Rainy-Night Battle (1)

"Senior Lu, where are we going?" Jiajia asked.

"I don't know either. Auntie just told us to go out and have fun. Is there anywhere you guys want to go?" Lu Mingfei asked the three of them.

As we walked along, I felt like I was taking a few kids out somewhere. It was kind of exhausting.

"I want to go back to bed."

Lu Mingze answered immediately. He'd been taking a nap when his mom suddenly woke him up and told him to go out and walk around more. There was nowhere as comfortable as his bed.

"Denied. If you dare go back, your mom will definitely kill you. She might even take it out on me, and if she does, I'll kill you!"

Out of sheer humanitarian concern, Lu Mingfei immediately vetoed Lu Mingze's suggestion.

After thinking about his mom's temper, Lu Mingze obediently shut his mouth.

"Senior Lu, how about we go to the zoo?" Jiajia asked, blinking.

When Erii heard that, her eyes lit up. She immediately pulled out her little notebook and wrote, "I want to see the giant pandas!"

"Great! Our destination is Ueno Zoological Gardens. Let's get going!"

It was three in the afternoon. Lu Mingfei paid the six-hundred-yen admission fee for each of them.

The zoo closed at five, so they only had two hours to look around.

Everyone eagerly entered the zoo, and as soon as they passed through the main gate, they saw the giant pandas Erii had been dreaming about.

Before Lu Mingfei could say anything, Erii grabbed his sleeve and pointed at the pandas. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.

There weren't too many people around, so Lu Mingfei led them straight over to watch the pandas clowning around inside.

Erii watched the pandas for a long time and didn't want to leave.

"How about this? I'll take a picture of you with the panda, then we can go see the other animals. Sound good?" Lu Mingfei said with a smile.

Erii nodded, then stood in front of the panda enclosure. Behind her, a panda was rolling around on the ground.

"Come on, strike your best pose."

Lu Mingfei took out his phone, opened the camera, and suggested it to Erii.

She folded her hands in front of herself and kept a straight face. Only the excitement in her eyes gave her away. A breeze passed by, and click—the photo of Erii was saved to Lu Mingfei's gallery.

Lu Mingfei stepped in front of Erii and showed her the picture. She leaned over to look at herself and the panda behind her on the screen, clearly delighted.

"Sakura, I want this picture!" Erii wrote emphatically in her notebook.

"Sure. I'll get it developed for you in a while," Lu Mingfei replied.

Then Lu Mingfei took a picture of Lu Mingze and Jiajia together. The two stood side by side, looking a little stiff.

Seeing them like that, Erii wrote in her notebook, "I want to take a picture with Sakura, too."

"Sure. Jiajia, come over and take a picture of us."

Jiajia took the phone and stood some distance away. She adjusted the angle, then gestured for them to pose.

Lu Mingfei flashed a peace sign with his left hand and grinned. Seeing him like that, Erii made a peace sign with her right hand, a hint of a smile appearing on her face.

After the pictures, they headed farther into the zoo.

Along the way, they saw deer, tigers, lions, and other large animals, as well as bats, prairie dogs, snakes, and frogs.

"I'm so happy I got to visit the zoo with you today, Sakura!"

After they left the zoo, Erii wrote those words in her notebook with great seriousness.

"I'm happy I got to visit the zoo with you, too, Erii," Lu Mingfei replied just as earnestly.

"Mingze, Jiajia, you two go on back first. Erii wants Hokkaido ramen for dinner, and it's pretty far from here. I'll take her there, then bring her home."

Lu Mingze and Jiajia both answered, "Oh," and headed back. They'd both figured it out by now: better not to be a third wheel.

Lu Mingfei took Erii to a Hokkaido ramen shop. They each ordered a bowl and happily ate together.

Before they knew it, the sky outside had grown dark, darker than usual for that time of day.

Before long, dark clouds filled the sky, and it looked as if rain was about to fall.

Lu Mingfei glanced outside. There was hardly anyone out there; it seemed everyone had seen the weather and gone home early.

They'd better finish eating and hurry back.

Watching the sky outside, Lu Mingfei thought about this. Erii was on her third bowl of ramen, and he hadn't eaten much less—he was on his third bowl, too.

Things didn't go as they'd hoped. Before they could finish eating, the wind began howling outside, and rain started falling from the sky, going from a drizzle to a downpour in an instant.

He couldn't help worrying about how they were going to get back.

After they finished eating, the two of them stood at the shop entrance, feeling a little troubled.

"Are you two stuck here because of the rain?" the shopkeeper asked after clearing the table.

The shopkeeper was a thin, elderly man. He was the one who had made their ramen.

"Yeah. This rain really came out of nowhere," Lu Mingfei said, looking out at it.

"I have a spare umbrella here. If you don't mind, you can take it with you."

The shopkeeper brought out a black umbrella from the back. It looked just big enough to cover Lu Mingfei and Erii.

"Thanks, boss. I'll bring it back tomorrow," Lu Mingfei said without hesitation.

"Erii, come here." Lu Mingfei opened the umbrella and beckoned to her.

Erii had been lost in thought. When she saw him, she jogged over and joined him under the umbrella.

The two of them walked out into the rainy night.

Watching them from behind, they looked as if they were huddling close to keep each other warm.

"It's nice to be young," the shopkeeper sighed, watching them from the doorway.

The rain was coming down hard. It pattered densely against the ground, and even with the umbrella, they'd probably have to change their clothes once they got home.

There was hardly anyone on the road. The two of them were the only ones walking along it. Once they got back, he could use the Binding Way to conceal Erii.

That way, it would look as if Erii had already gone home. He'd have to remind her to be careful.

Why hadn't he thought of using the Binding Way to hide her when his uncle and aunt came knocking?

He really was a genius in hindsight.

Lu Mingfei's mind was a jumble of random thoughts.

The road was wide, and rain kept falling onto the pavement. The night grew quieter and quieter, until there was something eerie about it.

Erii suddenly grew wary.

Before she could react, Lu Mingfei suddenly wrapped an arm around her and leapt to the side.

The spot where they'd been standing was torn apart by a blade.

"Oh? You actually dodged?"

A man in a black haori stood in the rain, his face alluring and his hand gripping a cherry-red longsword. The golden gleam in his eyes stood out even in a rainy night like this.