Lei Mi - Profiler

"Haven't I been helping you all along?"

"Yes, you're right. Thank you."

"No need to be so polite. However, I do have one request. Will you keep our sessions a secret?"

"Yes."

Sleep. Read. Class. Basketball occasionally.

No worrying about who might be killed. No coming face to face with a bloodsucking madman. Even the old nightmares were few and far between.

This was happiness.

Fang Mu passed that week like a normal student, his days filled with study and leisure. Life was peaceful. When the weekend came, he used the time to visit home, where he filled up on his mother's cooking and gained four pounds.

The weather grew hotter. And though he did not know why, his spirits improved.

Riding the bus back to school, he felt the wind brush softly against his face. His skin tingled delightfully. The sun was blazing down outside, and the smell of green grass filled the air. He felt the bottles and jars stuffed inside his bag, filled with meat sauce and pickled vegetables that his mom had prepared for him. Leaning lazily against the seat back, he closed his eyes and dozed off.

How long had it been since he'd last felt this way?

When Fang Mu walked into the dorm room, Du Yu was playing Counter-Strike .

"You're back?" he asked when he heard the door open, though he didn't take his eyes off the screen.

"Why aren't you out with Zhang Yao? The weather's perfect today."

Du Yu laughed. "She's at her private tutoring job. Anyway, it's nice having some time to myself."

Fang Mu took out a jar of meat sauce and placed it on Du Yu's desk. "Here, this is for you. My mom made it. You should try some."

"Huh?" Taken off guard, Du Yu turned to look at it. "Oh, thanks."

"Watch out!" Fang Mu yelled, pointing at the screen.

"Wha-?" Du Yu spun around and grabbed for the mouse and keyboard. But he was too late. With a bang, his character's head exploded.

"Shit. That's it, I'm done." Du Yu exited the game. Then he withdrew a pair of chopsticks from his desk drawer and opened the jar of meat sauce. Sticking his chopsticks in, he stirred the sauce around, and then grabbed a few chunks of meat and ate them.

"Oh, man!" he cried, chewing. "This stuff is good! Your mom is a serious cook."

"Then eat up. I've got a bunch more over here."

"All right, tonight I'll eat noodles for dinner. Mixed with some of this sauce, it'll be delicious." Du Yu grabbed another big piece and ate it.

"Guess you like salty things, too." Fang Mu smiled.

"You know, brother," said Du Yu, chewing as he spoke, "recently you've seemed pretty happy."

"Yeah?" said Fang Mu, only half paying attention as he put away his things.

"I think it's good for you, being around other people more. No reason to be so standoffish all the time."

Fang Mu laughed. "Everyone thinks I'm pretty weird, don't they?"

"Um…" Du Yu hesitated for a moment. "I wouldn't put it that way. Really they just think you're too introverted."

Fang Mu laughed. "Yeah, I understand."

"Over the past little while it always seemed like something was troubling you. Liu Jianjun told me he once saw you walking alone in the hallway in the middle of the night. You know if there's ever anything on your mind you can talk to me. We're good friends, aren't we?"

Fang Mu studied Du Yu thoughtfully. The guy's expression was totally sincere.

Man , thought Fang Mu, first time I ever give him something and he's touched this deeply?

He smiled. "That's right. We're good friends."

After eating lunch, Fang Mu and Du Yu sat at their desks, each using their computer. Du Yu was once more massacring players in Counter-Strike like he didn't know the meaning of exhaustion. As for Fang Mu, he had originally intended to organize his records from the Ma Kai case, but now he found that he had no desire to let that dark and bloody affair occupy his mind that afternoon. So having nothing much else to do, he went online and browsed aimlessly.

The door opened. Holding a basketball, Liu Jianjun burst into the room along with several other students, all of them talking and laughing it up. When they saw Fang Mu their voices suddenly fell.

"Still at it?" asked Liu Jianjun, tossing the ball on the floor. "How many times have you been headshot so far?" He pulled off Du Yu's mic and headphones. "Come on, let's go play."

"Stop, let me just finish this game," said Du Yu distractedly, his eyes on the screen

The basketball rolled over to Fang Mu and rubbed against his pants, leaving a mark.

Fang Mu kicked it away.

Seeing Fang Mu's dirty pant leg, Liu Jianjun looked a little embarrassed.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"No problem," said Fang Mu, waving his hand. Then he turned back to his computer and continued surfing the net.

"Aw, man, this guy is frickin' deadly," said Du Yu, leaning back in his chair in

annoyance. "I'm done. This just isn't my day. Let's go play some ball."

Bending over, he grabbed his basketball shoes from under the bed and pulled them on. Then he turned to Fang Mu. "Hey, let's both go."

"What? Oh, no thanks."

"What? Since you're such a superstar, are we gonna have to give you an appearance fee to play with us?" said Du Yu, laughing.

"Aw, don't listen to him," said Liu Jianjun, politely joining in. "You should just come."

Fang Mu hesitated for a moment, and then grabbed a pair of athletic shorts from his dresser, put them on, and followed the others out.

When it came time choose teams at the court, Du Yu made sure Fang Mu was on his side.

"You all had better watch out," he said, pointing at Fang Mu with a half-serious look on his face. "This guy's a beast."

The game began. It was four on four, half-court, and before long eight people were competing fiercely; cutting to the hoop, leaping for rebounds, and scrambling for the ball. Actually, that wasn’t quite correct; in fact, during the first several minutes of play, only seven people were doing those things, while Fang Mu remained practically rooted in place, unsure what to do.

He couldn't even remember the last time he'd played in a game like the one he now found himself in. For who knows how long, all he'd done was practice free throws by himself, and he now found it extremely difficult to adapt.

Suddenly, Du Yu burst through the crowd towards the hoop, dribbling fast. Leaping into the air, he saw Liu Jianjun's enormous frame come flying at him, arms up and ready to block the ball into the stratosphere. At the last second, he spotted Fang Mu out of the corner of his eye, still standing by the foul line, and with a flick of the wrist he passed the ball.

Stunned, Fang Mu instinctively caught the ball. At that moment, one of his teammates cut under the hoop. No one was nearby. Without thinking, Fang Mu immediately passed him the ball, and the teammate unhurriedly laid it in.

"Beautiful!" cried several players in admiration.

The player who just scored ran excitedly over to Fang Mu with his hand raised. At a loss, Fang Mu lifted his own hand.

Smack! The two of them high-fived.

This sound sent sparks shooting through Fang Mu's brain, and all of a sudden he was filled with a strange yet familiar feeling.

Sweat-soaked backs and blazing-hot afternoons. Friendly cheers and shouted taunts.

The bygone days of his youth, when he had lived without worry or sadness.

Again someone passed the ball to him. This time he caught it smoothly, dribbled between his legs, and then faked left and crossed hard to the right…

Yes, that's how I used to do it.

Is that Eldest Brother jumping to block me?

Stopping on a dime, he leapt into the air and extended his arm. That old familiar feeling.

Swish. The ball dropped through the net.