(She corners Mizuki a few hours later to tell him, very politely, that if he hurts her brother in any way, his body will never be found. He replies, surprisingly sincere, that he wouldn't forgive himself if he did. It's good enough.)

+ vi.

Anran tries to hide her wince, but when you're surrounded by medics after having just finished fighting a bunch of Talon agents, it's quite literally impossible. It only takes Wuyang catching the look on face and saying in that worried tone, "Anran? Are you alright?" to have her surrounded.

"I'm alright!" she exclaims, waving them off with a laugh. "Seriously. I think I just got—" She inhales sharply when Dr. Ziegler brushes her hand near the injury she'd been trying to ignore— "hurt. Slightly."

Dr. Ziegler frowns. "Slight though it may be, you really should learn to tell us when you get injured, Anran."

"I know. Sorry." She smiles guiltily when Brigitte drops to her knees in front of her, medkit already in hand. "Look, it's not that—"

All Brigitte has to do is cross her arms and level Anran with a disappointed look to make her give in. She hates upsetting anyone, but it's especially bad when it's her. "Alright," she sighs. "Patch me up, doc."

Brigitte looks smug. "That's what I thought."

It's not so bad having someone fret over her, maybe, if that someone is Brig. She murmurs to Dr. Ziegler all the while, providing Anran with some comforting background noise. Her hands are rough, calloused from all of the mechanical work she does, but they feel nice against Anran's skin.

And that's a wildly inappropriate thought to have about her very platonic friend. Anran flushes and turns to look at anything else.

Anything else ends up being her brother. Shit, she'd forgotten he was still sitting beside her. He blinks at her. "Are you okay? Your face is—"

"I'm fine! It's just… warm."

Wuyang narrows his eyes. "Are you kidding? It's freezing in here."

She's saved from replying by Brigitte announcing, "All done!" She stands back up with a sigh. "It's mild, and you'll be fine in a few days, but I still don't want you pushing yourself. Got it?" She raises an expectant eyebrow.

"Got it," Anran replies, huffing a laugh. "Thanks, Brig."

Brigitte's answering smile could probably cure her of anything.

She can feel Wuyang staring at her. Once Brigitte is out of earshot, she says, "Shut up."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"I know you want to."

Wuyang sounds like he's grinning. "And I'm going to. You like—"

"Shut. Up." Shit, her face is on fire. Is this karma for making fun of him and Mizuki?

"You have a crush," Wuyang whispers, almost singing the words, and she scowls, shoving him so hard he topples over, cackling.

Yeah. This is definitely karma.

"If it helps," Wuyang says later when Anran is burying her face into her pillows and trying to ignore him, "she likes you back, like, for sure. I think you should ask her out!"

"Ask who out?"

"Brigitte! You know, Fika's owner."

Mizuki hums in acknowledgement. "Oh. I thought they were dating already."

"That's… fair, honestly."

Anran sits up just long enough to launch a pillow at them.