However, after Chen Yao left, Officer Fujiwara Akako glanced sharply at Itsuki and Takumi while handling their learner permits. "You didn't see anything last night, did you?"
"N-no, we didn't see a thing…"
Takumi and Itsuki caved under the woman's terrifying suspicion and instantly denied everything.
Once the two witnesses left, Officer Fujiwara felt a weight on her mind. As a public servant, being seen cuddling a high-school boy could cost her dearly, yet the previous night she'd been so upset she'd wanted to jump from the second floor—until that boy comforted her and made her feel… different. "No, Akako, you can't cross that line…" She fought the feeling with everything she had.
Still, for some reason, the taste lingered.
At 5 p.m. Chen Yao left the Driving School for dinner and to work on his manga, returning at eight for another class—three hours a day. Drivers who'd seriously violated traffic laws had to log sixty hours; at this rate he needed twenty exhausting days.
While climbing a hill past a small park, he heard shouting. He turned to see five sloppy-looking high-schoolers crowding two girls in blue-and-white sailor uniforms, pestering them for dates.
In Japan, picking up girls Western-style—brazenly asking for numbers or dinner—was common, but it could slide into harassment fast.
One of the girls, the blonde twin-tails they'd met yesterday, looked plainly distressed.
"We're all learning bikes together—what's wrong with grabbing a meal?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're locals too, just being friendly."
The dyed-hair boys kept pressing, refusing to back off.
Suzunoki Rin glowered, hands on hips. "Back off. There's a cop right over there—keep this up and I'm calling him."
Behind her stood a brown-haired girl with thick brows who didn't seem too scared; all five delinquents were staring at Rin's chest.
Spotting Chen Yao nearby, Rin's eyes lit with hope—then dimmed as she sized him up. "No good, that foreign upperclassman is way too skinny to take on these gorillas…"
Noticing her glance, the boys turned and saw the guy in a white dress shirt by the roadside. Chen's naturally narrow eyes looked like a sneer, and it enraged them.
"Hey, what're you looking at—want a beating?"
The tall Japanese boys closed in, ready to teach him a lesson.
"Oh no, he's dragged into this!"
Rin tensed, wondering what to do.
Chen had been debating whether to help, but now they'd come to him. Better still, his ntl curse stayed silent; relief washed over him and he even smiled.
Just as Rin braced for the foreign student to be pummeled, the red-haired hothead swung—only to have his fist caught in a smaller hand like a vise. Chen kicked the 90-kilogram bruiser flying three meters.
No one expected that kind of strength. The other four charged, planning to overwhelm him with numbers.
Yet the transfer student was clearly used to fighting outnumbered. He slipped their strikes and, with a few crisp punches, laid them out across the park.
"He's… amazing at fighting."
Rin watched, heart racing, admiration blooming.
After dropping them, Chen turned to leave without a word—foreign students brawling was bad news.
"W-wait, Jacky… Senior Jacky Chen!"
Rin blurted as he walked off.
"Jacky who? I'm Chen Yao," he deadpanned, eyes wide—apparently Japanese girls only knew Hong Kong action stars.
Sorry, I… I forgot your name. Thank you so much!" She caught up and bowed.
"Yeah, thanks for saving Rin," the short-haired girl added, bowing too.
Chen paused, smiled. "Just passing by. There are a few rough schools around here—best take another route home."
With a wave he left. Rin thought the sophomore looked cool… and kind of unapproachable.
No matter—she had another week before her license test; they'd meet again.
~·~·~·~·~·
Night fell in a high-end apartment.
Yukinoshita Yukino sat surrounded by stacks of review notes, cramming for exams.
"Your attention seems a bit scattered…"
Yukinoshita Yukino exhaled and thought to herself.
Thunder rumbled overhead; summer really was the rainy season.
A week had passed since she completed the request from Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, and, as promised, she hadn't interfered in Chen Yao's affairs at all.
Yet because of that promise, they'd barely spoken all week. For some reason she felt unsettled—after guarding the school's number-one "offender" for a year, she'd grown oddly used to it.
—[Ding-dong!]
Just then, Yukino's phone chimed with a new email.
Puzzled, she opened it to find a forward from teacher Shizuka Hiratsuka; the original sender was Takahashi Ryosuke, a sophomore at Gunma Prefecture Medical University.
She tapped the message, and the contents made her stomach drop.
Several clips of a white honda nsx threading consecutive corners, a write-up of its habitual routes, and a nighttime patrol video from a Kanto street team searching for a crew called the black rain pirates… "This car…"
Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes widened; it looked disturbingly familiar.
Next came Takahashi Ryosuke's note: [To the outstanding students of the Service Club—thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm Takahashi Ryosuke, captain of the Red Suns, a civilian racing team in Gunma. For the past six months a phenomenally skilled NSX has appeared in Kanto, rumored to have crushed countless teams in underground meets, throwing both Gunma and Tokyo street circles into chaos. After plotting its movements, I've concluded the black rain pirates' NSX originates from Sobu High School in Chiba Prefecture. To restore stability to the Kanto street-racing scene, I entrust the Service Club to investigate whether one of your students is the phantom driver.]
Lightning forked outside; rain lashed the windows.
In her hands, Yukino held a formal request to investigate Chen Yao—Chapter 27: Vampire and the Mysterious Angel.
At eight that night the sky unleashed a torrent.
Chen Yao was about to leave his car for traffic class when he realized he'd forgotten his umbrella and froze.
"Ah, whatever."
He muttered, jumped out, and sprinted through the downpour into the Driving School.
The classroom lights were bright, attendance thin; a handful of students were reviewing theory.
"Ah, Senior Chen!"
A cute voice rang out. He turned to see several girls in sailor uniforms—some familiar, some not—among them Suzunoki Rin and the short-haired girl from earlier, plus three more high-schoolers. Most striking was a helmeted girl with braids.
"Suzunoki, what are you doing here? You're riding tonight in this rain?"
Chen asked, puzzled.
"No, they're all my friends… and Classmates. After I told them how you saved me, they insisted on thanking you."
Suzunoki Rin smiled. When she introduced the first three, she called them friends, but her smile vanished at the curly-haired girl—clearly some friction there.
"We're from the Okanai Girls High motorcycle club—formed to study everything about bikes. Suzunoki isn't a member, but she's still a Classmate. Anyway, after hearing about your heroics, we came to say thanks, and Raimu-senpai has a gift for you."
The curly-haired girl shot Suzunoki a sour look, then nodded toward the helmeted girl—apparently their Raimu-senpai. She looked perfectly ordinary, well-built, knees padded, yet the refusal to remove her helmet felt oddly superhero-like.
She dipped her head at Chen and produced a sleek black helmet from her bag, offering it to him.
"A helmet?" Chen blinked. Why a helmet?
"Raimu-senpai only gives bike-related gifts. That helmet's her personal treasure—reserved for heroes who protect her juniors."
The short-haired girl explained, pointing to herself. "I'm Sakura Hane, by the way. You saved me too—thank you so much."
The helmeted Kawasaki Raimu folded her arms and nodded like a masked crusader.
"I'm Amano Ensa. The blue-haired girl with glasses is San'nomiya Hijiri. We four are first-years; senpai's a third-year."
The curly-haired girl finished the introductions. Looking at them, Chen couldn't help thinking they were a motorbike version of K-On—only instead of instruments, they played with horsepower.
He lifted the helmet, smiling. "Thanks for the gift, but it was really nothing—no need to be so formal."
"No, it's only right. You're a hero, after all… Class looks about to start, so we won't keep you. A-hem… actually, Senior, you seem pretty good at studying. My grades aren't so hot… if you don't mind, could we maybe… exchange Line IDs…?"
Suzunoki Rin stammered, cheeks red, as she asked for Chen's contact.
Chen Yao looked at the golden-haired high-school girl who still carried a hint of childishness. Leaving aside how she'd learned his grades were decent, her sudden friend request was awkward; he'd added unfamiliar girls before, only for them to drift back into strangers after months of silence. Still, with Suzunoki Rin's Classmates watching behind her, refusing would apparently make her lose face.
"Thank you very much!"
After the request was accepted, Suzunoki Rin beamed with joy while the others cheered for her, though Chen Yao couldn't understand why they were so happy.
"Well, we'll head back now. Thank you for your hard work in class, Senior."
After bowing together with the other first-year girls, Suzunoki Rin left the Driving School chattering and laughing, while the helmeted Raimu-senpai followed like a watchful elder.
"..."
For some reason, he suddenly felt as though he'd become a proper senior to several girls—unimaginable; he'd never dreamed of having kouhai, and Japanese ones at that. Though he considered himself reclusive, he did sometimes envy the popular kids at school who enjoyed such treatment.
In high spirits, Chen Yao went to check in for class. After registering at the male officer's front desk and climbing to the second floor, he ran into Officer Fujiwara Akako, dressed in plain clothes and about to head home.
"Little brother, how did you get soaked like this?"
The pretty, stern policewoman frowned when she saw him.
"Officer Fujiwara, good afternoon. No, I'm fine—just forgot my umbrella."
Chen Yao gave a small nod.
"That won't do; you'll catch cold... Come with me, I'll get you a towel."
About to clock out, Fujiwara Akako eyed the dripping hair and coldly motioned for him to follow.
An ominous premonition crept over him; this officer had responded to the ntl curse, and he had no idea what strange behavior she might show. Yet her expression was serious, nothing like the misunderstanding she'd caused last time.
But she was his certified examiner, so he had no choice but to follow.
In the second-floor duty room she opened the door, ushered him in, and fetched a dry towel from the locker.
"Sit there; I'll dry it for you."
She pointed to her rest chair, then began toweling his damp hair.
"Um, Officer Fujiwara, really, there's no need..."
Embarrassed, he tried to refuse, but she didn't stop.
"Just sit still; it's nothing weird."
The policewoman frowned and spoke coldly. After drying his hair she wiped his face, then paused—his still-youthful features held an indescribable clarity, and for a moment she stared, transfixed.
"I didn't notice at first, but up close this foreign high-schooler is really good-looking—my type, even better-looking than Yuto..."
She froze, towel in hand, lost in thought inside the cramped duty room.
Chen Yao looked at her in bewilderment, but just then a male voice rang from the corridor: "Akako, are you in there?"
The call startled her; she snapped back, flustered, and quickly hushed him: "Wait here and don't make a sound. My ex seems to have come—if he sees us it'll be trouble..."
With that she slipped out and locked the door behind her.
Hearing it was her boyfriend, Chen Yao's face paled; if the man found him in her private rest room, he might assume something scandalous was going on—even though they were innocent, a scene could erupt.
Soon the voices of the Japanese couple drifted in from outside.
"Officer Kimura, what brings you here?"
"Akako, is your breakup for real? I told you she was just a police-academy kouhai—I never cheated. And colleagues say you went upstairs with some man. Are you the one cheating?"
"...Nonsense. Would a kouhai hold hands while shopping? We're over; who I see is none of your business."
"He's in there—let me check—so you are cheating..."
Listening to the escalating quarrel, Chen Yao glanced around for a hiding spot.
But the small lounge offered only the wardrobe or under the bed—both hopeless.
Just as despair set in, he remembered a powerful helper who could save him at this very moment.
He speed-dialed Sophie; after hearing the situation she hesitated briefly, then replied: [Understood. I'll be there as fast as I can.]