"Let's go."
Bai Qian didn't give her time to stand there blankly. He took her hand and turned to leave.
"Hey! Wait!"
The teacher on the podium finally snapped out of it. His glasses were still crooked on the bridge of his nose, and the half-stick of chalk in his hand was damp with sweat.
"Which school are you from?! This is class! Where are you taking my student?!"
"We're not going!" Kiana shrieked as she bolted out the door. "We're done being nobodies—we're going to be famous!"
A few students who had been craning their necks in the hallway instantly ducked back in at that shout.
No one dared to stop them.
They crossed the main building lobby and pushed open the heavy glass doors.
The moment the doors swung wide, a wave of heat rolled in—carrying the scent of freshly cut grass and the distant noise from the athletic field.
Mei instinctively narrowed her eyes.
It was four in the afternoon. The sun hung low in the west, its light spilling over the treetops beyond the school wall, striking down without mercy.
The asphalt under her feet radiated warmth. Sunlight landed on her shoulders, clinging to her skin—almost hot.
Raiden Mei stopped.
She lifted her head without shielding her eyes.
The sky was an endless blue. A few clouds drifted lazily by. It didn't feel like running for her life. It didn't feel like hiding.
This was good. This was good.
Toyokawa Saki paused and hitched her slipping shoulder bag higher. She looked at the one in front, then at Kiana still buzzing with excitement.
Then her gaze settled on Mei—her school uniform slightly messy, like someone had grabbed her and yanked her out of a gray life by force.
"So," Saki said, breaking the silence of footsteps, "where to next?"
Dragging someone out of their bleak routine felt amazing, sure. She'd fantasized about slamming a resignation letter into a capitalist's face too. But reality was reality.
"We've escaped, but we can't just stand here roasting in the sun forever."
Saki glanced at Kiana.
"Don't look at me," Kiana said, scratching her head. The little cowlick on top bounced twice. "I want to invite Mei to my place, but it's buried under game cartridges and snack wrappers. You'd basically have to enter standing up."
"And the landlord would catch us," Saki added, mercilessly cutting off the option. "We can't afford a hotel, and we're not sleeping on the street."
Mei lowered her head and drew in a breath.
"…Come to my home."
She looked up again, fingers unconsciously pinching the edge of her skirt.
"It's just me there now."
She hesitated, sweeping her gaze over the group—and finally stopping on Bai Qian's face.
"And about my father…"
Her throat bobbed.
"I want you to explain it properly."
Finally.
"Perfect. Big help," Bai Qian said with a nod, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow. "Without Raiden Mei, what are we supposed to eat?"
"Huh?"
Mei blinked, her fingers loosening on her skirt.
"Yeah! What are we eating?!" Kiana sprang like she'd heard a trigger word.
She darted to Mei's side and hooked an arm through hers—so practiced it was like she'd rehearsed it a thousand times.
"I want Mei's cooking! I'm going to Mei's house!"
Her eyes shone like floodlights, her grin stretching to her ears.
Her internal drama was already playing at full volume:
Ha! Now I can officially find out where Mei lives! And I can go into her room! This is a date, right? This is totally the prelude to living together! Hohoho—relationship progress unlocked! No way I'm losing after leaving a good impression in Mei's heart! Once I succeed, I'll give everyone wedding candy—
"If I were you," Rin said, walking beside Herta, the ruby pendant still pinched between her fingers, "I'd be more worried about the police."
She flicked her eyes toward the school gate. Someone in the security office seemed to be on the phone, panicked.
"You broke into a school in broad daylight, forcibly removed a student, and used something that looked suspiciously like an explosive."
Rin curled a strand of hair around her finger, gaze circling Bai Qian once.
"In the world of magi, that's a declaration of war. In the world of ordinary people, it's a felony."
She paused, her eyes landing on Mei's straightened spine.
"But since the person involved is willing to run… congratulations. We're accomplices now."
…
They cut through a park. The noise of the city gradually fell away behind them, and the buildings grew taller and farther apart.
They arrived.
The Raiden estate.
A Japanese-style mansion compound—high walls wrapped in ivy, a heavy wooden gate shut tight.
On the nameplate by the entrance, the characters for Raiden reflected a dull glint in the late sun.
"This is it."
Mei stood before the gate, reached into her uniform pocket, fumbled a moment, and drew out a key.
She took a slow breath, turned her wrist—
and opened the door.
"Please, come in."
Inside was a wide courtyard. The raked gravel of the dry landscape garden hadn't been tended in ages; a few dead leaves lay scattered across it.
The house was huge—so huge it felt empty.
"Woooow! It's massive!" Kiana bounced in first, her voice echoing faintly in the open space.
She twirled exaggeratedly, her braided hair spinning like propellers.
"This is basically a castle! Mei, do you play hide-and-seek in here?"
"I don't have that kind of leisure," Mei answered softly.
She bent at the entryway, pulled out slippers from the shoe cabinet, and lined them up one by one.
Kiana suddenly felt like she'd said the wrong thing.
The living room was spacious.
The floor-to-ceiling windows were spotless. The furniture was high-end solid wood, dark grain matte under the light.
It was obvious that even living alone, Raiden Mei was still trying to live properly.
There was no clutter.
No magazines tossed onto the coffee table. No crumpled cushions on the sofa. No vacuum left forgotten in a corner.
After seeing Kiana's room, Bai Qian nearly wanted to weep with gratitude.
"Sit wherever you like."
Mei turned into the open kitchen. Water ran against stainless steel.
Kiana dropped onto the leather sofa. The springs gave a muted thump.
She looked around. Her excitement dimmed a little. Her hands rested on her knees. She didn't touch anything.
Saki chose an armchair. Melina surveyed the room, her gaze lingering on the blank, black TV screen mounted on the wall.
Rin stood by the window, staring out at the neglected garden, fingers unconsciously rubbing the gemstone at her sleeve.
"I won't hold back," Kiana muttered, leaning into the cushion—only to realize it was surprisingly firm.
Not long after, Mei returned carrying a tray.
"It's barley tea."
She set the cups down one by one. Ceramic clicked against the glass table—sharp and clean.
"This is all we have."
Then she sat opposite Bai Qian, hands folded neatly on her lap, back straight.
Her uniform skirt draped along her thighs, covering her knees, revealing only the dark stockings hugging her calves.
Bai Qian interlaced his fingers in front of his face—an unmistakably severe pose.
"Alright. I'll be direct."
"Raiden Mei… have you heard of the concept of Stigmata?"
Mei looked at him and shook her head.
"No."
"Simply put," Bai Qian said, tapping the table lightly, "it's information recorded in your genes—an inherited blueprint of an ancient power."
"Most of the time it lies dormant. But under high concentrations of Honkai energy, it can activate—granting the host strength beyond common sense."
Rin turned, leaning back against the window.
"Like a magic crest?" she cut in, brows lifting.
Bai Qian didn't turn. He kept his eyes on Mei.
"Your father, Raiden Ryoma, wasn't just a CEO caught in an economic scandal."
Mei's fingers tightened abruptly around the fabric of her skirt, twisting it.
"He was one of Anti-Entropy's executors—someone who went very far in this field."
Bai Qian's voice stayed steady, each word like a nail hammered into the air.
"He discovered you were special. As a child, you awakened Stigmata. Your compatibility with Honkai energy was exceptional."
"But you were too young. Your body couldn't bear it."
"To protect you—and to suppress that power inside you, not yet awakened but already stirring—he made a decision."
He pointed toward her chest.
"The Gem of Conquest. A fragment of a Herrscher core. He implanted it in you to form a balance…"
He waved a hand.
"Don't get hung up on the terminology. It sounded ridiculous to me at first too."
Clink.
Mei bumped her teacup.
A few drops spilled and spread across the spotless tabletop.
Without thinking, she pressed a hand to her chest.
Her heartbeat felt heavy.
All she could feel there was warmth, skin, the rise and fall of ribs—
but Bai Qian's words made it feel like a bomb had been buried inside her.
"Was that… why my father was imprisoned?" she asked hoarsely.
"The economic scandal was just a tool used by the people who wanted to use you," Bai Qian said, leaning back.
"But something happened to Raiden Ryoma himself at the same time, and they took him down for good."
"There was a coup inside ME Corp. Someone named Cocolia needed Ryoma gone—to seize control of ME Corp…"
"And to recover you."
"…A perfect experimental subject."
"If today's 'kidnapping' hadn't happened," Bai Qian said, his gaze drifting past Mei's shoulder to the blank wall behind her, "Nagazora City would suffer a disaster called the Third Honkai Eruption."
"Cocolia would trigger the Gem of Conquest inside you."
"You'd lose control. You'd be swallowed by Honkai's will."
"You'd become the Herrscher of Thunder."
He drew his eyes back to Mei.
"And then you would destroy this city with your own hands."
"All of it."
"All the people."
"All the buildings."
All the memories.
Including this house.
The sunlight was still bright.
But the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.
Mei couldn't speak. Her breathing accelerated, her chest rising and falling visibly.
"So you came to me…" she said, voice tight, "…for this chance to save the world?"
"No," Bai Qian replied.
"This is a chance to save Raiden Mei."
Mei snapped her head up, eyes locked onto him.
"Then that means… there's a way to change all of it. Right?"
"There is! Mei, there is!" Bai Qian shot to his feet, throwing his arms wide.
If the others weren't here, he looked like he might actually spin in a circle.
They'd talked this long for one reason.
His old trade. His Phantom Thief life. His calling card.
His second spring.
Herta looked like she didn't have the energy to comment anymore. She just sighed, pulled out her phone, and opened an app.
Her finger hovered near her lips in a quiet shh.
"Don't talk. Watch closely."
Then she looked straight at Mei.
"Raiden Mei… have you heard of a hypnosis app?"
…A hypnosis app?
Mei stared at the others—who all seemed weirdly used to this—and for the first time, she had the distinct feeling she'd just walked into a trap.
-------
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