Chapter Twenty-Five: I Will Protect You

Saturday morning, 9:50.

“We’re here.”

Right on schedule, the bright red sports car pulled up at their date’s destination: the Ji An Ding Building, a comprehensive complex.

Ji An Ding Building was among the first facilities constructed with private investment following the official opening of Skydome City. Of its thirty floors, half were leased as office space, while the rest housed a wide variety of service businesses catering to people of all income levels. The aim was to create a place where all citizens could joyfully spend their days off.

The building’s original name, An Ding, reflected the investors’ simple hope that it would suffer little harm in the chaos of a city teeming with superpowers. Whether by fate or the power of its name, the building had never once been caught up in any of the city’s conflicts since its opening. To commemorate this miraculous peace, the investors had, just last year, officially renamed it Ji An Ding, hoping that it would stand tall for another decade and continue to bring them a steady stream of fortune.

Choosing this place for today’s main event was not without a touch of collegiate superstition—perhaps a little borrowed luck couldn’t hurt. But the more important reason was that a certain gray-haired young man had decided to seize this rare chance and try out every idea they had—surely, out of all their suggestions, one would work!

Shi Yu Lianyi was deeply skeptical.

How did you even get here?

And even if you did, you wouldn’t be much help.

·

On the main avenue of the Fixed-wing District, a yellow electric scooter zipped through the traffic at top speed. Without a helmet, the female rider steered single-handedly, while with the other she unfolded a handwritten plan, reading as she controlled the vehicle!

“Pretend to be an official giving out movie tickets… Depending on the situation, the movie is… No, I won’t make it in time now, skip ahead to phase two!”

Kira muttered as she stared at her plan, her eyes never glancing at the road—a recklessly dangerous way to ride! Yet somehow, the girl managed it. Even without paying attention to her surroundings, she dodged last-minute lane changes by massive vehicles as if she had eyes in the back of her head. The scooter wove like a snake between lanes, and if some idle esper watched from above, they’d notice the seemingly wild ride was in fact the optimal route toward the building. This path existed only in the rider’s mind, constantly shifting and refining itself in response to changing traffic, as if a strategist perched high above were feeding Kira every piece of intelligence she needed…

But the girl received no such aid—her attention was fixed solely on the scrap of paper in her hand, oblivious to the curses hurled at her from all directions.

“Oh god, my car! How the hell does she drive?!” An all-too-familiar voice rose above the multilingual tirade of drivers, but Kira filtered it out as background noise.

“Gongsun Ce and Qin Qianbai aren’t here. Shi Yu Lianyi’s love life is up to me alone.”

Beneath her twin pink ponytails, Kira steeled herself.

They’d all been so good to her—this was a debt she had to repay. If she gave up now, Shi Yu Lianyi’s date would almost certainly fail, and she couldn’t let such a tragedy unfold!

“Gongsun Ce won’t do, Qin Qianbai won’t do…” Miss Kira charged toward her goal, determined. “The only one who can protect you is me—Kira! I’ll be the guardian of your love!”

The scooter swung boldly around a corner, darted between a truck and a black sedan from the next lane, and shot through the intersection in the last second before the light changed!

Kira sped off, leaving the others in her wake.

The driver of the black sedan, a burly man in a black vest, stared ahead in disbelief. “Did I just get cut off by a scooter?”

The crew-cut passenger beside him said, “Did you see that girl? She looked a lot like…”

The truck ahead of them started to move, and the big man followed. Just then, a brown two-wheeled vehicle shot past from the side, streaking like lightning straight across their path!

“So that’s how it’s done.”

“Too fast—ran a red light—ah—!!”

The young man’s shriek faded, and the long-haired rider and his companion in a baseball cap were gone, their vehicle’s bark-like frame disappearing into the distance.

Startled, the driver slammed the brakes, and his three passengers bounced off their seats, their heads hitting the roof in three sharp thuds—thud, thud, thud!

“Damn!” The burly driver sat back, grimacing as he recalled the battered vehicle. Furious and embarrassed, he shouted, “A wooden bike? I got cut off by a wooden bike?!”

The crew-cut man in the passenger seat said again, “Did you see the guy riding it? I swear he looked just like…”

In the back sat a blond punk with a streetwise air. His left cheek had met the window during the first emergency stop, and now his right forehead had taken a hit in the latest one. Cursing his rotten luck, the esper pounded the seat and yelled, “Stop saying ‘looked like’—it was that bastard from the other night! After him! Go!!”

The driver stared blankly. “Which one should I chase?”

“Both! Step on it!”

The big man glanced at the road ahead. The two wild riders had plunged the lanes into a snarl of traffic as dense as a Friday evening rush, and the cacophony of horns and curses shook the air outside.

“Shit! We’re stuck!”

·

Bringing his secret crush into the building, Shi Yu heard his collaborator’s voice in his earpiece.

While replying silently, Shi Yu multitasked, turning to the girl beside him. “Shall we head to the tenth floor first?”

“Lianyi, don’t say I didn’t warn you, the furniture here is pretty expensive.”

The young man in the suit nodded.

“I know. That’s exactly why I wanted to come here—I made some money at my part-time job recently and don’t know how to spend it.”

The woman in the hat slung her arm around his shoulder. “But since you’re worried about buying shoddy furniture because you lack experience, you specially asked me to help, right~?”

No, that wasn’t it at all.

He smiled, spreading his hands. “You saw right through me.”

He led Cardesia into the elevator, Kira’s suggestions echoing in his mind.

Kira’s voice sounded a little frantic.

His face felt hot. He quickly skipped the topic to avoid embarrassment.

Kira’s sigh drifted into his mind, leaving him with a rare sense of inadequacy.

The elevator arrived at the tenth floor, and the logo of a major furniture chain glowed above the doors.

“Let’s go, Cardesia. Where do you want to start?”

The blonde girl looked at him with a half-smile. “Where I want to go? I thought you were the one shopping for furniture~?”

He was momentarily at a loss for words.

“I’m just used to it…”

“You know, it’s nice to have a gentleman at your side like this, but sometimes you need to take the initiative! Other girls would see this as indecisive.”

Yet if he’d simply declared, “I want to go…” she’d scold him for making it all about himself and tell him a gentleman should let the lady browse first.

Whatever he did, Cardesia always had a reason.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Mm-hmm, good—so, what are you planning to buy?”

And there it was, thrown back at him again. Just like always.

“I was thinking of checking out section G first.”

They entered the furniture showroom to the staff’s welcoming greetings.

The mall had only just opened, with most shoppers still crowding the lower floors, so the furniture area was relatively quiet. Guided by signs, they wound their way through the maze of neatly categorized displays.

“Every time I come here I feel like I’m wasting time. No matter what you want, you have to wander through the whole place. Have they ever considered the customer’s feelings?” Cardesia grumbled, then her eyes lit up a moment later. “Hey, look, Lianyi! This little cabinet is cute!”

From your reaction, the showroom’s layout works perfectly well.

“Cardesia, you just got a new nightstand two months ago,” Shi Yu gently reminded her. “You said it would last for years.”

“Ah… right… right! I was just thinking of getting a spare one!”

“Do you really have room for it at home?”

She pressed her hat down in frustration. “Fine. Let’s go look at pillow covers instead.”

As a result, he spent another ten minutes accompanying her just to reach the G section a few meters away, repeatedly reminding his dear companion not to impulsively buy things she already owned or didn’t need.

He admitted he rather enjoyed it. If not for the date’s plan, he could have spent the entire day with her, just like before…

…

Shi Yu Lianyi caught himself. He couldn’t allow such thoughts—he’d come today to take the initiative and move their relationship forward!

They passed the sign for section G. Cardesia glanced at the directory, puzzled.

“Isn’t this the children’s furniture section?”

The young man in the suit hesitated. Should he really trust his friends’ advice? Was this Gongsun’s plan or Kira’s?

Children’s furniture—so was it about childhood? Cardesia had always been youthful at heart; maybe she’d find something she liked here. Ostensibly, he was shopping for furniture, but the real aim was to segue into a conversation about Cardesia’s childhood memories—is that the strategy?

He glanced toward the bedding area in the distance—that had been the initial target set by the planning team yesterday.

—At least it wasn’t as disastrous as Qin Qianbai’s suggestion to buy a double bed.

With that, Shi Yu Lianyi decided to act.

“What I want is right here. I figured no one has more experience with this than you.”

“I see!” Cardesia looked intrigued. “Is it an indoor slide or a little basketball hoop? I wouldn’t have pegged you for someone interested in that!”

Home playsets were sold in this section, so, as expected, Gongsun and the others had chosen the “childhood memories” approach.

Was it because of his background that they’d come up with this idea? Shi Yu Lianyi smiled wryly; it was true he’d never had such toys as a child.

From that angle, it was a good way to open up a conversation… but he should still avoid talking about himself and instead, gently ask about Cardesia’s childhood later.

“Let’s see, G10 is—”

He and the eager girl looked two aisles over.

Beneath a large sign marked “10” was a cozy display area where various small pieces of furniture had been arranged in neat rows. Each piece didn’t take up much space, and all were surrounded by safety railings. In the middle, soft white mats and small pillows created an inviting atmosphere of comfort and relaxation.

…

Even before coming to Skydome City, Shi Yu Lianyi knew what this kind of furniture was called.

“Hey, Lianyi.”

Something was definitely wrong with the plan.

Whether he’d misunderstood or Miss Kira had confused the plan sheet, something had clearly gone awry.

Because its name was…

“You really think I have a lot of experience in this area?”

For once, Cardesia’s voice had a frosty edge.

“Tell me, why exactly did you want my help picking out a crib?”

—He was utterly doomed.