Front-Row Tickets

At seven in the morning, Yang Chen stood motionless before the bathroom mirror.

The "boy" in the mirror had hair that fell to his shoulders—and had grown noticeably longer again. Its soft ends rested against his collarbones.

It was as if someone had redrawn his features with the tip of a pen. His jaw had softened, his eyelashes had thickened, and even his wrists had grown slimmer.

He raised a hand and swept up his bangs.

Then let them fall.

Swept them up again.

Let them fall again.

"..."

When he had taken down that warehouse last night, his transformation had felt smoother than usual.

He had not thought much of it then, but now—

The changes were speeding up again.

And then there was the matter of his personality after transforming.

For some reason, he was even less aware of himself when he said all those cutesy things.

Before, he had been embarrassed but unable to stop. Now, he barely noticed he was doing it.

Yang Chen stared into the mirror for a full minute. Finally, he let out a long, resigned sigh, dug a baseball cap out of the cabinet, pulled it on, and tucked his hair inside.

What else could he do?

Go to school.

He could not let Chen Qianqian discover that her childhood friend was turning into a beautiful girl before her eyes.

—Though he knew that, at this rate, it was only a matter of time before she found out.

Third period that morning was math.

The teacher drew function graphs on the blackboard, the chalk scratching softly.

Yang Chen's head dipped, little by little, lower and lower—

Last night, he had transformed to take down a hideout, chatted with those Liberation Faction members, and sent his magic up like fireworks to draw Knight and the others over. By the time he got home, it was already two in the morning.

He was running on fumes.

Thwap.

A little ball of paper hit the back of his head.

Yang Chen jolted awake and turned around—

Chen Qianqian sat diagonally behind him, making faces as she mouthed, "If. You. Sleep. You'll. Get. Caught."

"Oh." Yang Chen mouthed back, "Thanks."

He rubbed his eyes and forced himself to look at the blackboard.

Huh? What happened?

Wasn't the teacher still writing "Let x be..." a second ago? What was all this gibberish covering the board?

But Chen Qianqian did not look away.

Resting her chin in her hand, she studied Yang Chen's profile, her brows slowly drawing together.

Strange.

Why did he... seem different again today?

The brim of his cap sat low, but the half of his face she could see looked impossibly soft.

When had his eyelashes gotten so long? And those strands slipping out from under his cap were obviously longer than they'd been last week.

Chen Qianqian had grown up with him. She could tell even if Yang Chen had trimmed the tiniest bit off his hair.

So while everyone else might have put his gradual changes over the past six months down to growing up, she had seen every little change, day by day.

The nickname "Miss Yang" really had started as a joke.

Lately, though, she found it harder and harder to laugh.

Who grew up looking more and more like a girl...?

He couldn't have some strange illness, could he?

Or...

Chen Qianqian shuddered as certain possibilities came to mind.

(Girls who grew up starved of love be like)

(Boys who grew up starved of love be like)

Nooo, not that!

While Chen Qianqian's thoughts ran wild, someone suddenly knocked on the classroom's front door.

"Sorry to interrupt."

The homeroom teacher pushed the door open, followed by two people—the principal and a young woman with a ponytail.

"Everyone, we'll just take two minutes of your time." The homeroom teacher wore an odd expression, as though holding something back. "A representative from the Magical Girl Association is here to give Yang Chen something."

Every eye in the class snapped to Yang Chen.

Yang Chen: ?

Lin Guo stepped up to the podium, cleared her throat, and unfolded a certificate.

"This certifies that Yang Chen, a resident of this city, remained fearless in the face of danger during the Fallen Beast attack at People's Park. He stepped forward and successfully rescued two trapped civilians. Following deliberation, the Magical Girl Association's Local City Branch has decided to award him the honorary title of 'Righteous Heroism'—"

She handed him the certificate, then took an envelope from her clipboard.

"In addition, to commend Yang Chen's brave deed, the association is presenting him with two front-row tickets to Knight's concert."

The classroom went silent for a second.

Then it erupted.

"F-front row?!"

"Front row at the concert?! The seats you can't get even for a four-figure price?!"

"The association is giving away tickets?! Two of them?!"

"Yang Chen!!" His deskmate grabbed his arm, on the verge of tears. "Father! Sell me the other ticket! I'll pay a month's worth of breakfast money!"

"I'll pay two months' worth!"

"Three months, and I'll do your homework!"

The whole class instantly turned into an auction.

At the center of the storm, Yang Chen clutched the envelope, his expression a sight to behold.

Front row.

Two tickets.

The concert.

He knew the association meant well. The commendation for Righteous Heroism was perfectly aboveboard, and it doubled as publicity. Old Wei was far too shrewd not to have done the math.

But—

This was a huge problem!!

His original plan had been to buy a ticket in the back, tuck himself into a corner, and watch the show without drawing attention.

If the Liberation Faction really caused trouble at the concert, he could slip into the restroom. Thirty seconds later, Love could descend from the sky, and no one would be the wiser.

But now?

Front row.

Right below the stage, where the lights were brightest, where any of the tens of thousands of cameras in the venue could catch him, where Knight only had to glance down from the stage to see him—

And Chen Qianqian would be sitting beside him.

There was no way he could transform unnoticed in the chaos.

As for running off to find somewhere secluded to transform... once things got chaotic, it would all be over by the time he returned.

"Yang Chen? Yang Chen?" Lin Guo saw that he had not responded and prompted him quietly. "Um... aren't you happy?"

"I am." Yang Chen forced out a perfect, unassailable smile. "I'm so happy I couldn't react for a moment... Thank you to the association. I'll definitely be there."

What a polite kid.

Lin Guo smiled back at Yang Chen.

"You should thank yourself for being so brave."

Applause thundered through the classroom.

Chen Qianqian had already leaned over, her eyes shining like stars. "Front row! Yang Chen! We're sitting in the front row!"

"Haha, yeah, front row..."

Who else would Yang Chen invite when he had two tickets? Her, obviously!

Chen Qianqian was practically floating with delight.

Yang Chen kept smiling, but inside, two thick streams of tears slowly ran down his cheeks. (Mirai Hibino.jpg)

I'm going to explode right here.