A Familiar Figure

Wang Xu was currently standing by one of the double doors in the train, thinking over what had just happened. Although he wasn't a stranger to being spied upon, that was only in situations when people were aware of who he was and the kind of job that he may be on at the time. In this case, Wang Xu was positive that he fits neither category at the moment so that must mean that those gazes on him were hostile for some other reason.

And it was at this point that he remembered that besides those four hostile gazes, there were another two that he was aware of but he wasn't able to find before he had to leave. Thinking back on it, while he had no idea who the hostile gazes belonged to, he had a curious suspicion as to whom the remaining two neutral gazes belonged to. That being said, this wasn't all that important to Wang Xu at the moment so he'll address it if he has time at a later date.

With those thoughts now behind him, Wang Xu removed a certain pair of gloves from his pockets and put them on. He decided that he might as well get some practice in with them since he had some free time.

To make sure that others weren't freaked out by what he was doing, Wang Xu turned his body to face the doors of the train before he started practicing. Since he was trying to keep it hidden, he made sure to keep his practice small scale.

Various shapes came to life via the wires in Wang Xu's hands. From small animals to 3D objects, Wang Xu cycled through these items every few seconds.

That being said, creating these shapes weren't what Wang Xu was practicing. Instead, it was the control over his energy that flowed in the wires that he was practicing with.

Off to the side, a child was sitting on her mother's lap that noticed Wang Xu's cautious actions. With childlike curiosity, the young girl adjusted herself in her mother's lap to get a better view.

When the child saw Wang Xu creating various shapes using his wires, the girl was naturally entranced by it. A few seconds later, a sigh escaped from Wang Xu's lips as he stopped hiding his practice and revealed what he was doing.

He had noticed the girl's attention from the start but did nothing as she was just interested in the shapes he was making. As for him revealing himself, this was done for two reasons. The first being that with the girl's attention locked on him, a few other passengers started paying attention to him and he didn't want to be seen as some sort of deviant. As for the second reason, his practice wasn't going as sufficient as he wanted with him just creating shapes in such a cramped space.

Like that, Wang Xu spent the rest of his morning commute to work entertaining that young child, along with a few others and the rest of the passengers with a few wire creations. The children were visibly saddened when they saw him leaving but their parents could only do their best to pacify them.

As for Wang Xu himself, he left with a wry smile on his face. While he wasn't too fond of children due to his own poor upbringing, he would still spend some time entertaining them whenever the chance appears.

*******

Wang Xu was currently five minutes away from work.

All he needs to do now was cross the road ahead of him and he would be home free. Well, that's what would need to happen for a normal day, at least.

Before Wang Xu could cross the road, he noticed someone crossing from the other side. That, in itself, wasn't all that relevant. What made it an issue was the fact that this person crossed on a 'Do Not Cross' signal and that there was currently a truck speeding towards the person with its horn going off to warn them. There's also the fact that said person was a child, at least in Wang Xu's eyes.

In just a split second, Wang Xu made up his mind on what he would do. He released a deep sigh before his body immediately blurred, escaping the vision of all those nearby that were now aware of the dangerous situation about to unfold.

Just as everyone was prepared to turn their heads away from the incoming tragedy and someone screamed, they all witnessed the truck passing the pedestrian crossing. It took everyone a few seconds to notice that something wasn't right. Even the truck driver had managed to stop a dozen meters away before getting out of his truck, looking around in confusion.

While this was going on with the bystanders, as for the person involved directly, they were currently on the other side of the road, sitting on the sidewalk. That person seemed to be just as clueless as the rest as for what had happened.

The person, a high school student, remembered that he was just in the middle of the road, when all of a sudden, everything went blank. As soon as he awoke, he found himself sitting on the sidewalk surrounded by a crowd of people now looking at him with expressions of both worry and relief. He had no idea what had just happened, nor how he should go about explaining it to those around him.

While the student was still lost in thought, the truck driver had somehow managed to get through the crowd of people now surrounding him to ask if he was doing okay and ask about what had happened.

As for the person responsible for preventing this tragedy, he was already long gone from the scene and was now entering the gaming studio. Besides the fact that he had a bit of sweat on his forehead, there wasn't anything to give away the fact that he was involved in the previous incident. Heck, even that bit of sweat could be explained due to the relatively high temperature in the city at the moment.

After entering the gaming studio, Wang Xu quickly made his way to the second floor and entered the security room. He greeted everyone he passed along the way and quickly entered the changing room. For now, he planned on quickly passing the day without having to participate in anything else. This was further compounded by the fact that the total amount of energy in his body was currently down by a full third, a consequence of his previously rushed decision.

Those were the thoughts in Wang Xu's mind as he went about his rounds of the gaming studio. Unknown to him, however, was that as he passed by a certain someone that works on the top floors of the gaming studio, they stared at him with a very peculiar gaze.

Then again, considering that he's sensitive to gazes in the first place, maybe he did notice the person's gaze but chose to ignore it as it lacked any negative thoughts or intentions behind it. That said, he carried on without a change in expression.

As Wang Xu turned a corner and eventually disappeared from sight, a gaze lingered on the corner he turned for a few moments longer before it was eventually retracted. The owner of the gaze eventually left the area and headed towards the upper flows.

*******

Shirona Yui was an average looking, bespectacled woman that works in the Human Resources section of the Sanming Gaming Studio. Although she wasn't very popular in the gaming studio with other employees, Shirona Yui was quite good at her job so her being made the head of the HR section was a smart move on the part of the gaming studio.

That said, her average looks and her general lack of interest in the studio's in-game affairs made her the target of many of the other employees' scorn. None of those that worked in her department disobeyed any of the orders she gave them nor refused to work with her but none of them went out of their way to include her in their various discussions.

While she wasn't being bullied or disrespected by those around her, being excluded by those around her wasn't doing much for her mental health. That being said, this hasn't been the first time in her life that she's been excluded from groups due to her average looks so it no longer bothered her as much.

With that in mind, today was a very unusual day for Shirona Yui. All of this started when she had gotten on the subway train that morning. Like every other day, she would sit down in one of the seats placed next to the double doors of the train while reading a light novel on her phone.

What was different this morning was that as she was reading the novel, she noticed a slight commotion created by the other passengers of the train. This prompted her to look up and search for the source, only to see a man entertaining a young child by making various shapes and animals with some wires.

Just like the other passengers, she was intrigued by the man's skill in manipulating those wires. At least, that was until she noticed something familiar about the man in question.

"Where have I seen him before?" That was the question Shirona Yui asked herself as she was momentarily lost in thought. This lasted a few moments until she saw the man in question put away his wires and exited the train. She stared blankly for a few seconds before she realized what had happened and bolted out of the train as well.

The reason behind this was the fact that the train had gotten to their stop. Shirona Yui was too distracted by her thoughts to notice that the train had already managed to reach their stop. Had it not been for the man's sudden action of fleeing, she would have missed her stop.

Having managed to safely exit the train before the doors managed to close, Shirona Yui was now standing on the subway platform with cold sweat trickling down her back. The reason for this was that her action of fleeing at the last moment nearly caused her to be injured as she just barely made it through the closing doors.

For now, Shirona Yui decided that she would take the walk to work very slow if, for nothing else, to calm down her racing heart. During this time, she had even forgotten about the man from earlier that gave her a familiar feeling.

This lasted for roughly ten minutes as she eventually noticed a familiar figure standing within the crowd waiting for the light to change so that they could use the pedestrian crossing. Upon seeing the familiar figure, she decided to squint her eyes slightly and try to picture him wearing a uniform. The moment she did so, a flash of inspiration went off in her mind.

"Wait, isn't he one of those security guards at Sanming? If I'm remembering correctly, his name should be Wang Xu, right?" Just as this thought entered her mind, Shirona Yui noticed something from the corner of her eyes.

She immediately looked in that direction, only to see a high school student rushing through the thinner crowd on the opposite side, trying and failing to beat the cross signal. It was then that she heard the sounds of a horn going off, only to notice a truck speeding down the road. She immediately realized that even though the truck driver was stepping on the breaks, he wouldn't be able to stop in time.

This prompted her to cover her mouth with her hands if only to stifle the scream that threatened to escape. Just as she was truly about to, however, she noticed something peculiar.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed that the spot that was previously occupied by that familiar man was now suddenly empty. As for where the high schooler was, she noticed as blur, one that she would have missed had she blinked at that moment. The next second when the truck had passed and everyone else was focusing on it, she noticed a familiar figure on the other side of the road, leaving the scene as if it had nothing to do with him. Behind him, she noticed that the previously rushing high schooler was now sitting on the floor with a confused expression.

Shirona Yui was admittedly shocked when she gathered the bits and pieces of information that she had just received and allowed them to play out in her mind. In fact, she outright refused to believe it yet the proof of the event was currently sitting on the sidewalk on the other side of the road. With this in mind, she could only forcefully swallow her uncertainties as she did her best to maintain her expression. For now, she had to figure out how to sort out the various emotions that she was currently experiencing from seeing this event.

After leaving the area of the incident, Shirona Yui was lost in thought for a while, going over what she had just witnessed. As she did so, she never noticed the peculiar smile that naturally formed on her face or the strange looks of curiosity that she received from her coworkers when she walked into the gaming studio.

It wasn't until she passed by that familiar figure once more while he was doing his rounds that she became fully aware of her surroundings. It was only after that figure had disappeared around the corner for a few moments that Shirona Yui's expression now returned to normal as she made her way to the upper floors.

As she did so, there was a strange glint in her eyes as a thought passed through her mind, 'It seems like work just got a bit more interesting.'