Late at night, with all around quiet, Rin had just closed up Random Play for the evening, bringing another busy day to an end.
She threw herself onto the soft bed, let out a long breath, and was just about to embrace her precious sleep.
Then—
[Impact! Good morning! Rider! Ze Ze Zeztz! Impact!]
The impassioned transformation sound effect, accompanied by dazzling flashes, pierced right through the wall.
"So noisy, you idiot brother!" Rin finally snapped. She got up, marched next door, and shoved Zhe's bedroom door open.
Inside, Kamen Rider ZZZ—Zhe, fully transformed—was striking pose after pose in front of the full-length mirror, while Eous stood nearby holding up a phone, excitedly snapping pictures from every angle.
"Rin! Look!" Hearing the commotion, Zhe turned around, his voice beneath the helmet unable to hide his pride. "This is my transformation! Cool, right?"
Ever since being discharged from the hospital and confirming that the belt was not some hallucination, Zhe had spent nearly every spare moment hiding in his room studying how to transform. No man could resist the charm of a transformation belt, and he was no exception.
"This is already the thirteenth time today! I've heard that sound effect so much my ears are growing calluses!" With a hand on her forehead, Rin felt utterly helpless in the face of her brother's sudden descent into severe chuunibyou. She had once tried the belt herself out of curiosity, but unfortunately it had shown no response at all.
"Rin," Zhe said, releasing the transformation and turning serious, "I'm genuinely happy. With this power, our chances of finding Teacher are much better now. And..." He paused for a moment. "I can protect you better too."
"Fine, fine." Seeing how serious he was, Rin felt a little warmth rise in her chest. She waved a hand, her tone softening. "Once you're done playing around, go to sleep already. And remember to stop by 747 Convenience tomorrow to stock up on things. We've got a few discount coupons at home that are about to expire."
"Got it. Good night, Rin."
"Good night, big brother. Good night, Eous."
"Mm-na!"
The next day, at 747 Convenience—
After finishing his shopping, Zhe just so happened to run into a limited-time lucky bag sale. Since he was already there, not joining in would practically be a crime.
But the moment the sale began, he was instantly swallowed up by the surging crowd—mostly a terrifying swarm of aunties with gleaming eyes. After a great deal of struggling, he finally managed to grab hold of one lucky bag that seemed pretty promising.
However, at almost the exact same time, another slender but unexpectedly strong hand seized the other corner of the bag.
The crowd was too packed for Zhe to see the other person clearly, but neither of them was willing to let go. Both held on tightly, silently wrestling over it.
To Zhe's surprise, the other person was actually stronger than he was.
As the crowd shoved them from behind, the other person gave a sudden hard yank. Zhe lost his footing and lurched forward, stumbling straight out of the mass of people.
He had expected to take a solid fall.
Instead, his face crashed into an unexpectedly soft surface.
"Eek—! Pervert! Where do you think you're touching?!" a familiar voice cried out above him, half embarrassed and half furious.
Zhe looked up in shock.
What he saw was a beautiful girl with pink twin-tails and a charming tear mole at the corner of her eye.
The girl froze too, clearly not expecting to run into someone she knew here.
"Nicole?"
"Zhe?!"
After the limited-time event ended, outside the convenience store, in an alley off Sixth Street—
"Ahhhh—how could this happen?! There are only two ancient movie discs in here! This junk won't sell for anything at all!" Nicole wailed, flailing the "treasure" she had just pulled from the lucky bag.
(In the end, Zhe had let Nicole keep the bag. After all... he had accidentally received some "benefits" already, so it would have been awkward to keep fighting her over it.)
Nicole's luck really was terrible.
The ultimate grand prize she had dreamed of—a luxury LV handbag supposedly worth over a hundred thousand dennies—was nowhere to be found inside the lucky bag. Instead, there were only two old movie discs: rare, yes, but with miserably low market value.
"Zhe~" Nicole instantly switched expressions and leaned in, blinking her big eyes as she used a syrupy sweet voice. "Look, these discs are antiques, you know? They've got to be worth quite a bit, right? How about I sell them to you?"
"Fifty dennies," Zhe said expressionlessly.
"Are you kidding?! I paid a hundred dennies for that lucky bag!"
"That's what they're worth to me. They're old, obscure films—keeping them in my shop won't attract customers. They'd just be collectibles. Fifty is already a generous offer."
"Ahhh! At least let me break even! A hundred! Just a hundred, okay?"
"The money you still owe me seems to need a few more zeroes added to the end of it, if I remember right."
"Oh, come on, what's ours is ours! Talking money hurts the relationship!" Nicole hugged his arm with both hands and began swaying it from side to side. "Just give me a little more time, okay? I promise I'll pay you back with interest when the time comes!"
"You said the exact same thing last month. And the month before that. And the month before that too."
"Master Proxy Big Brother Zhe I know you've got the kindest heart ever You wouldn't be so harsh on a lovable, adorable beauty who just happens to be a little short on cash lately, right?"
"Hey! Let go! That's... that's touching something it shouldn't!"
"Hehe~" Not only did Nicole not let go, she hugged him even tighter. A sly smile spread across her face as she leaned close to his ear and lowered her voice. "If you're willing to help me... then it's not like I can't give you a little special 'bonus' in return~ What do you say, Lord Phaethon?"
After working together for so long, Nicole had already thoroughly figured Zhe out. She knew perfectly well that once she unleashed this combo of shameless persistence plus "a tiny little bonus," Zhe would act disgusted on the surface, but in the end would most likely cave with a red face anyway.
And whenever that happened, Rin would usually be standing nearby giving them a frosty look, as though she were staring at non-recyclable trash.
Just as the two of them were pulling and arguing without end, a small, frail figure poked her head timidly out from deeper in the alley, drawn over by the commotion.
"Nicole... big sis?"
The voice was quiet, uncertain.
"Xiao Luo?"
When the girl called Xiao Luo got a clear look at Nicole's face, her dim eyes instantly lit up with joy and excitement. But that burst of emotion seemed to consume the last of her strength. In the very next second, her body went limp and she collapsed to the ground.
"Xiao Luo! What's wrong with you?!" Nicole's face changed at once, and she rushed over.
"I'll call an ambulance!" Zhe also turned serious in an instant.
In the end, Xiao Luo was rushed to the hospital.
The doctor's diagnosis came quickly: the fainting spell had mainly been caused by malnutrition and overwork, and she would recover after a period of rest. But the more comprehensive follow-up examination revealed a far crueler truth—
Xiao Luo had cancer.
"Fortunately, it wasn't discovered too late. In theory, it can still be controlled or even cured with a special medication." The doctor pushed up his glasses, though there was a trace of helplessness in his tone. "However, that type of medication... has always been extremely expensive. And its production and supply have long been monopolized by the Melopede family."
The moment the name Melopede family was mentioned, Nicole's whole body shook violently. Her face turned pale at once, as though she had heard some terrible curse. Fear, anger, and something far more complicated flashed through her eyes.
Inside the hospital room, only the two of them remained, keeping watch by Xiao Luo's bedside as she slept.
Seeing Nicole's unusual reaction, Zhe asked softly, "Nicole, you and Xiao Luo...?"
Nicole stared at Xiao Luo's pale sleeping face, drew in a deep breath, and tried hard to steady the turmoil in her heart.
"Zhe, you know I'm an orphan, right? I grew up in that orphanage on the outskirts of the city—'Warm Home.' Xiao Luo... she was one of the children there too."
"Sorry."
"It's nothing. That's all in the past now." Nicole shook her head, her gaze distant. "A few years ago, after the old headmistress passed away, the orphanage was dissolved. But not long after that, it was taken over by the New Eridu authorities. Most of the children—well, basically all of them except me—were placed somewhere fairly decent."
"What about you, Nicole? You weren't assigned anywhere suitable?" Zhe caught the exception in her words.
"No." Nicole tugged the corner of her mouth into a complicated little smile. "Before the orphanage was officially dissolved, I'd already been adopted by a family. You never heard me mention that before, huh?"
"This really is the first time I've heard it."
"That's normal. Because..." Nicole's voice dropped, carrying a faint tremor she could not quite hide. "Not long after the orphanage was dissolved, I left that family on my own."
"...What?"
Zhe was momentarily speechless. That clearly did not sound normal.
"I know what you're thinking." Nicole turned to look at him. She wore a smile that tried to seem light, but her eyes were unusually serious. "You're wondering if there's something wrong with my head, aren't you? Like, why would I give up a stable life and run off to wander around on my own?"
Her thoughts, no longer under control, followed the flood of memory backward—
back to that summer several years ago.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 172)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 116)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter119)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 66
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 52
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 55
The Way the Umamusume Look at 42
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 40
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 36
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 30
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 26
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