Chapter 43: The Witch of Flames’ Prophecies

“Spill it—come on—spill—” Chick-chan drew out her words, occasionally opening an eye to gauge Xiao Xi’s reaction. His expression shifted from eager to utterly impatient, then gradually irritable, until all the light drained from his face.

‘Hey, hey, hey, it feels like he’s about to pull out a knife. Is he going dark over such a small tease? Xiao Xi? Are you listening? Xiao Xi?’

“Just tell me!” Xiao Xi was practically on the verge of tears. No one dragged out a reveal like this; even commercials during *The Voice of China* weren’t this agonizing. ‘How many times are you going to repeat yourself?’

“Cough, cough…” Chick-chan paused, then declared, “God said, ‘Let there be light!'”

****

“I’m telling you, Chick-chan, if you don’t tell me now, I’ll tell everyone about your manga drawings, and they’ll tell everyone else!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Chick-chan was stunned by Xiao Xi’s breathless torrent of words. She raised a hand, signaling him to stop. Xiao Xi quieted down slightly, but his gaze remained filled with resentment.

“Cough, cough, my previous statement was just to add a touch of mystery to the upcoming narration. Just keep listening, I’ve already started~”

Chick-chan lifted her head, her eyes drifting back to a few days prior.

“I remember it was a bright, sunny morning. A gentle breeze stirred my hair. I looked up and saw, not far away, the President looking at me. I smiled. It was just an ordinary flag-raising ceremony, but with the handsome President there, it never felt boring.”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Xiao Xi made a ‘stop’ gesture and exclaimed loudly, “Are you writing an essay? Don’t be a lovesick fool! Get to the point!”

“Oh, oh…” Chick-chan nodded. ‘The point… the point…’

“The point is that the President is really handsome. His flowing, center-parted long hair truly has the air of an ancient heartthrob. His gold-rimmed glasses highlight his wisdom. He’s good at studies, and he’s handsome~”

“I swear to G…”

Xiao Xi landed a powerful波動拳 (Hadouken) that physically corrected Chick-chan’s wandering thoughts. Chick-chan clutched her head, whimpering pitifully. “Alright, alright, I’ll get to the point, to the point.”

“Cough, cough…”

As I was saying, it was a bright morning. The school was holding a flag-raising ceremony. Chick-chan stood in a corner of the platform, occasionally peeking at the student council president, Nan Feng, while adjusting her skirt.

‘Sigh, being the vice president of the student council is really troublesome~ Usually, I just do odd jobs assigned by the teachers, and for flag-raising ceremonies, I have to arrive early and stand in the sun. At least I get to sneak a peek at the President~’

Xiao Xi interjected, “Oh! Right, speaking of which, Chick-chan, you’re the vice president of the student council? Nan Feng… that’s the first-year student council president, right? They’re quite famous.”

Xiao Xi finally noticed the point Chick-chan was trying to emphasize. Chick-chan nodded vigorously. “That’s right, President is the best~”

Xiao Xi said, “Hmm… I hadn’t really paid much attention, cough, cough, no, keep going. What exactly was the strange thing that happened?”

Chick-chan retorted, “Wasn’t that topic brought up by you? Hmph, I can’t do anything with you, Xiao Xi. So, I’ll continue. The flag-raising ceremony was supposed to have the President speak after the flag was raised, right? And then… suddenly, a strange person appeared!”

****

Chick-chan had actually woken up extra early that day. She needed to go over the entire flag-raising ceremony process with the President that morning to ensure everything went flawlessly. The thought of discussing so many things with the President filled Chick-chan with excitement.

This led to her being quite disoriented by the time everything was arranged. She stood in the corner of the main stage, serving as the student council’s mascot backdrop. The rising sun shone on Chick-chan’s face, making her feel warm and cozy. In such a pleasant environment, she felt even more drowsy.

‘Ah—’

Chick-chan was so sleepy that she didn’t even catch what her beloved President, Nan Feng, was saying. ‘Wuwu… I’ve already read the script anyway, and they didn’t mention me, pfft~’

Chick-chan felt it was already a miracle she hadn’t fallen asleep on the main stage. Her eyelids grew heavier, and her body became increasingly unresponsive to her foggy brain. Just as she was about to nod off, suddenly!

A figure abruptly rushed onto the main stage. The newcomer snatched the microphone, and this sudden turn of events instantly jolted the drowsy girl awake. ‘What… what is happening?’

‘What happened?’

“So… what exactly happened?” Xiao Xi listened, utterly bewildered.

“Cough, cough, there was a mysterious person who suddenly came on stage and announced three things!” Chick-chan lowered her voice, then leaned close to Xiao Xi’s ear and whispered, “She said that there were unknown magic fluctuations in our school, so she was going to make three predictions!”

“Uh…”

“First, a huge pillar of light would appear on the school rooftop at night. That girl explained it was apparently some kind of… magic source?”

“Then, supernatural phenomena would occur in the school! Gah, I already think a pillar of light is pretty supernatural, though~”

“Finally, the flames of justice would ignite in the school, burning… burning away all evil! FFF!”

“Pfft—pfft—”

As she spoke, Chick-chan couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She covered her mouth, her eyes curving into joyful crescents, and told Xiao Xi, “Xiao Xi, can you imagine? I was so startled! Suddenly, this girl rushed onto the stage, snatched the microphone, and spouted a bunch of nonsense. I was completely dumbfounded. If the sun hadn’t been so high in the sky, I almost would’ve believed her~”

Even now, Chick-chan recalled the girl’s ambitious demeanor after delivering her three predictions. She proudly puffed out her chest and shouted to the crowd below, “I am Mia, the Witch of Flames?”

“Hmm?” Chick-chan looked at Xiao Xi in surprise, who had matched her words. “How did you know?”

“Ah, it really was her!” Xiao Xi turned his head away, speechless. That wine-red figure, combined with the incredibly chuunibyo pronouncements and the courage to ramble nonsense in front of everyone… how should he put it?

In some ways, she was really amazing!

“What happened after that…?” Xiao Xi was unwilling to directly answer Chick-chan’s question. Talking about how he met that person would probably be even more embarrassing than Mia’s baffling human drama.

“After that… I heard that someone really saw a huge pillar of light on the roof of the teaching building when they passed by the school at night~ And others said that mysterious ghosts have been appearing in the school recently~”

“Eh?”

Xiao Xi was utterly bewildered. ‘How… how did that person’s prophecies actually come true?’

“How about that? Isn’t it amazing? Apparently, quite a few people in the school who love the occult have already secretly started research and worship groups for Mia,” Chick-chan mused. “Maybe… it’s really true?”

“That person… actually has followers?” Xiao Xi was dumbfounded. However… it really was strange. How could all of it have come true?

“Cough, cough, Xiao Xi, you still haven’t told me how you knew the words. Do you know Mia?” Chick-chan leaned closer, her face full of curiosity, wanting to get to the bottom of it.

“I…” Xiao Xi stammered, unable to speak. It was too embarrassing.

He didn’t just ‘know’ her; he had a date with that Mia tonight. He had a date with that Mia tonight.