Chapter Ten: Reaching Out to the Fading Silhouette

7:30 PM, Thorn District.

Cardacia and Reiichi Shigure were walking down the street toward the Pigeon Station.

“That damn Gong Sunce! He’s in college and still resorts to these childish acts of revenge!”

The blonde woman in the top hat swung her shopping bag with exaggerated force as she vented her grievances to the young man beside her. Their club's first dinner together had turned out to be instant noodles and packaged meals, all prepared by the apartment’s owner himself. One particular bowl, so vividly red it seemed to burn, must have reflected the chef’s personal mood. Just how many packets of chili powder did he have to add to achieve that color?

The young man in the suit pressed his hands downward, as if to calm the storm. “Well, Gong Sun was chased through half the city…”

Cardacia scoffed dismissively.

“Hmph! He brought it all on himself, whichever way you look at it!”

“But you’re the one who actually pulled the trigger, aren’t you, Cardacia?”

Though he hadn’t been at the scene, the young man spoke as if he’d witnessed it all.

The blonde girl chuckled gleefully.

“Wasn’t it hilarious, seeing him darting around in a panic? Even when all those organizations tried to hunt him down, they never managed to fluster him like that!”

Panic-stricken, floundering, fleeing for dear life—these were not words one would normally associate with the gray-haired youth. Gong Sunce always managed to appear composed… at least, when he wasn’t being reckless. For someone usually so self-assured to be shrieking, dodging pursuers, and seeking shelter—it was the sort of scene that would make any old acquaintance smile in secret.

The young man recalled someone hiding behind him and laughed softly in agreement. “It really was entertaining.”

The blonde girl poked her companion’s cheek with her finger.

“You know, Reiichi, you’re always so sly at times like these~”

“I didn’t do anything,” he protested.

“Oh, stop pretending! This was the perfect chance to spill the beans to them!”

As her finger poked at him again and again, he had no choice but to tilt his head in avoidance.

“I just think it’s better to let them work things out for themselves, don’t you? As friends, it’s not our place to force our opinions on them just because we think we’re right. In other words, bystanders should know when to stay on the sidelines.”

The girl glared at him, clearly unmoved by his reasoning. She put down the shopping bag, raised two fingers in a mock fighting stance, and declared in a villainous tone fit for a final boss:

“Don’t move! Let me poke you!”

Resigned, Reiichi stood still, allowing her to poke to her heart’s content.

“You do have a point…” Cardacia conceded, picking up the shopping bag. “But blockheads who can’t read a person’s feelings deserve to be run over by a tractor!”

How did the punishment for clueless boys escalate from horses to heavy farm machinery?

Is even this a sign of technological progress, or should we at least preserve some basic humanitarian principles in the ever-advancing tide of the times?

“Coming from you, Cardacia, that’s especially convincing.”

“Huh?! Reiichi, are you questioning my social skills?”

‘Social skills’ sounded like one of those convenient powers in a novel that leveled up for various effects.

The young man in the suit had never doubted her ability to get along with people.

He just thought that, of all things, Cardacia Spencer was in no position to criticize others for being dense.

“Am I?” he replied vaguely, steering the conversation in another direction before she could react. “By the way, we haven’t seen much of the psychic organizations lately.”

The mercurial girl’s attention shifted instantly.

“I mean, even us first-generation psychics are in college now. No matter how much those brats love psychic battles, they should have outgrown playing house by now. Picking fights and marking turf in back alleys—how dumb can you get?”

“So, you’re saying that even the organizations’ psychics have ‘graduated’ from that phase?”

She closed her eyes in contemplation.

Reiichi smiled inwardly. She probably wanted to look like a sleeping detective, but to him, she resembled nothing more than a drowsy student in an exam hall.

Finally, the sleepy examinee roused herself. “A good number probably have moved on as they got older… Besides, the idiots in the Azure District have actually accomplished something for once these past few years.”

Whenever the subject turned to politicians and bureaucrats, the girl in the top hat would become utterly loquacious.

“You wouldn’t believe how bad they used to be! Steel giants and bio-beasts brawling in broad daylight, angsty organization kids fighting in schools and on the streets, lab-coat lunatics and their lackeys luring children for experiments—the whole city felt like a den of thieves! Only after all the fighting was over did the gray-coats drag themselves out to patch things up, fix the broken buildings, and then, come year-end, spout some officialese about how the city’s accident rate had dropped a few more percentage points… Ugh!”

“If you ask me, the only place people from the Three Kingdoms ever truly work together is right here: ministers and officials close the gates of Azure District and have friendly discussions on how to play deaf and dumb. In under ten years, the art of doing nothing has advanced in the Celestial Capital more than it had in the past century—any school teacher you grab can spout you a mix of kingdom nonsense, union platitudes, and imperial bureaucratese. Ask where all that foreign investment went without any real improvements, and they’ll have a mountain of excuses for you…”

Once she got going, the blonde wouldn’t stop. The youth from Zero Isle let her words in one ear and out the other, expertly consigning her sharp commentary to oblivion. Her impassioned tirade lasted about five minutes. Just as they neared the boundary of the central district, Cardacia suddenly realized, “Wait—since when did we pass the Pigeon Station?!”

“I was just following you,” the young man in the suit replied with feigned surprise. “I thought you didn’t want to walk the empty road today.”

“That’s not it! I bought a gift for the new tenant!” she huffed, lifting the shopping bag. “You should’ve reminded me!”

“Yes, yes, it’s all my fault.”

What exactly was in that bag? Even he couldn’t guess at the girl’s ingenuity.

Still, he was sure that when Cardacia’s new housemate received the gift, their reaction would be priceless—and as her brother, that thought made him quite happy.

“How are you getting along with your new roommate?”

“Not bad~” Cardacia replied ambiguously. “Seems like someone with quite a story… but sometimes comes across as naïve, just like Kira.”

Naïve?

If Gong Sun heard her say that, he’d surely be the first to protest. From a family member’s perspective, though, perhaps the word fit.

But to describe the pink-haired girl that way—no, that didn’t seem right.

“I think…” He drew a small notebook from his pocket. “Miss Kira isn’t a naïve person.”

Cardacia arched an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“She may seem clueless and act strangely, but to me, her actions are driven by a clear sense of purpose.”

Reiichi opened the notebook to a page marked with a timeline.

“Singing on the street was to attract attention. Clinging to Gong Sun at all costs was to keep the only person who could perceive her. Through interacting with Gong Sun, she managed to recover some of her abilities—a great success for someone seeking to reclaim herself. She immediately latched onto this new acquaintance, trying every means to stay by his side. Those intimate gestures were calculated to draw closer, not the innocent playfulness she projects. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The blonde in the top hat laid a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Reiichi, you could be more positive. Sometimes the world isn’t as bad as you think.”

He laughed.

“If you judge everyone through tinted glasses, every action starts to look like a calculated move! Really, you should trust people more!”

Reiichi closed the notebook and blinked at her.

“Wasn’t it you, Cardacia, who once told me ‘the city’s dangerous, you’re not good at fighting head-on, so you’d better learn to protect yourself,’ and then shoved a handgun at me?”

“Ah…”

The blonde girl stood there, mouth half-open, awkward for a moment before retorting, as he laughed, “That was then, this is now! You need to learn to be flexible!”

“Fair enough.”

Seizing the opportunity, she started scolding him with a pretext.

“That’s why, Reiichi, you’ve never been able to find a girlfriend!”

“Huh?”

The young man looked startled.

Cardacia pointed at him in annoyance. “Your gloomy way of thinking makes you seem unapproachable! I’ve introduced you to several of my classmates, and they all said they felt uneasy around you!”

That was more likely due to the notorious reputations of you and Gong Sun.

…Wait a minute.

Wait, wait.

“Cardacia, you introduced me to your classmates…?”

She slung an arm around his shoulder like an old uncle, her fingers fidgeting before his eyes.

“Hey, hey, you’re in college now, right? You’re past the age of sneaking peeks at videos under the covers; it’s time for the real thing!”

For once, the young man in the suit was flustered.

“Wha—what?”

“I’m saying, it’s about time you found a girlfriend! You can’t spend your whole life hanging out with me, can you?”

He was left completely… unprepared.

He never expected her to say something like this.

What happened to you? Did something set you off lately? Are you wrapped up in some incident? Did Zero-sister say something…?

Has she noticed something off about him?

Did she discover the truth of Reiichi Shigure’s past?

A nameless panic welled up in his chest. Only then did he realize he might have made a mistake. Was there still a way to fix it… He had to do something…!

“You know, in another ten or twenty years, we won’t be who we are now.”

Yet the words from her mouth were nothing like what he’d feared.

“In a decade or so, you’ll probably be a handsome uncle, Reiichi. I doubt I’ll still be this pretty and youthful—time is a woman’s enemy, after all.”

Nothing to do with the world beneath the surface, nothing to do with a dark past.

Just an ordinary girl, imagining her own future.

“By then, we’ll be long past being students. These are our last days to enjoy youth. And you—don’t wait until you’re forty to chase after high school girls like me, or you’ll get hauled off as a creep!”

Cardacia burst out laughing.

“So, Reiichi, go and get yourself a girlfriend now—experience what love is like. Sure, love makes people act like fools, but someone as smart as you could stand to be a little foolish, once in a while!”

Reiichi gazed silently at the girl beside him.

She stood within arm’s reach, yet seemed so far away.

As if, with the slightest misstep, she might vanish from his world.

“I… haven’t given it much thought yet,” he replied, doing his best to sound as indifferent as possible.

“If you keep being so stiff, you’ll grow old before your time. Be careful,” Cardacia said, shaking her bag. “Well, we’re in the central district now, I might as well get a facial before heading back. Bye~”

“Bye.”

He answered reflexively.

His mind was a tangled mess.

He stood there, stunned, watching as her figure receded into the neon-lit night of the city.

By the time he returned to himself, Reiichi had already called out.

“Cardacia!”

The blonde girl turned back.

“What is it?”

What was he supposed to say now?

He hadn’t planned this at all, but he realized he had to do something.

Otherwise, the frustration in his heart wouldn’t rest.

Otherwise, he’d toss and turn through the night, unable to sleep.

“Are you free this weekend? I… wanted to go shopping for some things.”

Too abrupt.

He couldn’t even think of a decent excuse.

“You know I’m not good at this sort of thing…”

All he could do was blurt out something clumsy, hoping it would suffice.

Cardacia laughed in surprise.

“That’s rare—it’s not every day you want to go shopping, Reiichi! Sure, I’m free this weekend. Just let me know when and where~”

“Alright. See you.”

He smiled gently, watching her walk away.

Then, Reiichi silently recited a certain name, using his psychic ability to establish a link.

It took even longer than he expected for the telepathic connection to go through; apparently, the person he sought had already left the Thorn District apartment.

At last, the line in his mind connected.

(Gong Sun, it’s about romance—I need your help this weekend.)

The gray-haired youth’s astonished voice echoed in his mind.

(You finally came around? I’m out right now—details later, just leave it to me!)