Work Text:
Snap.
Xiaoshi blinked, his hands lowering from where they were held up, trying to make sense of his surroundings. This was..
His eyes locked on that black and yellow polaroid camera, expression faltering. ..What..?
He turned his head to see Liu Lan, the siblings’ mother. ..What was he..?
“See? It prints the photo by itself,” she said.
He was.. So confused. Hadn’t he been in this photo before?
(“I gave you the photo but nothing has changed. We’re still stuck living in this hell. You did nothing, just like everyone else.”)
Last he checked he wasn’t able to dive into a photo twice, and yet.. He was here again. He knew he’d been here before. He remembered it. ..Yet he also remembered the future. Remembered..
..Could he change the future, then? But what about the node..? What would happen then?
Xiaoshi wanted to save them. Like how it wasn’t fair Emma had to die. ..He knew that it was Tianchen’s fault that she’d died, but.. ..They were just kids. They didn’t deserve this. This.. This had been a cry for help. He can’t– He can’t let it play out like it did knowing what would happen in the future. Knowing that some horrible person would be the one to take them in instead of someone who could actually help them heal.
And.. And the part of them that had felt Tianxi’s attachment, that for a moment had been his sister, had seen Tianchen as a brother– ..wanted him to be safe. No matter what. Even when they’d fought.
Tianxi, who had died, and they had no idea where Tianchen had gone after that. He didn’t want anything else to go wrong.
“Let’s take a look. Bring it here, please.”
Ah.. He walked over to the camera, staring at it for a long moment. This camera.. Xiaoshi held it in his hands.
..He should hide that somewhere, shouldn’t he? Or wouldn’t it get worse if the dad found it while it was hidden even more?
「Why did you stop?」, Lu Guang questioned.
He turned back around, 「It’s nothing」. Before dutifully going over to her and holding it forward.
She smiled at him, “It’s a nice photo, don’t you think? Now we can capture memories, make them last longer..”
Xiaoshi nodded, before biting his lip a little. He motioned with the camera in the direction of the siblings’ room. ‘ Can we keep it in our room?’ He tried to express.
「That’s not how it went. What are you doing?」
Mom put a hand on top of his head, gently caressing it, “Do you want to keep it in you and your brother’s room? That’s a good idea. Then you can use it whenever. We have to get you to the doctor’s, but if we have time after I can teach you how to use it.”
「Lu Guang, can you trust me? There’s something I need to do.」
「..What are you talking about?」
He beamed, before walking over to their room, putting it in one of the drawers.
Xiaoshi doubted the father could be reasoned with, would’ve likely taken any reason to act out like he had with how little he cared for proof, or how he’d thought that the existence of a photo meant that there was someone taking a picture when there was a way to set a timer, to which the man didn’t even bother to check that was how sure he’d been.. But maybe, just maybe, if he found it again this time (why would he be snooping in their room in the first place?) then it could be explained away that it was for the siblings.
..Now to repeat everything all over again. Should he call the police early? How long had it taken for them to arrive? He didn’t know. But maybe if they’d arrived earlier..
He couldn’t do it now. It was too soon, but maybe.. A little bit before dinner. They’d have enough time to arrive by then, right?
Xiaoshi stared up at the man who had been the one to call the cops the first time. The one whose door he’d been banging on for help. How did he signal something like that to go by faster?
..If he spoke, if he yelled would he reach the door faster? Or would it anger the father for seemingly having faken being mute?
In case the police didn’t believe him with urgency he needed this guy to call as well. But how did he make it faster?
He didn’t know how long it took for the neighbor to make the call but two calls in one area over the same issue, that’d surely make them go faster right?
“Don’t you touch her!” Someone yelled.
His head moved to stare at a pink-haired boy. Right on time.
He hugged the stuffed animal tighter. ..If he fucked up the consequences would not be good. The dad seemed to have bad ideas of women in general. What if the sister died? He’d imagine that Tianchen wouldn’t be able to be reasoned with. How would he even be able to face him after this if he failed. ‘Sorry, I tried to change the past but your sister died instead?’
—
Once they were in their room, Tianchen threw his backpack against the bottom of the bunk bed, grumbling to himself as he sat down, “That guy’s so sketchy. I bet his whole nice guy thing is an act. I hate people who do that.”
Was this him being overprotective over his sister, or did he have an actual reason to be suspicious of the guy? Xiaoshi had been cautious as well but he hadn’t seemed like a bad guy. Not that they’d really interacted that much though.
His brother tapped on the floor in front of him, and he sat down in front of him.
On this sort of topic, he should put the stuffed animal down when they go to dinner. Maybe on the bed? As much as it’d been a comfort to him, especially as he was once again feeling like he was an actual child a bit, seeing it ripped apart hurt. He knew he wasn’t Tianxi, that the stuffed toy wasn’t actually his but he didn’t want to see it ripped again.
The dad hadn’t gone checking their room so hiding it all here should be fine anyways..
“You shouldn’t let people like him touch you, understand?” Tianchen said. “And you should really learn to protect yourself.”
He nodded, listening as he continued talking.
「Ask him who taught him that.」
Xiaoshi jolted a little, having forgotten Lu Guang was there for a second. He was about to ask if it was really necessary, but then he remembered that he did need to at least follow whatever script that his friend had seen. And also that no they did not know yet.
..This was weird. He was so used to being able to share all time travel stuff with him but now he knew something Guang didn’t.
He should share that with Lu Guang. ..For once though he wanted to be the one risking a life instead of Lu Guang. If he didn’t know then he couldn’t be stopped!
..On that topic, how did Lu Guang know where to find him in the first place? When he’d been possessed.. How’d he make it on time exactly too? To have planned far enough to take a picture and leave his phone for future Xiaoshi to find..
Qiao Ling had said she’d only found him because Lu Guang had sent a location to her, and that was where he was, so..
..?
「How..?」 Look, you’d forget it too in all the chaos!
Lu Guang instructed him on how to sign it, and he listened to Tianchen recount his story.
Then his brother turned to him, “By the way, what was with your terrible signing just now?”
If only he had the memories of the people he possessed. ..Actually that might be even worse to handle, but hey, maybe he’d get in someone’s body and suddenly learn a new language! That’d be a cool ability to have. ..Though some things he knew he’d be better off not having the memories of.
“You forget what I taught you? No? Sign ‘I want to go home’. Go.”
That..
That one was a bit more memorable. ..She wouldn’t die in the future, he refused to let it happen. ..If that ‘future’ hadn’t happened yet then it wasn’t set in stone right? So he could change it, right? ..Where would he end up after he got out of the photo, though? His present, or the past which was this time’s present? ..Which ‘present’ did he want to end up in? He didn’t know.
He pointed at himself, then at his temple, moving it in a circular motion, extended his thumb and pinky while curling the other fingers, and then forming a triangle with his hands, holding it up in front of him.
“Good.. But that was pretty shaky. Let me show you how to do it smoother..”
..Give him some slack, he’d only done it once! Twice with assistance! ..Not that he knew that.
Tianchen grabbed his hand, going through the motions and reminding him what they meant.
..It was at this moment that he lost contact with Lu Guang briefly, and attributed it to bad service, but..
He stared at Tianchen. It was him, wasn’t it? ..Physical contact.. It was also Tianchen’s ability that when activated on the person Xiaoshi was controlling, it would kick him out.
The front door opened, and he felt chills go down his spine.
..It was time.
Time to set the stuffed animal down, call the cops, and somehow stop the father.
Maybe even if they arrive fast enough before anyone dies..
—
Xiaoshi had no way of informing the police outside of voice. ..Maybe text but maybe hearing a voice, maybe even a child would spur them on. Maybe.
He spoke quietly, hands holding the phone in a way that it’d be difficult to hear noises around him. ..Because maybe if they didn’t hear the sound of it happening then they wouldn’t believe him. That they’d think it was a prank call.
“My.. My dad’s hitting my mom.. I think he’s going to kill her.. We- We live at..”
「What are you doing..?」
Lu Guang didn’t know because he hadn’t been able to see that far. It should be okay, right? After all, Guang hadn’t been able to see Dou Dou’s future either, and it was that loophole that let him change the past. Like Schrodinger’s Cat, they had no way of knowing what state he’d been in before, nothing to try to follow.
「..Trust me. We’ll need it.」
He went silent for a moment. 「Okay.」
What he’d learned from possessing people is that his capabilities came with him. He’d been able to see when Chen Xiao couldn’t, had been able to fight back when Dou Dou couldn’t.. Maybe he wouldn’t have as much power considering he was in the body of a child (and considering the move he’d pulled in Dou Dou’s body would’ve been lethal but was likely not because he was in a child’s body) but considering how much damage he’d done to Mei Piyan, it was still a lot.
It was putting Tianxi in danger, yet.. They were already in danger. And for all he knew this time would go even worse, so he couldn’t go into this prepared to hold back for his safety.
His eyes watched intently, stuffed animal-less this time, watching as the dad still found something to argue over even though the things he’d argued about the last time were no longer there.
Tianchen covered his ears, and this time instead of being scared, he felt anger more than anything. Don’t get him wrong he was still scared, Tianxi especially was also feeling scared, but it was no longer a seemingly happy family suddenly showing its true colors and more something he’d known to expect.
His brother shook his head at him and he felt so frustrated .
“You. Take your sister and go to your room, right now! Don’t come out!”
Xiaoshi didn’t want to! He wanted to do something right now, but..
Tianchen grabbed his hand, trying to bring him away.
“Do not make me have to tell you twice!”
He mentally apologized to him, before yanking his hand out and running between his mom and dad, shaking his head and holding out his arms to his sides like a barrier.
“What is this..? Are you turning our kids against me too!? I’m not the monster here! I’m just doing what needs to be done! Oh I get it now.. Of course she favors you. You’re gonna make your daughter just like you, huh?! You fucking whore?! Then maybe it’s better if I get it in her head now that she shouldn’t be spreading her legs for anyone who looks at her twice like her mother!”
“N-No that’s not..!” His mom tried to protest.
The dad raised his hand, and Tianchen intervened this time, trying to cover him from where he’d ended up flinching away, not able to stand his ground against Tianxi’s fear. Fucking fuck– “Don’t hurt her!”
“..Our son too? STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! I’m just doing what needs to be done to set this family straight!”
“No, please don’t hurt them! It’s my fault, take it out on me! But please not them.. Please..” His mom lunged from where she’d been on the floor, catching the both of them and trying to move them behind her.
He hated this so much.
「..Cheng Xiaoshi.」
「I know. I’m not leaving.」
「..I’m sorry. If I knew I wouldn’t have..」
「But I would’ve wanted to, even then. Don’t worry about it.」
..Wait, did he miss his window to get help? ..It had gone that they’d hid in their room, Xiaoshi had gotten Tianchen to fight back, he’d run out the door while Tianchen was holding dad back, and to the neighbor…
If he banged on the wall the neighbor would hear it right? At least checking out the disturbance?
“I bet you two are already calling someone else dad! Well no more! I refuse to let this embarrassment continue! If you’ve already given up on me then fine! I’ll deal with you all myself!”
Xiaoshi stood up the second he saw him walking towards the drawer where the hammer is, running at him and trying to push his legs over, only for it to move like he weighed nothing and kick him across the room.
“Xi Xi!” His mom cried out.
It hurt like hell, causing him to let out a muted cry. It was like every single piece of restraint he had was trying to hold him back from making a single sound lest something even worse happen. What if he thought Tianxi had been faking it? What if he thought something stupid like any expenses toward this had actually been to helping his mom ‘cheat’ or something like that!?
“You want a piece of this first!?” He raised his head to see a hammer pointed at him. “Fine! I’ll teach you a lesson you’ll never forget you brat! I refuse to let this family take anything else from me! Maybe then it’ll get into your mother’s thick skull!”
“No, please leave them alone!”
Oh fuck–
「CHENG XIAOSHI!」
Get up get up get getup getup!!! His everything hurt, resisting him with every move he tried to make.
Suddenly Tianchen was there, taking the blow and knocking the hammer away. Fuck–!
His mom let out a cry, moving over to him to try to make sure he was okay.
“Hun! Call an ambulance now!”
“I… He didn’t have to rush at me like that..” What are you talking about? “I was only trying to scare you so I could make a point..”
Now you’re sorry? What the fuck are you talking about? Don’t hold a weapon if you aren’t going to use it!
You’re not even going to call an ambulance for him? What the fuck is wrong with you?
Xiaoshi didn’t think he’d ever felt more murderous. Maybe even a little incredulous at the audacity. It was almost as stupid as when he’d assumed there’d been someone else here when they’d taken that photo. No, really, the man deserved an entirely separate tier of dumb, that’s where he was.
“You..! This is your fault! I didn’t want all of this to happen! But no! You just had to keep pushing me!”
He eyed the hammer. He didn’t think he had the strength to do any actual damage and it might just anger dad more but..
Fuck he didn’t know what to do. He thought he did, but..
What if he hit the wall with the hammer? It’d make a commotion but then what was he supposed to do when his dad caught him? He could easily take the hammer from his weak child hands.
What if he had things make really loud noises that the neighbors would file noise complaints, or maybe their neighbor would knock on their door to try to tell them to turn it down and see what was going on? ..Maybe it’d take too long to set up.
He could maybe try to head out the front door and get help from the neighbor but he didn’t have Tianchen to distract dad long enough.
So then.. The way it ended the first time.
What else could he do?
While his dad was distracted by mom, he quickly but quietly made his way back to their room, finding where he’d hid the photo and heading back to his brother.
「I know, I know!」He thought towards Lu Guang before he could say something. If the photo was ruined they wouldn’t be here, and yet he was too useless to do something!
Clutching it in his hands, he moved over to where Tianchen had started sitting up, falling onto his knees and leaning against him.
Come on, activate your ability, please! I’m so sorry I have to rely on you for this when the adults should be the ones taking care of things and I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.
He started to see the mother– Her memories, her feelings–
Let me help you. Keep him away from the kitchen. Xiaoshi thought desperately, trying to somehow get it into Tianchen’s head so that Liu Lan wouldn’t get stabbed and die that way. Trying to convey it to him somehow.
Please!
Maybe.. Maybe he counts as a separate entity and Tianxi’s ability can read his mind and that thought gets sent to Tianchen because of his ability..!
A miracle, maybe?
..If he got up now to try to do something then Tianchen has zero chance of using his ability unless he can make contact with that person.. But it was too dangerous..!
Please..!
He suddenly appeared back at the hospital, feeling vertigo as he swayed a little, holding himself up by the hands landing on the bed.
“Cheng Xiaoshi!”
That..
Now suddenly a lot taller, he almost fell over if not for Lu Guang holding onto him to keep him upright.
What changed? Did he do anything? At all..?
What happened was this:
Li Fan had died, but the police had gotten there fast enough they were able to save Liu Lan and she was currently under coma.
It was.. Probably better.
It would’ve been even better if she’d woken up but then they wouldn’t have had to live with Qian Jin, wouldn’t have had to end up possessing people, and Lu Guang wouldn’t be in the hospital, and they wouldn’t have been here. So maybe this was a better outcome? Something predictable yet also different enough that maybe they could have a future after everything.
That it wouldn’t be perfect but maybe.. better. That they had family. Someone on their side who’d try to actually get them help.
..If he lasted long enough he’d wanted to stay. Maybe if he could’ve gotten them away from Qian Jin, or expressed distrust then Tianchen wouldn’t go with him either. The future would’ve changed too much but they hadn’t deserved to grow up under someone like that. ..He wanted to try to make up for what he failed to do the first time around.
But at least– At least he knew that as it seemingly hasn’t happened yet, then the future isn’t set in stone. There was no fate he had to follow. Lu Guang doesn’t have to get kidnapped again right?
And maybe. Just maybe they can talk it out in the station. He knew it was Tianchen now. ..So maybe he can get him on his side. He knew his attempts were lackluster, that he failed him like every other adult in his life, and yet..
With his future knowledge, if he revealed it, that Qian Jin would shoot his sister.. That she would die.. That would be enough to turn him onto their side for sure, right? At least until that man was no longer a danger, and then they might fight again but still..
He frowned at himself. ..But if it hadn’t happened then why did he have memories of it? Or was it some sort of alternate timeline that hadn’t happened here so it didn’t count, he just had the memories as in another future it had happened, but hadn’t happened and maybe won’t have to happen anymore..? ..He didn’t know. His brain was melting.
(He’d clapped his hands, wanting to know if somehow he’d been in another photo and that if he went out he’d be back in the future which he used to think of as his present. Nothing happened. There was nowhere to go back to. This was the present now. …So what had happened to where he used to be? The timeline from the memories he had?)
Lu Guang would know more, wouldn’t he? ..But what if Guang just wanted them to follow the future like it did before? Tough luck, considering even if it was something very minor, he’d still changed the past. Things that worked the first time might not work the second time.
And since.. Since he’d already gone about changing things.. Had already crossed the line.. Why shouldn’t he try to change the past that he now knows as the present? He could do that much, couldn’t he?
..Maybe.
Xiaoshi was just tired of seeing so many things go wrong that he didn’t want to stand by this time. Especially when it involved the people he cared about. The people he would risk life and limb for.