Night fell, and Changkong City was lit up with myriad lights.
However, the atmosphere in the apartment Uncle Kael rented was somewhat unusual.
Kiana sat cross-legged on the living room carpet, a map of Senba Academy and a student handbook spread before her. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and a lollipop dangled from her mouth as she mumbled indistinctly, "Class 1-C... the teaching building is on the east side... the stadium... the library... Tsk, it's such a large area. Where could that scoundrel father be hiding?"
Kael walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water. Seeing her so serious, as if planning some major operation, he couldn't help but remind her, "Kiana, don't forget you also need to study. If you can't keep up with the basic cultural courses, it might attract more unnecessary attention."
"Oh, I know, I know!"
Kiana waved her hand without looking up, full of confidence. "How could mere cultural courses stump This Young Miss, who is so smart! The Key Points is investigation! Investigation, do you understand? I need to gather all information about suspicious individuals without arousing suspicion!"
Watching her silver cowlick bounce excitedly with her words, Kael silently swallowed the sentence, "According to the data, your previous cultural course grades didn't seem very good."
Never mind, it's good for her to hit a wall herself.
He walked to the window, looking at the endless stream of car lights below, his thoughts drifting far away.
He wondered what Theresa would be like, crying... And Sirin, that child was so dependent on him... And Bianca, would she still remember him, this "Uncle Kael" with whom she had only spent a short time?
A dull feeling, mixed with guilt and longing, once again surged in his heart.
He unconsciously tightened his grip on the water glass, his knuckles slightly white.
"Kael?"
Kiana's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What are you spacing out about standing there? Come over and help me analyze, where is the most likely place to find clues?"
Kael composed himself, turned around, his face returning to its usual calm. "There's no shortcut to this kind of thing; you can only rely on your own observation and judgment. Remember, keep a low profile and don't cause trouble."
"I know! 'Don't cause trouble,' you've said it three times already!"
Kiana puffed out her cheeks, then, as if she thought of something, her eyes lit up. "Oh, right, Kael, since you're a school staff at the Academy, can you also help me keep an eye out? Like, if there's any shifty-looking uncle who seems to be hiding from people?"
Kael: "...I will ensure the safety of the academy's facilities."
He cleverly avoided a direct answer... The next day, Kiana officially began her "investigation" career at Senba Academy.
Kael's school staff job gave him a legitimate reason to move around most areas of the campus.
While performing his duties of checking doors and windows and maintaining equipment, he also paid some attention, "observing" Kiana from a distance.
In the morning cultural class, the situation didn't seem too good.
When Kael patrolled near the first-year teaching building, he could see Kiana sitting in the back row of the classroom through the window. At first, she tried to listen with forced enthusiasm, but before long, her head started to nod, and finally, she just lay down on the desk, sleeping soundly, with a faint, suspicious glint visible at the corner of her mouth.
The teacher on the podium seemed to have already noticed this new, "arrogant" transfer student, and his brows were tightly furrowed.
Kael shook his head helplessly. Just as he expected.
During lunch break, yesterday's spectacle was reenacted.
Kiana's classroom door was still surrounded by a dense crowd.
This time, Kiana seemed to have learned from yesterday's "lesson"; she didn't stay in her seat but tried to break through the crowd to conduct her "field investigation."
Kael saw her skillfully weaving through the crowd like a silver fish, occasionally pulling aside a friendly-looking classmate, lowering her voice, and mysteriously asking, "Classmate, excuse me, have you seen an uncle with silver hair, looking a bit disheveled, and possibly smelling of alcohol, around the academy recently? Yes, like that wanted criminal on the poster... Ah, no, he's my dad!"
Most of the classmates she asked either looked bewildered or awkwardly shook their heads. Kiana wasn't discouraged and continued to look for her next target.
Her behavior clearly caused a small commotion. Kael saw several teachers looking in that direction, seemingly preparing to go maintain order.
He subtly moved closer, ready to intervene if necessary under the pretext of "maintaining a clear corridor."
However, just as the chaos was about to escalate, a clear, calm voice rang out: "Please be quiet, return to your seats or leave here, and do not disturb other classmates' lunch break."
It was Raiden Mei.
She had appeared at the edge of the crowd at some point, her purple eyes calmly sweeping over the noisy crowd. She didn't intentionally raise her voice, but her gentle yet naturally authoritative demeanor instantly lowered the surrounding chatter significantly.
Many students, under her gaze, instinctively shrank their necks and sheepishly dispersed.
Kiana's eyes lit up when she saw Mei, and she immediately went over to her: "Classmate Raiden! You're here again! You're so nice! Oh, right, have you seen..."
Mei slightly turned her body, avoiding Kiana's overly enthusiastic approach, her tone still polite but distant: "Classmate Kiana, it's lunchtime now, please don't speak loudly. As for your question, I'm sorry, I haven't seen the person you described."
After speaking, she nodded slightly to Kiana and then turned and left, leaving Kiana with an elegant yet somewhat cool silhouette.
Kiana watched her retreating figure, blinking, but didn't feel snubbed. Instead, she stroked her chin and muttered to herself, "Hmm... Classmate Raiden seems to know a lot of things, and she looks very reliable... Maybe she's a breakthrough?"
Kael listened to her "analysis" from not far away, sighing inwardly.
This child's intuition was quite accurate; Raiden Mei's identity was indeed not simple, but precisely because of this, approaching her might instead bring greater trouble.
However, he didn't step forward to stop her. Some falls, she needed to experience herself to know the pain.
The afternoon was physical education class.
With yesterday's lesson in mind, Kael specifically checked all the facilities in the gymnasium in advance, especially the climbing wall that Kiana had damaged with "a light jump." He repeatedly confirmed the firmness of every handhold.
However, he had calculated everything, but he hadn't accounted for Kiana's "destructive power" not being limited to static facilities.
The PE class involved basic basketball practice. When it was Kiana's turn to dribble and lay up, she seemed to want to show off in front of her new classmates, or perhaps, she simply found it "more fun."
She took the basketball, took a running start, and jumped—her movements were crisp and clean, full of the explosive power characteristic of kaslana.
However, she clearly overestimated the load-bearing capacity of an ordinary basketball hoop and underestimated her jumping height and... her weight acceleration upon landing?
The moment she "smashed" the basketball into the hoop, there was a grating, ear-splitting metallic groan—that seemingly sturdy basketball hoop, along with the backboard and rim, was actually pulled forward at a noticeable angle by her "light dunk"! The screws fixed to the ground groaned under the strain!
The entire gymnasium instantly fell silent.
The PE teacher's mouth hung open.
The classmates were dumbfounded.
Kiana landed lightly on the ground, even clapping her hands proudly. She turned back, expecting "adoring" gazes, but was met with dead silence and the teacher's nearly collapsing eyes.
"I..." The PE teacher pointed at the obviously crooked basketball hoop, his finger trembling. "Classmate Kiana! You..."
Kael, at the gymnasium entrance, silently covered his face.
He knew it... He immediately walked in quickly and said to the PE teacher, "Teacher, I'm sorry, it might be an issue with aging equipment. I'll inspect and repair it right away."
He skillfully took out his tools and began inspecting the base and connections of the basketball hoop, while simultaneously motioning with his eyes for Kiana, who was still frozen in place, to quickly rejoin the team.
Kiana stuck out her tongue and scurried back to the team, eliciting a suppressed round of muffled laughter.
After school, Kael naturally stayed behind to repair the basketball hoop.
By the time he had taken care of everything, the sky had already darkened. He dragged his slightly weary steps back to the apartment, and as soon as he opened the door, a familiar smell of burnt food once again assailed him.
In the kitchen, Kiana, wearing that Haxxor Bunny apron, was frantically dealing with a small oven emitting green smoke. Next to her were an overturned flour bowl and egg liquid splattered everywhere.
Hearing the door open, she whipped her head around, her face streaked with black and white, as if she had just emerged from a coal pile.
"Fu-Kael!"
She frantically closed the oven, trying to block the mess behind her with her body, forcing out a smile uglier than a cry. "Um... I-I wanted to bake some cookies... This time, it'll definitely succeed!"
Kael looked at the battlefield before him, even more disastrous than yesterday, and Kiana's large blue eyes, full of "I know I messed up but I'll do it again next time." The familiar helplessness in his heart was once again replaced by a strange tenderness.
He silently walked into the kitchen, picked up an apron, and tied it on.
"You go out first." His voice showed no emotion.
Kiana said "Oh," obediently untied her apron, and with her head down, like a puppy who had done something wrong, shuffled out of the kitchen.
Kael looked at the black, oddly shaped "cookies" on the stovetop, silently dumped them into the trash can, and then began to clean up the battlefield.
As he re-tied his apron and prepared dinner, Kiana, hugging her horm doll, sidled to the kitchen doorway and whispered, "Kael... I'm sorry... I messed up again... and made you have to fix things again..."
Kael's chopping motion didn't stop; he just gave a faint "Mm."
Kiana looked at his busy back, her heart feeling a mix of sourness and fullness, and an inexpressible sense of security. She leaned against the doorframe and whispered, "Kael... you're so good... a thousand, ten thousand times better than that scoundrel father of mine!"
Kael's hand, holding the knife, paused slightly.
Outside the window, the lights of Changkong City lit up one by one, casting warm, orange-yellow light into the room.
In the apartment, under the kitchen light, was Kael's figure silently preparing dinner, and the silver-haired girl at the doorway, holding a doll, looking at him with reliance.