The Mage of Primordial Chaos

"So, where are we off to next?" I asked, taking Qing Yue\'s hand as we strolled the amusement park.

"Hm… another roller coaster?"

"No."

My answer was immediate, nonwavering. Qing Yue giggled.

"Just kidding, just kidding… let\'s go to the arcade. We passed by some on the way here, didn\'t we?"

I took a look at the map on the guidebook I got at the entrance of the amusement park, then nodded. "They aren\'t far. Let\'s go."

*****

With that, the rest of the day soon came to an end. 6 PM rolled around, and the amusement park closed down.

"Whew… that was fun," Qing Yue breathed, stretching her arms high into the air as we were just about the last two people to leave. She had gotten real addicted to that one racing game in the arcade I kept beating her at, and it wasn\'t until an employee came over and forced us to leave that I finally decided to just purposely let her win once.

"We still have some time before night falls," I said as we strolled back onto the streets of Fragment. "Are you hungry, by any chance?"

They had eaten lunch at a local restaurant inside the amusement park, but that had been a while ago. Qing Yue gave a nod.

"Slightly. But… are we just going to eat dinner, now? Isn\'t it kind of early still?" She tilted her head in question.

I nodded. "Dinner will come later… but a snack couldn\'t hurt, could it?"

"A snack…?" Her eyes sparkled in excitement, and I smirked.

"Tell me, Qing Yue. What\'s your favorite thing in the world?"

"You," she replied without any hesitation, a serious look on her face.

I laughed awkwardly. "Uh… apart from that?"

"Hm…" She fell into thought, skipping along. "I guess… manga?"

I chuckled. "Bingo."

"Eh?"

"You\'ll see."

*****

"Woah… is this…?" Qing Yue\'s eyes sparkled with excitement as we stood in front of a short, cute building that had multiple round tables inside with white chairs surrounding them, and… bookshelves. Loads and loads of bookshelves lined the walls, and judging from the name of the place…

"Manga Cafe… is this a manga cafe?" Qing Yue blinked.

"Uh… what do you think?"

"Hehe ~ that\'s hardly a very creative name, but it does look nice. Let\'s head in!"

Qing Yue pulled me inside through the automatic doors, unable to wait any longer, and was welcomed by refreshing air conditioning. Gentle lo-fi music played through the speaker system, creating a calm and tranquil atmosphere, completely isolated from however noisy the outside world was. I figured there was probably Sound Magic enchantments in place.

"Welcome to Fragment\'s one and only Manga Cafe!" A young woman wearing maid clothes said with a curtsy and a broad smile. "How long would you like to stay today?"

"One hour to begin," I said. "We\'ll extend as we see fit."

The maid nodded happily. "Understood! And what drink would you like?"

I turned to Qing Yue, who was too absorbed in admiring all the different manga selections in the cafe. Scratching my cheek awkwardly, I turned back to the maid employee.

"Let\'s go with two milk teas. One taro, one lychee."

"Very well! And medium for both?"

I nodded, and the maid wrote everything down on her notepad.

"Alright! That\'ll be $18 in total!"

I nodded and swiped my card on the device she handed me, and a beep rang out signaling that the transaction had completed and was successful. As for Qing Yue, she was already browsing the shelves. As expected of a manga addict.

"Wow… they even have the limited editions with the signatures here…" She murmured, eyes sparkling in delight and wonder. I\'ve never been much of an anime or manga fan myself, mainly due to the lack of both time and interest, but I had no doubt they were both entertaining topics that could quickly turn into hobbies if I really got into it.

"Big Brother Xuan Kai! This one, this one!" She suddenly whispered sharply, pointing at a cute green bean bag chair and beckoning me to come closer. It was in the corner of the room. I liked corners, so I obliged and walked over and plopped down on it.

"Mm, this is comfortable," I murmured, letting my weight sink into the bean bag. Qing Yue plopped down after me, straight into my lap, and then set down the entire stack\'s worth of manga she had picked out from the shelves. It was clear we would be staying here for quite a bit longer than just an hour.

"Take a look, Big Brother Xuan Kai," she said, showing the cover of the first manga in the series to me. It read…

"… Hairy Tail? What kind of name is this?"

"Hm? Not interested? Then… how about this?"

"Uh… Attack on Lemon? That sounds… comedic, I suppose."

"Eh…? It\'s supposed to be a dark series, though… oh, I know! What about this one?" She held up a third manga, and I raised an eyebrow at it before reading the title aloud once again.

"… Defective Conan. Poor guy."

"You\'re not interested in any of these?" Qing Yue frowned slightly. "Well, I suppose it is what it is… one day, I\'ll find a manga series for you to enjoy, Big Brother Xuan Kai. I swear it!"

"Yes, yes…" I smiled and tried to comfort her. It\'s not her fault I didn\'t find any of these particularly interesting.

"Hello there! Your drinks are ready!" The maid from earlier called to us, then set down our milk teas down on the top of the bookshelf beside us.

"Thanks."

"Thank you~!" 

"No problem," she replied with a warm smile. "Also, I noticed you two whispering earlier… there is no need for that. The air in this place is specially enchanted with Sound Magic so that voices can only be heard within a two-meter radius from the source. You can go ahead and yell as loud as you\'d like, and you wouldn\'t be disturbing any of the other customers."

"Oh, that\'s neat," I murmured, rubbing my chin. "But I refuse."

"E-Eh?" The maid tilted her head, confused.

"Even if you told me to yell, I wouldn\'t," I replied.

"A-Ah, of course, that was just an example, haha…" She laughed awkwardly, then spun on her heel. "Well, please just raise your hand if you need anything, and I\'ll come right over. Enjoy your stay!"

As she left, I turned back to Qing Yue, only to find her staring at me in shock.

"B-Big Brother Xuan Kai… what you said just now… say it again."

"What…? That… I won\'t yell?"

"No, no, before that. Those exact words." Her eyes seemed to shine with anticipation, and on my part, I was bewildered. What did this girl want from me?

"Er… But I refuse?"

"Yes! That one! Say it!"

"… But I refuse."

"No way… the voice is so perfect…" Qing Yue clasped her own cheeks in awe, as if thoroughly stunned by my performance. "That… that right there, was a top-tier Juju\'s reference!"

"A what reference, now?"

"Juju\'s Crazy Expeditions! One of the top meme series of all time!" Qing Yue exclaimed happily. "To think you are able to make a reference without even knowing about it beforehand… you\'re truly a natural otaku, Big Brother Xuan Kai!"

"Uh… thanks?" I raised an eyebrow, confused as to what I was supposed to be saying here.

"Heheh, I\'ll turn you into a true weeb someday. Just you wait!"

*****

In the end, Qing Yue and I ended up spending a good two and a half hours at the manga cafe. By the time we were done, it was nearly 9 PM, so I needed to drag her back home. For her part, she didn\'t want to leave yet. The cafe was open 24/7, so technically she could\'ve stayed if she wanted to, but really, I had plans with a different girl tomorrow as agreed beforehand, so no can do.

On the way home, the streets were quite empty. Most folks have retreated into their respective lodging by now, leaving Qing Yue and I walking in a comfortable silence as the two of us looked up at the beautiful night sky, hands held together.

"Hey, Qing Yue," I said, breaking the tranquility.

"Hm? What is it, Big Brother Xuan Kai?"

"Did you… have fun today?" I asked hesitantly. "I mean… I\'ve never really taken a girl out on a date before, so I\'m very inexperienced when it comes to things like this. Did I disappoint you?"

"Hehe~ what are you talking about?" Qing Yue giggled. "Today was the most fun I\'ve had in a long while, Big Brother Xuan Kai. From the amusement park to the manga cafe… everything was well-planned and carefully thought-out. I can tell you put a lot of effort into making today\'s date a memorable one. I enjoyed it very much… and it\'s all thanks to you, Big Brother Xuan Kai."

"… As long as you\'re happy, I\'m happy too," I replied, smiling faintly.

"Besides," Qing Yue continued, winking at me. "It\'s not like this will be the last time we go on a date together. You\'ll be getting loads of practice in the coming few days, so I expect the next time to be even better, mkay?"

I laughed. "You can say that again… I\'ll do my best. It\'s the least I can do to repay you all for everything you guys have done for me."

"Repayment this, repayment that…" Qing Yue sighed. "Seriously, you\'re hopeless, Big Brother Xuan Kai. We\'re all family here. There\'s no such thing as debts or repayment. Your problems are our problems, and your merits are our merits as well. We\'ll get through everything together, so don\'t act all distanced with us, okay?"

I smirked. "Through the power of friendship?"

"Hehe~ yes, that cliched line. Through the power of friendship…" She echoed, then tipped on her toes to plant a sweet kiss on my cheek.. "… And love."

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