But ever since that day, her father had mysteriously disappeared. Even now, she lived all alone.
The only thing keeping her going was the goal of finding that bastard of a father.
Then she'd punch him hard in the face! She'd demand to know why he'd abandoned her all those years ago.
Although Kiana was extremely proud and just as stubborn,
with news of her father right in front of her, how could she possibly hold back after being alone for so long?
At last, Kiana gave in.
She shook Su Moqian's arm and pouted as she said:
"Moqian, I was wrong..."
"Just tell me where they went on their business trip. Please, please, please!"
Hearing Kiana say that, Su Moqian held back a laugh and replied:
"Fine. Since you've asked so sincerely, I'll magnanimously tell you."
"Your father and the others went back to Siberia, but they should be back before long. Just wait here in Changkong City, all right?"
"Okay, got it."
Kiana nodded, then hurriedly took out her phone.
"Come on, let's exchange contact info. When your father gets back from his business trip, you have to tell me right away! Not one second late!"
Kiana could hardly wait to see her father.
"All right, all right, I got it."
Su Moqian looked at Kiana waving her fist and replied helplessly.
That little girl couldn't beat him anyway. Who was she trying to scare?
As Su Moqian and Kiana chatted cheerfully side by side on their way into the school building, a girl with long, straight purple hair suddenly stopped in a corner.
It was Raiden Mei.
Just moments ago, the Herrscher of Thunder inside her had suddenly said she sensed Su Moqian's arrival.
Raiden Mei claimed she didn't care, but her body had honestly run over anyway.
But just as she stopped, she saw Su Moqian happily chatting with another girl.
Raiden Mei fell silent, but the Herrscher of Thunder inside her wouldn't stop talking:
"Wow, Mei, look at them chatting and laughing. They look so close~"
Raiden Mei: "..."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The way they're acting, what's the difference between this and a couple flirting?"
Raiden Mei: "(???)"
"Mei, look, they even exchanged phone numbers. Your boyfriend sure is popular."
The Herrscher of Thunder chuckled, then suddenly paused, as if she'd just remembered something.
"Oh, silly me. I almost forgot that Su Moqian isn't your boyfriend anymore."
Raiden Mei: "(╬￣皿￣)"
Seeming to notice that something was off with Raiden Mei, the Herrscher of Thunder asked, though she already knew the answer:
"What's wrong, Mei? You seem a little upset."
"N-no, I'm not!" Raiden Mei ground out through clenched teeth.
The Herrscher of Thunder sounded a little hesitant. "But, Mei, you're about to bite through the straw in your milk..."
Caught out by Miss Herrscher, Mei blushed and made an excuse:
"I-I'm not! This straw is just really flimsy. It has nothing to do with me—you're imagining things!"
"Sure, sure." The Herrscher of Thunder spoke with a bright smile.
"My Mei is so pitiful. She can only hide in a corner and watch the person she loves talk to another girl. She's so upset she's falling apart, crying and making a scene. Boo-hoo-hoo, how sad."
Hearing this, Raiden Mei snapped in exasperation:
"I, Raiden Mei, am not jealous!"
Suddenly, the Herrscher of Thunder put on a puzzled voice.
"Huh? When did I say you were jealous? I didn't mean that at all. Did you just assume I was talking about you?"
Raiden Mei stubbornly insisted, "I'm not! I didn't! Don't make things up!"
Mei was so much fun to tease~
Seeing how easily Mei took the bait, the Herrscher of Thunder couldn't help laughing to herself. At the same time, she began to wonder whether Mei could really carry out the plan successfully.
Judging by how she was acting now, it might be a little difficult.
Sigh. Fine, I'll trust Mei. If things really don't work out, I can always consider taking over and playing the game myself.
### Mei: I've Got the Advantage This Time!
With class about to begin, Raiden Mei had returned to her seat.
Normally, she would have already picked up her textbook and started previewing the day's lesson.
But although the book was right there in front of her, she couldn't focus on it at all.
Her mind was full of Su Moqian and the white-haired girl beside him. An idea crept into her thoughts:
Could Moqian already have another girlfriend?
No, no, that can't be right.
Raiden Mei shook her head, dismissing the thought.
The two of them had been childhood friends, together from the time they were little.
Later, their relationship had blossomed into romance, and they had known practically everything about each other's social circles.
If Su Moqian had known that white-haired girl before, then Raiden Mei would have known her too.
But she didn't recognize the girl at all. That meant she had only just met Su Moqian.
And even though Su Moqian and the girl seemed to be having a great conversation, they were still keeping their distance. They were probably just friends.
Thinking it through, Raiden Mei breathed a sigh of relief and finally put her worries to rest.
"Looks like I was worrying over nothing."
"Oh? Mei, are you sure you really were worrying over nothing?" the Herrscher of Thunder's voice sounded again.
Raiden Mei had looked so troubled just a moment ago that the Herrscher of Thunder had thought learning about the future had suddenly made her more mature.
But now it seemed that whenever Su Moqian was involved, she was still just an inexperienced young girl.
After teasing Mei and seeing how cute she could be, the Herrscher of Thunder found herself wanting to tease her even more. So she continued:
"Even if that white-haired girl isn't a threat, what about everyone else? Senba Academy is full of girls. There could be a few yanderes among them."
"Su Moqian might be handsome, but he's still an ordinary guy. What if a yandere girl takes an interest in him and locks him in her basement? What could you do then?"
"No way!" Raiden Mei's eyes widened, and the words burst from her mouth. "I don't want that!"
In her innocence, Mei had never imagined that anything like that could happen. Her face turned pale in an instant.
"Come on, Mei, you don't have to worry. I'm just teasing you. Something like that could never happen in real life, could it?"
The Herrscher of Thunder tried to comfort Mei, struggling to hold back her laughter.
"Darn it, don't scare me with stuff like that!" Raiden Mei pouted in protest.
"Anyway, Mei, you don't need to worry so much. I've got your back," the Herrscher of Thunder said confidently.
"If it comes to it, I'll just kidnap Su Moqian for you and lock him in a basement."
"Then I'll let him out once you've completed your plan. That way, you won't have to worry about another girl winning him over! What do you think? Isn't that a perfect plan?"
At that, Raiden Mei couldn't help thinking of Su Moqian chatting happily with Kiana just now. She felt a little tempted.
But she quickly came to her senses and shook her head.
"N-no, let's not. If I really did that, how would I be any different from the yandere girl you were talking about?"
She loved Su Moqian dearly. There was no way Mei could ever kidnap and imprison him!
"Th-that's right. Miss Herrscher was only trying to scare me."
"How could something that ridiculous happen in real life? I'm overthinking it." Raiden Mei breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, when she thought about it carefully, there was no need to worry so much.
After all, her bond with Su Moqian was the strongest. The others didn't stand a chance.
According to Mei's plan, with Miss Herrscher's help, she only needed a little over a month to pull it off.
Once the whole thing was over, she could get back together with him. Happy ending!
As for the white-haired girl, she was beautiful, lively, and had an impressive air about her.
But no matter what, she couldn't possibly develop a romantic relationship with Su Moqian in just a month.
Besides, she was only some girl who'd appeared out of nowhere. How could she compare with Mei, his childhood friend who'd been by his side since they were little—and his ex-girlfriend?
What a joke!
So, childhood friend versus girl who appeared out of nowhere: Mei had the advantage this time!
Once she was sure her plan was foolproof, Raiden Mei began to relax.
"Keep it up, Mei. Being apart from Moqian is only temporary. As long as you get through this, the two of you will have a bright future together!"
Raiden Mei silently cheered herself on.
"The key now is to catch the culprit who triggered the Honkai. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have to be separated from Moqian for a whole month..."
Raiden Mei was working out what to do next, but after mentioning Su Moqian, she suddenly thought of something.
"Wait a second. Why is Moqian on the Senba Academy grounds?" Mei looked puzzled.
Although Raiden Mei had seen the future earlier, it was only a fragment the Herrscher of Thunder had stolen through her powerful electromagnetic abilities. It was incomplete.
So Mei only knew about the most important event—the Honkai disaster in Changkong City—and that her father had gone to prison, something she'd gathered from the way the people around her had mocked her at the time.
She knew nothing about anything else.
By then, the bell had already rung, but Raiden Mei, lost in thought, hadn't heard it.
She hadn't even noticed that her homeroom teacher had walked to the front of the classroom.
"Mei, what are you thinking about? Class has already started."
The homeroom teacher frowned at Raiden Mei, who was distracted, and called to her again. "Mei?"
"Ah, yes, teacher." Raiden Mei snapped back to attention and stood up.
"You..."
The homeroom teacher had instinctively started to scold her, but swallowed her words just before they came out.
If her guess was right, Raiden Mei must be so downcast because the other students were ostracizing her.
Thinking of that, the homeroom teacher couldn't help sighing and gestured for her to sit down.
"It's all right, Mei. You can sit down."
Ever since the news that Mei's father had been sent to prison spread, all her classmates had tacitly begun to shun her. Some had even gone so far as to mock and insult her behind her back.
After years as a homeroom teacher, she instinctively sensed that something was wrong. Even if a student's father really had gone to prison, things shouldn't have gotten this bad.
What's more, that very morning, the school's administrators had told her not to get involved in Raiden Mei's situation.
Clearly, some powerful group was pulling strings behind the scenes. Their goal was to take revenge on Raiden Mei.
But why would a powerful group go after one girl?
Before you continue