Invincible Me Only Wants to Slack Off

Shinomiya Kaguya remembered how she had clenched the hem of her skirt back then.

As the Young Miss of the Shiongo Family, it was the first time she had heard someone say to her, "Do what you want." Not "That's against decorum" or "Please mind your station."

"You..." She opened her mouth, her carefully styled hair tousled by the wind. "Do you know what you're saying?"

Chen Tian jumped down from the railing, landing with a gust of wind. He casually brushed aside the stray bangs blown into his eyes, revealing those smiling eyes. "Skip class."

Before she could finish, Chen Tian had already grabbed her wrist. It was the first time she had ever been pulled along in a run.

Her leather shoes clacked sharply against the concrete, her skirt fluttering, her heart pounding like crazy.

They climbed over the school wall.

He took her to eat at a street stall, the Octopus Balls so hot she hissed through her teeth.

At the arcade, they played Taiko no Tatsujin; she lost miserably but laughed out loud.

Finally, they sat on a park bench sharing an ice cream cone. When cream got on the corner of her mouth, Chen Tian naturally wiped it away with his thumb.

In that moment, she wasn't the Young Miss of the Shiongo Family—just an ordinary high school girl.

The memories receded like a tide.

Shinomiya Kaguya blinked and found Chen Tian still looking at her, his gaze exactly the same as back then. She suddenly realized her cheek was still pinched between his fingers, and that awareness made the tips of her ears burn.

"I remember," she said softly, her voice a little muffled. "But now you..."

"It's the same now." Chen Tian let go and casually ruffled her hair, messing up her once-neat hairstyle. "So drop that fake smile."

Shinomiya Kaguya froze. The wind blew a Ginkgo Leaf, fluttering down to land on her shoulder. She lowered her eyes, and when she raised them again, the curve of her lips finally became genuine.

"Tian Jun is still so willful," she murmured in complaint, but her hand reached out and grabbed Chen Tian's sleeve.

"Skip class."

Those three words came out of Shinomiya Kaguya's mouth with a barely perceptible hint of excitement. The smile on Chen Tian's face instantly widened. Without hesitation, he grabbed her slender wrist and turned to leave.

"What do I see? Two bad students planning to skip class?"

A clear, steady female voice cut in abruptly. Both of them paused and looked toward the source.

A few steps away, Yukino Yukinoshita stood quietly. Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, her school uniform was immaculate, and her overly delicate face showed no expression. Her ice-blue eyes, like the waters of a snow-melt mountain lake at first thaw, watched them calmly, carrying a scrutinizing chill.

(The Yukino image used here is the third anime version, with blue eyes.)

The smile on Chen Tian's face didn't fade; it only grew brighter. He pulled the visibly tense Shinomiya Kaguya over to stand before Yukino in a few steps.

"Yo, Yukino." Chen Tian's greeting was as familiar as if he were meeting an old friend. Before the words faded, his other hand shot out like lightning and clamped onto Yukino's wrist.

Yukino's ice-sculpture expression instantly shattered. She tried to pull her hand back, but Chen Tian's fingers were like iron bands. "Chen Tian-kun!"

Her cool voice carried a rare hint of panic, and her fair cheeks flushed red at a visible speed, spreading quickly to her earlobes. "What are you doing? This is... an improper act!"

Beside her, Kaguya watched Yukino trying to maintain her composure while failing to hide her embarrassment. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

Seeing the always calm, self-possessed, and absolute-correctness-seeking Yukinoshita-san flustered seemed to add a bit of fun to this impromptu skip-class plan.

"Improper?" Chen Tian raised an eyebrow, shaking his head with an innocent look, but he didn't loosen his grip. "Misunderstanding. I'm just inviting you."

"Inviting?" Yukino frowned, her face red as she glared at him.

"That's right," Chen Tian said matter-of-factly, nodding as he tugged both of them forward. "Join us. Yukinoshita Yukino-san, no honor student today. Become one of the 'bad students.'"

With one hand pulling the slightly resigned but faintly smiling Shinomiya Kaguya, and the other pulling Yukino Yukinoshita—whose face screamed "absurd" and "resistance" but who stumbled along because her wrist was caught—he strode purposefully toward the school gate.

Three strikingly different figures moved against the rules in the November wind.

They charged to the school gate.

The university gate was wide open, with a mix of people flowing in and out. Tourists took photos, students with no classes came and went—much freer than high school.

Chen Tian pulled Shinomiya Kaguya and Yukino Yukinoshita along without stopping.

Shwoosh—almost instantly, the surrounding gazes focused on them.

"Hey! Look!" A girl holding books jabbed her companion hard. "Isn't that... Lord Nero? Back from the concert?"

"Oh my god! It's him! He's pulling... the Student Council President Shinomiya?!" The companion's eyes went wide. "And next to her... that one from the School of Business Administration, Yukinoshita?!"

A nearby boy gasped. "Whoa... He's pulling both of them? Running this fast? Where's he going?"

Not far away, a petite girl covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes instantly reddening. "Wah... Lord Nero! How can you hold other girls' hands? Let them go—!"

"Heh," a stylishly dressed boy crossed his arms, his tone sour. "So what if he's a celebrity? Does being famous let him grab girls whenever he wants? Two at once?"

A boy immediately retorted passionately: "What do you know! Lord Nero has his reasons for everything he does! Maybe it's a mission?"

Another fanatic fan's eyes sparkled. "Exactly! Look at Lord Nero's running form! So cool!"

"Let go of Shinomiya-senpai's hand! Let me take over... ah no, let go of my Lord Nero!"

"Yukinoshita-san! Please, just look at me!"

Whispers and all kinds of stares stabbed at them like needles.

Yukino's cheek temperature shot up again, the roots of her ears reddening to the point of bleeding. She struggled hard to pull her wrist back, muttering in a low voice: "Chen Tian-kun! Let go! You're causing a commotion!" She just wanted to vanish on the spot.

Shinomiya Kaguya's faint smile remained perfectly still. Instead, she straightened her back a little more against the stares, a hint of pride in her eyes as she cast a brief glance in the direction of the sour comment.

Chen Tian paid no attention to those voices, the casual smile at the corner of his mouth not even wavering. Instead, he tightened his grip on both girls' wrists, quickened his pace like a gust of wind, and cut through the surging crowd at the school gate with clear purpose.

Behind him, only a trail of murmurs and shattered young hearts remained.

"Don't mind them," he muttered under his breath without looking back, his tone light. "Follow me. Today's plan is 'Sunny Girl Steps Out the Door.'"

Chapter 28: Amusement Park

The three of them burst out of the chaotic school gate area. Under Chen Tian's familiar lead, they kept moving without pause, heading straight for the nearby subway station entrance.

The platform wasn't too crowded. Chen Tian stopped, and as if performing a magic trick, pulled a baseball cap and a pair of understated sunglasses from somewhere, putting them on with practiced ease to cover most of his eye-catching face.

"This is?" Shinomiya Kaguya tilted her head slightly, and Yukino also shot him a questioning look.

"Precaution," Chen Tian said with a smile behind the sunglasses. "Saves me the trouble of being recognized on the way." His voice came through a mask—which he'd somehow put on as well—sounding a bit muffled.

Kaguya and Yukino exchanged a glance and nodded in understanding. Given Chen Tian's current fame, it was indeed necessary.

The subway arrival chime sounded. The three quickly boarded the train and were lucky enough to find three empty seats in a row.

Chen Tian naturally sat in the middle, with Kaguya and Yukino on either side.

The carriage swayed gently.

Yukino smoothed her slightly rumpled skirt, her gaze fixed on the blurry reflection in the window across from her. She spoke in a low voice, her cool tone carrying its usual sharpness: "How absurd. The student council president and a candidate for top of the School of Business Administration, openly skipping class together. Pointless."

Chen Tian leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to her biting remark. The corner of his mouth might have even curved up slightly, as if he found it amusing.

On his other side, Kaguya sat upright, hands elegantly folded on her lap, her back straight as if measured at an angle. But her gaze drifted past Chen Tian, quietly settling on the scenery flashing by outside the window, a faint, barely noticeable glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

It had been a long time since she'd last "skipped class," and with him of all people... This small sense of rebellion made her heart beat a little faster beneath her composed Young Miss demeanor.

Seeing Chen Tian completely ignore her jab, Yukino's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. She turned her head slightly, her ice-blue eyes fixed on the side of Chen Tian's face, half-hidden by his cap and sunglasses, and spoke again, this time raising her voice a bit with deliberate challenge:

"Hey. Chen Tian." She paused. "Where exactly are we going? You're not actually planning to sell us off, are you?"

Chen Tian finally reacted. He lazily opened his eyes, glanced at Yukino through his sunglasses, then swept his gaze over Kaguya, who was trying hard to stay composed but had sparkling eyes, and curled his lips into a clear smile.

The subway arrived. Chen Tian led the two still slightly bewildered girls through several streets with practiced familiarity. When the vibrant, colorful spires, the massive Ferris wheel silhouette, and the screams and laughter from high above grew clearer, the destination was finally revealed.

"An amusement park?"

"An amusement park?!"

Kaguya and Yukino spoke almost simultaneously, but their tones couldn't have been more different.

Kaguya's usually calm and elegant eyes lit up in an instant, filling with sparkling stars! She even unconsciously grabbed Chen Tian's sleeve, leaning forward slightly like a kitten drawn to a new toy.

An amusement park! For this Young Miss of the Shiongo Family, it wasn't an unfamiliar word, but every time she'd set foot in one, maids and butlers had followed her every step, constantly reminding her to mind her posture, her status, her safety.

She was like a delicate porcelain doll in a display case, only able to watch the screaming, laughing figures from a safe distance. Now, this noisy, dazzling, down-to-earth paradise held an irresistible allure for her.

Yukino, on the other hand, was completely stunned. A rare flicker of bewilderment and... disdain? passed through her ice-blue eyes.

An amusement park? Of course she'd been to one—once, when she was very young, her parents had taken her as a matter of duty.

Her memories were filled with crowded throngs, exaggerated screams, cloyingly sweet cotton candy, and spinning rides she found utterly pointless.

She racked her brain but couldn't understand why Chen Tian had gone to all this trouble—cooking up a "skip-class plan," drawing the whole school's attention—only to end up at this... place she found a bit childish? What was the point?

Chen Tian seemed not to notice the "That's it?" skepticism in Yukino's eyes. He took off his sunglasses and mask, revealing a triumphant grin, and nodded toward Kaguya. "So, Kaguya, how about experiencing some 'commoner' fun?"

Kaguya took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in her eyes, struggling to maintain her Young Miss composure. But her slightly glowing gaze and the unconsciously upturned corner of her mouth gave her away: "Tian Jun's arrangements are strangely delightful."

She didn't say whether she dared or not, but the anticipation was clear.

Yukino's brow furrowed slightly, and her cool voice rang out: "Chen Tian, I believe your time and energy should be spent on more meaningful things. Like going back to class." She made one last attempt.

"Meaning?" Chen Tian raised an eyebrow, grabbing both girls by the wrists again without argument, and headed straight for the ticket booth. "The meaning is right now! Yukino, isn't it fine to be 'meaningless' for once? Let's go!"

Yukino was pulled along by his firm grip, watching kids running by to buy ice cream and the blurry figures on the roaring roller coaster in the distance. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she protested in a low voice: "Absurd! Childish!"

But her protests were useless. Chen Tian had already bought three all-day passes and pressed them into their hands.

"First stop, the carousel!" Chen Tian ignored Yukino's objections, pointing at the double-decker merry-go-round near the entrance, flashing with colorful lights and playing cheerful nursery rhymes. His tone was brimming with irrepressible excitement. "Don't tell me you don't want to ride it!"

Kaguya looked at the dreamlike carousel, her gaze softening. This was a scene she'd only ever seen on TV in her girlhood. She nodded gently, and her feet had already started moving toward it.

Yukino stood still, staring at the colorful, bobbing horses and the adults and children laughing without restraint on them. Her ice-blue eyes were full of resistance and a clear "This is way beneath my image." "Chen Tian, I think we—"

"Scared?" Chen Tian turned back, deliberately provoking her.

Yukino immediately stiffened her neck, a flash of embarrassment at being seen through crossing her face. "Of course not! It's just a waste of time!"

"Then stop wasting time and get on!" Chen Tian had already mounted a tall white horse and reached out a hand to help Kaguya up.

Kaguya looked at Chen Tian's outstretched hand, then at the ornate pumpkin carriage seat nearby, but ultimately chose the white horse that better matched her imagination.

She lifted her skirt and sat down gracefully, a mix of novelty and nervousness on her face.

Yukino watched the two of them, full of enthusiasm, and took in the cheerful atmosphere around her. In the end, that stubborn reluctance was outweighed by a faint, even she wouldn't admit, curiosity.

She kept a straight face, picked a black horse farthest from Chen Tian and Kaguya—the one that looked the most "steady"—sat down, gripped the cold handrails tightly, and sat ramrod straight, as if she were on an important mission rather than here to have fun.

The music started, the carousel began to turn, and the lights flickered. Kaguya sat on the white horse ahead, gently rising and falling with the rhythm, feeling the evening breeze brush through her hair, watching the colorful lights and shadows around her. The smile at the corner of her mouth could no longer be hidden—pure and real, like melting snow.

At this moment, there were no butlers, no maids, no rules—only pure, her own happiness.

Yukino sat on the black horse behind, her body stiff as it swayed with the ride, her ice-sculpted expression held firm. But when the carousel reached its highest point, and the distant Ferris wheel and castle were gilded by the setting sun, the tightly pressed line of her lips seemed to... curve upward, ever so slightly?

Then it quickly returned to normal, so fast it could have been an illusion. Only she herself knew that a taut string in some corner of her heart had been quietly plucked by that childish music.

Chen Tian turned around, just in time to catch the undisguised joy on Kaguya's face and the fleeting, barely perceptible softening on Yukino's.

After the carousel, Chen Tian seemed to transform into the perfect guide and playmate. He took the two of them to try ice cream sprinkled with colorful sugar bits. Yukino muttered, "Too much sugar," yet still ate it earnestly in small bites.

Next, they bought an exaggeratedly shaped cotton candy. Kaguya, imitating the nearby children, carefully took a bite of the fluffy cloud, her eyes narrowing with sweetness.

The atmosphere grew more relaxed. As they passed a hair accessory stall, Chen Tian's gaze swept over the shiny ornaments, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Don't move." He suddenly stopped in front of Yukino. Before she could react, he reached out and gently undid her meticulously neat, straight black hair.

Under her slightly startled gaze, his well-defined hands deftly divided her smooth black hair into two sections, skillfully tying them into two crisp, clean ponytails high on her head.

"You...!" A flash of embarrassment and fluster crossed Yukino's ice-blue eyes, and a blush crept onto her cheeks.

This was a hairstyle she sometimes wore in private, finding it convenient, but she would never show it in public.

She wanted to reach up and stop him, but her hand paused halfway, and in the end, she just turned her head away awkwardly and muttered, "...Childish."

Chen Tian paid it no mind and turned his attention to Kaguya.

The Young Miss's elegantly coiled bun was undone, and her smooth hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

Then, under Kaguya's gaze, tinged with novelty and anticipation, he simply gathered her long hair and tied a lively high ponytail at the back of her head, letting a few strands fall naturally across her forehead.

"This is more comfortable." Chen Tian looked at his "work" with satisfaction.

Stripped of her rigid bun, Kaguya with her high ponytail shed some of her dignified air and gained a youthful brightness. She instinctively shook her head, feeling as though her entire field of vision had widened.

Without realizing it, the two girls gradually immersed themselves in the relaxed atmosphere Chen Tian had created and the boisterous joy unique to the amusement park. Though Yukino still showed little expression, the tight line of her lips seemed to have loosened slightly.

Kaguya's smile grew more genuine and natural, and she occasionally pointed at some attraction with a soft exclamation.

After finishing a leisurely ride on the sightseeing boat, Chen Tian glanced down at his watch—11:30.

The gentle smile on his face instantly shifted, revealing a grin tinged with cunning and excitement, like a hunter who had finally caught his prey off guard.