Yan Shu’er had a perfect shot lined up but held back, deciding not to sink a second ball.
To keep things "fair," apparently.
That smile on her face? Said otherwise.
Whis moved back to the table again, her grip a little tighter.
She missed.
Three tis.
The third shot made her cue stick bounce backward and nearly hit herself in the chin.
Yan Shu’er made no comnt.
Until Whis accidentally leaned across the table, trying to look cool -
A thin, black tail suddenly popped out from under her cloth, swaying once.
She stepped on it. And faceplanted into the felt.
It had slipped out instinctively, a reflex from her spirit serpent form. She had been too focused on the ga to keep her human transformation perfectly stable.
Well. Yan Shu’er wasn’t surprised anymore, considering everything else that had happened in this store lately. This didn’t even crack the top ten on the weirdness scale.
Besides, she knew it was a common trait among spirit beasts.
Even when they took on a human form, parts of their original body could still show - especially under stress, emotion, or intense focus.
A tail slipping out, a beast’s ears twitching, even a hint of scales or fangs - it wasn’t a mistake. Just instinct pushing through the transformation.
So called it a flaw in the illusion, others said it was the beast’s nature refusing to be forgotten.
Either way, the tail thing? It checked out.
A muffled "I’m fine!" ca from the table surface.
Little Sneak winced. Kuro let out a very rare small laugh in her head.
Yan Shu’er finally cracked a smirk.
"Impressive technique."
"You aiming to seduce the table into submission?"
"Maybe." Whis stood up, face red.
Hao couldn’t stop the grin forming on his face.
But Whis didn’t give up. She kept going.
Miss after miss.
Even when her shots hit, they hit the wrong ball. Once, Whis accidentally sunk one of Yan Shu’er’s pieces and did a little victory pose before realizing it.
Yan Shu’er, on the other hand, wasn’t even trying hard anymore. She spun, stepped, and sent her shots flying true.
Every miss felt intentional. Every comnt sharper than the last.
"You know, you’re doing great." Yan Shu’er said sweetly.
"At this rate, you’ll master the concept of hitting the ball by next year."
Whis grumbled under her breath, concentrating hard. Her tongue poked out again.
She aid. She fired.
The ball bounced off two rails, missed everything, then gently tapped her own foot.
She looked up.
Yan Shu’er was staring blankly.
"You just... fouled against yourself."
Whis straightened. "I am testing boundaries."
Little Sneak crunched on a stick of sugarcane. "She’s testing my patience."
"Alright." Whis huffed. "One more shot. I’ll get serious."
She lined up.
She missed.
This ti, the ball bounced right back and hit her in the chest.
Thud.
Everyone stared.
She nodded.
"That one was personal."
Yan Shu’er had gone completely still.
She was in pain. Emotional pain.
She’d seen bad players before... but this?
This was soul-taxing. The kind of gaplay that made her question the laws of physics, logic, and karma all at once.
It was like teaching your grandma how to use a phone, only for her to sohow open seventeen tabs, delete the ho screen, turn the flashlight on, switch the language to Minionese, and cranked the brightness until it could cook rice.
That exact feeling.
Yan Shu’er rubbed her temples.
’I thought this would be fun.’
’This is not human.’
Yan Shu’er slowly turned her head toward Hao, eyes wide, silently screaming for assistance.
Hao t her gaze.
Then casually pretended to adjust a non-existent speck on the wall.
That was it.’
’I’m ending this.’ Yan Shu’er thought.
Yan Shu’er didn’t let Whis take another turn.
She cleared the table - one ball after another, without missing, without pausing. Whis could only stand there, her face getting more and more frantic with each shot.
However, Yan Shu’er didn’t care. She was done.
After the last ball sank, she calmly set the cue down.
Yan Shu’er nodded at Kuro and Hao, excusing herself with a brief word.
She didn’t say a word to Whis.
Just stared at her for a full second, lips twitching, face on the verge of breaking into that exact IShowSpeed "my mom is kinda holess" expression.
And walked off toward the second floor.
"I demand a rematch."
"That human only won because she’s played more than . If I just had another round - "
"Nope." Little Sneak cut in without hesitation, still munching a piece of sugarcane.
"You lost."
"A loss is a loss, Whis. The table doesn’t lie."
Whis whipped her head toward him, about to argue.
But Kuro spoke first.
’You may only play billiards once a day, Whis. That is the store rule.’
’As per our talking, I have already given you a chance. You chose how to act. And so you chose your outco.’
’Spare your excuses. Do not wrap failure in reasons.’
She turned her gaze aside.
’You should return to the clan now.’
’Little Sneak, escort her back.’
Little Sneak froze.
’ Why ?!’ he blurted in his head.
His mouth, however, only managed a weak: "Yes... Big Sis."
He had just arrived!
They’d trekked through mountains, climbed cliffs, and now he was being sent ho like a delivery pigeon?
He didn’t even get to try a single product from the store today!
His arms dropped in defeat.
Whis looked like she wanted to argue more, but one glance at Kuro told her she’d better not.
She turned with a small grumble, tail swaying in embarrassnt.
Little Sneak trudged after her, slumping slightly. He didn’t even do anything wrong.
Hao watched them go, an itch crawling at the back of his mind. His inner rchant shed a single tear at the thought of two potential custors escaping un-milked.
But he couldn’t exactly say that out loud that they should buy at least one.
So Hao stayed silent.
But as if the heavens took pity on him -
Little Sneak suddenly stopped mid-step.
His ears perked.
His depressed expression did a full 360 into sothing suspiciously radiant.
He turned around dramatically, gaze glistening, and stared at Kuro with all the tragic passion of a man begging for his last al.
"Big Sis... can we eat first?"
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