Chapter 47 – The Lightning Dancing at Your Fingertips

They were only halfway through the meal when Xia Xun was called away by a phone call.

Watching Xia Xun’s hurriedly departing figure, Lin Xi swallowed her steak and sighed.

“Xia Xun sure is busy.”

“Isn’t she?” Chu Wenmu agreed. “Dark Realm Disaster incidents have been happening more and more often lately. And it’s not just natural disasters-there are man-made ones too.”

“Miss Lin Xi, do you know about the robbery and murder at Jinrui Bank in District 3?”

“Society is already a mess because of monsters, and then there are these scumbag criminals making things even worse.”

“Sooner or later, Miss Xia Xun will catch those three criminals and freeze them into ice sculptures!”

Lin Xi: “…”

That Manager Wu who’d had his head blown off by Shi Yu had been a drug-addled lowlife who ate, drank, whored, gambled, and smoked his way through life. He was the real scumbag making society worse.

“Yeah,” Lin Xi said, continuing to eat as she spoke. “Miss Xia Xun will definitely punish evil and promote… herbal remedies-no, uphold righteousness!”

“Mm, exactly,” Chu Wenmu said. As she chatted with Lin Xi, she found that she actually got along pretty well with this girl. “So, Miss Lin Xi, as Xia Xun’s die-hard fans, we should take action and support her with everything we’ve got-“

“Stop!” Lin Xi blew the whistle like a referee calling a halt. “We? Since when did I become a die-hard Xia Xun fan like you?”

“Huh? Miss Lin Xi, you don’t plan on joining our Xia Xun fan club?” Chu Wenmu asked in shock.

Lin Xi shook her head.

“Why?” Chu Wenmu pressed. “Could it be that you support District 1’s Magical Girl, Su Tang?”

“Or District 2’s Magical Girl, Misaka Shirai?”

“Neither,” Lin Xi said.

“Why?” Chu Wenmu stared at Lin Xi as if she were looking at an alien. In her eyes, a normal person had to support at least one Magical Girl.

Classic stan logic.

It wasn’t that Lin Xi didn’t want to support one. She didn’t dare.

So she made up an excuse. “I’m a 2D Otaku. I stan fictional characters.”

“Oh…” Chu Wenmu said. “Understandable. Stanning 2D idols and stanning 3D idols both count as the righteous path.”

“Huh? Senior, fandom has a righteous path and an evil path?”

“Of course.”

“Then the evil path is…?”

Chu Wenmu lowered her voice and said, a little embarrassed, “Liking those perverted, lewd things. That’s the crooked path.”

Lin Xi: “…”

She wondered if that made her both righteous and evil.

By Senior Chu Wenmu’s standards, didn’t that mean Shi Yu’s evil level had reached Demon Lord tier?

“Miss Lin Xi, you…” Chu Wenmu asked worriedly. “You haven’t fallen onto the path of wickedness, have you?”

“I haven’t, I’m not, don’t make things up.” Lin Xi immediately fired off the classic triple denial.

“That’s good, that’s good… I thought so too. Miss Lin Xi, you’re a good student.”

Lin Xi nearly lost it. Back in the classroom, Chu Wenmu had defined her as a scourge upon the school-no, even upon Z City.

Honestly, this senior sure changed faces fast…

Lin Xi made it clear she had no intention of joining the Xia Xun fan club, but Chu Wenmu still didn’t give up.

“Miss Lin Xi, I don’t think you know this, but joining the fan club comes with lots of benefits.”

Hmm??? Lin Xi immediately went on alert.

Was she trying to bribe her?

A few petty benefits could never move her heart.

Still, she might as well hear what conditions Chu Wenmu was offering.

A few moments later…

“Senior, I am honored to become the fan club’s vice president.” Lin Xi smiled and extended her hand, shaking Chu Wenmu’s.

As for why she had been won over, the reason was simple: Chu Wenmu had just offered way too much…

Lin Xi had finally learned what it meant to be a die-hard fan.

This fair and impartial, mature big-sister type Discipline Committee member had been hiding an adorable fangirl side all along.

There was one thing Lin Xi didn’t understand, so she asked, “Senior, if you like and support Xia Xun this much, why didn’t you talk to her more during dinner?”

During dinner, it had mostly been Lin Xi chatting with Xia Xun. Chu Wenmu had barely said a few words.

“I-I was too nervous!” Chu Wenmu blushed at her own lack of nerve. “When I talk to Xia Xun, I’m terrified I’ll say something wrong. And on top of that, I gave you a hard time today and upset her…”

“You’re overthinking it,” Lin Xi comforted her. “You’ve already apologized and made amends, and you’re my senior and the president of her fan club. I’m sure Xia Xun isn’t holding it against you anymore.”

Lin Xi understood Chu Wenmu being too nervous to talk to her idol. If Lin Xi’s own idol, Ultraman Tiga, suddenly appeared, she would probably be too nervous to speak to him too.

“Actually, Xia Xun is very friendly,” Lin Xi said, speaking from personal experience. “She won’t get angry just because you say the wrong thing.”

“Wuuu…” Chu Wenmu suddenly started crying, “little pearls” welling up and falling from the corners of her eyes.

Lin Xi: “???”

“Wait, Senior, did I say something wrong?”

Making a girl cry was a serious crime.

Wiping her tears, Chu Wenmu said, “No… I was moved by you. I treated you like that, but you’re still so nice to me…”

“Huh? I’m nice to you? Am I?”

“You are! You gave me advice and helped me figure out how to face Xia Xun. Lin Xi, you are my greatest benefactor. I’ll never be able to repay your kindness!”

Lin Xi: “…”

“Senior, I thought you were crying because you were mad that Xia Xun and I are too close.”

“Hahaha-” Chu Wenmu laughed through her tears. “How could that be!”

“You having a good relationship with Xia Xun is exactly what our fan club needs.”

“You will serve as the sturdy bridge between our fan club and Xia Xun!”

“Uh…” Lin Xi suddenly felt a mountain of pressure. “Let me ask, just in case. Does our fan club have a lot of activities? Are they tiring?”

“Not many, and not tiring. Recently, we only have one project.”

“Project?”

“That’s right.” Chu Wenmu wiped away her tears and returned to being that confident, mature senior. “Starting the year before last, Z City began holding an Annual Moe Queen1 contest. Every year, they vote for an extremely popular beautiful girl and crown her with the title of Moe Queen.”

“The Moe Queen of the first two contests was taken by the Magical Girl Misaka Shirai from District 2.”

“This year,” Chu Wenmu said, her gaze firm and her voice forceful, “our Xia Xun fan club must go all out and make Xia Xun the Moe Queen!”

Lin Xi had seen photos of Misaka Shirai online. She was a girl with short tea-colored hair.

Xia Xun was every bit as pretty and cute as she was.

As for abilities, Xia Xun was the “Ice Sprite” and “Witch Killer,” while Misaka Shirai was praised for her “Railgun.”

Lin Xi felt that both of them were cute and both of them were strong. “How did Misaka Shirai win two Moe Queen titles in a row?”

Chu Wenmu said, “Actually, all three Magical Girls have flawless looks and strength.”

“The key is promotion and hype!”

“Misaka Shirai’s fan club is way too good at publicity.”

“Do you know this? For their idol’s sake, Misaka Shirai’s fan club came up with the line, ‘The lightning dancing at your fingertips is the unchanging faith of my life.’ It’s already become a classic, and people still quote it to this day!”

Footnote:

1. Moe Queen(萌王): A title originating from ACGN (Anime, Comic, Game, and Novel) subculture. It refers to the winner of a popularity contest (often known as a “Saimoe” tournament) where fans vote for the “cutest” or most endearing female character.