Adversary || Xingyun

4

Albedo came walking out of the store with a small plastic bag gripped firmly in his hand.

'Albedo! Did you find something?' Chongyun inquired.

'Yes I did. They had some fine quality beakers there, had to buy them.' Albedo replied, with a slight tone of happiness in his voice.

And as if it was perfectly timed, Xiangling came up to them sprinting with a weaved basket in her hand, although the contents inside weren't invisible.

'Hey guys! Sorry to keep ya waiting for so long.'

'It's okay.' Albedo replied, slightly nodding.

'Sooo.. Ling, what exactly did you bring us here for?'

'You'll see in a sec, let's head over there!' Xiangling indirectly answered, pointing towards the park that both Albedo and Chongyun had noticed earlier.

The trio then headed off into the direction of the park, both the boys still quite puzzled about what Xiangling was planning to do.

✦ . 　✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ⁺ 　

'Alright, so there's this woman named Brook, and we're having a cook-off!' Xiangling quickly explained, with a big grin spread across her face.

'That's.. great Xiangling, but why exactly did you ask us to come along?' Albedo asked, still slightly confused.

'Well obviously, you guys are gonna be my assistants!' Xiangling responded, still smiling.

'Ling, I never agreed to this.' Chongyun blurted out.

'Welp, it's too late now, both of you are helping me out now.' Xiangling uttered out, with a smug look on her face.

'Might as well Chongyun, it's not like she's going to let us go.'

'Alright, fine.'

✦ . 　✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ⁺ 　

'Xiangling! So glad you could make it.' A brunnette with a round face, her hair tied up into two short pigtails said, sweetly.

'Well, I wouldn't wanna miss a cook-off against one of the greatest chefs I've ever met!' Xiangling replied enthusiastically.

'Oh Xiangling, you're too kind.' the brunnette responded.

'So Ling, mind introducing us?' Chongyun said, to be honest it just felt as if him and Albedo were third-wheeling.

'Oh right! Brook, this is Chongyun, and this is Albedo, both are good friends of mine!' Xiangling replied, abruptly realizing that both boys were still with her. 

'Well it's nice to meet you both, I'm assuming you're her assistants for this cook-off?' Brook answered back, shaking both of their hands.

'Yes we are, it's nice to meet you too.' Albedo replied back, returning her hand shake and chuckling slightly at the end.

Chongyun just shook her hand and stared, not knowing what to say at the moment.

'Alright! Chongyun, Albedo, let's go get ready!' 

Xiangling gripped onto both boys hands and started sprinting towards the other side of the park.

✦ . 　✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ⁺ 　

The trio started setting up within the area they were given. Xiangling was checking if she had all her ingredients and if they were as fresh as possible, whilst Albedo and Chongyun were checking the cooking utensils. 

'Alright, so you two can work on the side dishes while I can work on the main course! All you have to do is make some delicious Jade Parcels. I have a hand-written recipe that I'll give to you once the cook-off starts!' Xiangling blurted out, distracting the two boys from what they were doing earlier.

'Sounds good.' Albedo agreed.

'Alright! Do you guys wanna meet Brook's assistants with me? I haven't met them yet, it would be great to get to know them for future stuff.'

Chongyun thought about her offer for a few seconds, he agreed. It would be nice to meet some new acquaintances. 

✦ . 　✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ⁺ 　

'Hey, I'm Xiangling, it's nice to meet you!' Xiangling said while shaking the hand of a pink haired girl.

'It's nice to meet you too! My name's Yanfei, I'm usually more into the law, but I can somewhat consider myself a chef!' Yanfei responded, shaking her hand back.

'It's nice to meet you too! Where's the other assistant?' Xiangling inquired.

'Oh! He should be here soon- oh! There he is! 

Yanfei pointed to a short boy with blue hair. Chongyun then realized who he was going up against.