Chapter Twenty-Eight: Next Time!

"I thought that was truly what you all called me."
The yellow-haired thug wore the exact same expression as Miles had when he’d been cornered earlier. Such poetic justice! The bullies of the organization preyed upon weaker students, only to tremble like pendulums before a stronger esper—such was the ruthless food chain of the modern concrete jungle. Survival of the fittest!

The handgun was still pressed against the head of the blue stuffed bear.
The demon dropped his eyes, staring at the muzzle.
Desperately, the yellow-haired thug forced a smile uglier than a sob. He shakily moved the gun aside, awkwardly rubbing the plush fur of the costume with his wrist.
"Mis-misunderstanding. I, I, I, I just wanted to wipe your brow for you..."

"I remember now. You were there last time when the Wings of Death came looking for trouble. I recall your ability: you can enhance the bullets of a specific handgun model."
Gongsun Ce glanced at the crew-cut man who had pulled out a pair of nunchaku.

The crew-cut man quickly wrapped the nunchaku around his neck, squeezed his voice, and said, "Thi-this is, uh, my new necklace. How do you like it?"

"Very trendy. And your ability is to inflict severe poison on anyone struck by your weapon, right?"
The muscular crew-cut man’s face turned purple, as if he’d been poisoned before even activating his power.

Dressed in the mascot suit, Gongsun Ce turned to the last of the group—a hulking brute.
"This one’s unfamiliar. Is he new?"

The yellow-haired thug rubbed his hands together. "Da Wu only joined us last year, he’s new, doesn’t know better, please forgive him… Da Wu! Call him Brother Demon!"

The burly driver was just about to activate his power, but this interruption left his expression twisted, as if constipated.
He stared blankly. "The demon? That four-eyed idiot in a bear suit?"

The entire scene fell silent.
Experienced bystanders had long since fled the center of the conflict. Besides the mall’s piped-in light music, the only audible sound was a series of "gawk, gawk" noises coming from a junior high schooler’s throat.

The brute scoffed loudly.
"What’s this supposed to be? Stop fooling around! Let’s finish up and get to business!"
Dark purple-black beams coiled around him as he charged forward, shouting fiercely, "Death Rush!!"

"Ahhhhh—!"
The yellow-haired and crew-cut men clung to each other in terror, both muscle-bound men shrieking like frightened girls!

Four white walls materialized out of thin air, sealing off the area where the five stood!

"—Ahhhhh!"
Realizing he’d been drawn into the battlefield, Miles’s scream was even more piercing—a chorus of high-pitched male voices, like a hellish symphony.

"That technique name fits my image of you all perfectly."
The gray-haired youth raised his hand, pointing forward.
"Death Bouncy Ball."

In the next instant, the heavy thud of something slamming against the floor echoed from within the white, sealed box.
Everyone on that mall level heard the relentless series of impacts, including the two standing outside the cinema.

·

"Oh my~"
Cardecia clapped excitedly on her companion’s back.
"What’s going on over there, Lianyi?"

The young man in the suit replied gloomily,
"I really have no idea…"
He sincerely hoped the commotion nearby had nothing to do with his date, though his keen ears had already identified the sound: that unique crash against white matter.

What on earth was Gongsun up to? Could he and Qin Qianbai have started a real fight?

Shiyu Lianyi resignedly said, "I think Gongsun may have been smashed into a white wall by Qin Qianbai."

The blonde girl burst out laughing.
"I remember now—he really did get beaten like that before! Now that I think about it, it’s hilarious!"

How carefree you are, Cardecia. Compared to your ever-optimistic spirit, I can’t even muster a smile now.
Shiyu Lianyi fervently prayed his sister hadn’t gotten involved in the chaos; the situation was bad enough that even if a god of misfortune was watching from afar, surely they’d be satisfied and relent by now!

"I hope Gongsun doesn’t get badly hurt."

He looked at the tickets in his hand. The three strategists had picked a film yesterday, supposedly perfect for couples in love—though they’d kept its title a secret to preserve the surprise. But now, with the Grand Strategist and Second Strategist at each other’s throats and the Third Strategist out of breath, their careful plans might as well be tossed in the trash.

There was no salvaging today’s date; he’d just have to go with the usual routine.

"Cardecia, what movie do you want to see today?"

She winked at him. "Mmm~ I thought you’d have picked something in advance, Lianyi?"

Shiyu Lianyi decided to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Ahem, actually, I—"

Whoosh—!

Just as he spoke, a bolt of red lightning shot past the two of them!

The "lightning" was actually a large, lumbering red bear, barreling through the mall’s corridor at a speed no human could match, sending gusts of wind swirling and causing several customers to shriek as they pressed down their skirts!

The bear turned slowly and walked toward them, holding two movie tickets in its paw.

"Ah~"
His beloved companion let out a deliberately surprised gasp, her face all but declaring, "I get it, I really do."
Shiyu Lianyi stood frozen, unable to utter a single word.

"Hello. I’m the Red Bear, here to give gifts to couples."

After this introduction, it prepared to hand over the tickets, but suddenly pulled its paw back.
"…kuma."
Then, like an actor who’d missed their cue, it hurriedly added the line it had forgotten.

Cardecia clutched his arm, laughing like a fool.
"Ahahahahaha… cough, cough, cough!"

Perhaps she’d laughed too hard and choked on her own spit; she started coughing. Bathed in the gazes of passersby, the young man in the suit patted her back, staring at the polished floor.

For the first time in his life, he wished the ground would open and swallow him up.

The Red Bear and the Pink Bear both turned to look at him, strengthening his urge to flee in disgrace.

At length, Cardecia caught her breath. She pointed back toward the disturbance and asked,
"That idiot—did you take care of him that quickly?"

The Red Bear clearly didn’t understand the question. After a pause, it replied,
"There were three idiots."

"Three!" The questioner was shocked. "When did he develop a white-matter cloning technique?"

"Not Ah Ce… ah-CHOO."
The Red Bear tried to cover with a sneeze, but the young man in the suit could no longer bear to watch. He established a telepathic link, his face ashen: (Cardecia’s already caught on to the plan.)

(………………………………)

Perhaps too stunned to reply, the Red Bear didn’t answer right away.
It glanced between the two of them, then shoved the tickets into the blonde girl’s hand.
"Red Bear heard the movie starting in five minutes has good reviews."

"Xiao Qian, you forgot to add ‘kuma.’"

"Go watch it."

"I’m really not interested—"

The Red Bear took a step forward, exuding wordless pressure.
"Just go, Cardecia."

"Hey~ is there any mall staff around~? There’s a delinquent mascot here trying to coerce customers with violence~~"

The Red Bear adopted a sophisticated combat stance—a silent, unyielding threat!

"That’s that, then."

Onlookers all turned to the handsome young man at the center of the vortex. His expression was empty, his face calm—like one who, after suffering a crushing blow, had transcended the world and was ready to shave his head and renounce it all.

"Cardecia…"
The suited young man finally spoke, his tone flat, detached, and tinged with the wooden stiffness of old age. He spoke only her name, nothing more, yet the crowd felt his emotions keenly.
Young girls discreetly dabbed at their eyes while boys squeezed their eyes shut, silently screaming within! They understood—the bitterness and awkward pain, this was youth!

Let him go! Let him go! The bystanders prayed for the stranger in their hearts. Could there truly be such a heartless woman in the world, who would continue to torment him?

The blonde girl in the hat poked her companion’s cheek.
She grinned wickedly, "Lianyi, are you really scared of the bear? Come on, you can’t be that frightened, can you?"

Ahhhhh! The imagined cries of anguished boys filled the air, though only he could hear them.

"…Shall we… go see the movie?"
Even so—even so! The young man in the suit stubbornly went on!

Sigh~ The blonde girl let out an exaggerated breath, as if making the greatest concession, and took the tickets.
"No helping it~ Let’s check out Xiao Qian’s special recommendation."

The Red Bear and the bystanders stood at the entrance to the cinema, silently watching the two figures depart. Only after they’d disappeared through the ticket check did the bear remove its headpiece.

The girl’s expression was blank as she sighed,
"Love is really hard."

"Wu wu wu… wu ah… What’s wrong with a man wanting to fall in love…""It’s just too hard, too hard…""My heart aches, my hands are shaking, it reminds me of my first love…"

The bachelors all chimed in with heavy hearts, while the lucky ones with girlfriends only felt all the more fortunate—heaven bless them, they’d never been this embarrassed.

Pitter-patter. The sound of plush pads on the floor heralded the Pink Bear and Red Bear meeting at the theater door.

"Qin Qianbai, what movie did they go see?"

"The one playing now. I chose it based on reviews; it’s supposed to be great for couples."

Qiluo scrutinized the title and poster, frowning,
"…It doesn’t really look like it. Did you check the synopsis?"

The Red Bear shook its head.
"Couldn’t find a pirated version of the new release. Only saw the reviews."

Both bears stared at the poster—two beautiful actresses locked in an embrace and kiss, with a giant "Restricted" warning in the upper right corner—feeling something was off.

·

"Secret White Garden ~ Forbidden Love ~"

The moment he saw the title, Shiyu Lianyi knew this film wasn’t right for him.

When he realized he was the only man in the theater, he had a sinking premonition.

When the two young, beautiful actresses entwined their fingers on screen, he knew his premonition had come true.

Now, ten minutes into the movie, the two female leads were performing outdoors, their skillful acting propelling this fast-paced art film into its first climax.

Cardecia softly whistled.
"Lianyi, I really underestimated you. Your taste is impressive."

The young man in the suit couldn’t bring himself to speak; he switched to telepathy.

(Can we go watch something else?)

(Why? It’s great! I want to see it—stay and watch with me!)

A desperate inner voice echoed in his mind, urging him to hold on, not to falter here—just get through this movie and everything would be fine.

He glanced at the tickets. Thankfully, the film was short: only an hour and a half.

Only an hour and a half.

The inner voice fell silent for a while, then pronounced his sentence in an unnaturally cheerful tone.

The young man in the suit closed his eyes and sent a silent plea to his friend.

(Gongsun, save me…)

You’re a genius—remember it in a second: Red Spring—