Amor Fati Book 1: Aya & Xiyang Qi

Chapter 4: Aya's Real-World Problems

Never had she ever had people like Zhao Yìchén to deal with.

Aya's power was that of an empath, and unlike Nu, she could turn it off and on at will. The control she wielded was a gift from Nu's father.

She could also project control to Nu when needed to help him adjust to the boosts. If their other mothers were of the gods, it stood to reason that they also had fathers who were gods.

Sworn to secrecy, he had asked her to care for and watch over his son. He was too special not to have the other siblings be his guardian. She had readily agreed, dazzled by Nu's father. He was so handsome and looked just like Nu. She was also asked not to tell Nu who his father was.

There would be a time that they would meet, but it would be years in the future. It was a lot to put on a six-year-old, but she had already shouldered so much and loved her brother when the other mothers brought him to her.

She could not say no. She was glad she didn't have the struggles that Nu did. But she did understand why he had to go through them. He needed to be the balance, the fulcrum, the center, the foundation of their families and the worlds.

"I am here, Nu. I am safe. We are all in your care, and we will never leave you. Rest easy, my baby brother. We have a long flight, and I want to play a few rounds when we are in the air. You can give your sister that, right? We need to kick Xīyáng Qi's butt today, push him back down the rankings maybe even move you out of third and into second. That would piss him off," Aya smiled, opened her eyes, and saw Zhao Yìchén exit the building and look around.

She was thankful the car windows were tinted; he did not know she was in this car. While she didn't know Zhao Yìchén well, he would show up for her signing events and ask for her autograph on a new poster, signature on a CD, or another photo of them together.

She also secretly played Onmyoji Arena with him on one of her alts occasionally when Nu was busy with rounds or classes. She would never reveal to him that it was her.

He was a talented player, but outside the game, he was creepy. His touch made her skin crawl, and she always felt like she had a shower afterward. She had never met someone who felt so dark and slimy when she used her gift to search his emotions.

He tried to monopolize her time at one of her signing events and would irritate the fans. He would interrupt conversations and push the fans behind him, who had been waiting in line for hours for a couple of words, a picture, and an autograph away from her when they got too close.

People paid good money for just moments of her time, and she intended to give them the best of her she could at that moment. Just because he was one of the players doesn't mean he can interrupt her event with his childish behavior.

"Zhao Yìchén, I have a massive line of fans waiting for me. I value their time, and they love mine, and I must get back to them," she said firmly.

He always had to touch her. He tried convincing others around them that they were in a relationship.

Zhao Yìchén laughed, "No one here is as important as me. You are mine."

She gave him a stern look and walked off to sit at the table to sign more autographs and take more pictures. He made her uneasy after he said that, and she tried to avoid any interaction when she could. She finally realized he scared her more than she let herself believe.

She was thirteen when she first met Zhao Yìchén and didn't know how to deal with the problem. Sometimes she felt like he was stalking her and trying to push his way into her life by talking to her parents, crew, and even her brothers Luke, Jax, Nate, and Nu.