This is not the date I wanted.

They sneaked into the campus under the cover of night, bypassed the patrolling security guards, and arrived at the backyard of the school.

"It's right here... Through this door, you can leave the city from the back mountain. Wait a moment, I'll open the door now."

Looking at Shinshi who easily crawled over the wall and opened the iron gate from the outside, the corners of Mana's mouth twitched slightly.

"Brother, can you tell me how you know this path? And why are you so skilled in it?"

"Yeah... There was a time when I felt that classes were too boring, and I would occasionally skip classes here... Of course! Only occasionally, but now I've given up!"

"Ha... Although I really want to use Tanlang Pill to correct my brother's laziness, it is thanks to my brother that I was able to find a way out. Let's forget it this time."

We left the school and entered the forest on the back mountain. Without any lights, the forest was pitch black at night, as eerie and spooky as a haunted house, with hissing sounds from the wind from time to time.

Shinji couldn't help swallowing.

"…Mana, did you bring your compass, flashlight, and map?"

"Well... I brought a flashlight and a compass, but the forest map..."

"No problem. I've seen a map of this forest in the study, so I know the way around." Mio suddenly interrupted, "Besides, I've also seen the plants and animals that appear in the forest in the survival manual. Even if we run out of food and water, I have a way to keep everyone alive."

"Oh oh..."

Mana and Shinji couldn't help but exclaim.

"I never thought...Mio is the most reliable among the three of us."

"Well, after all, normally no one would pay attention to this kind of knowledge. Mio, can I let you lead the way?"

"Well, leave it to me."

Taking out their flashlights and compasses, Shinji and Shinna set out through the forest under Mio's guidance.

"Wait a moment!"

Suddenly, Mana stopped with a serious expression.

"There's a sound... approaching."

"The sound? Is it some beast?"

Shinji asked in confusion.

Putting his ear to the ground, Mana was silent for a moment before answering.

"...No, it's the same sound as ours, it's the footsteps of people... and there are a lot of them!"

"Varied--"

Before Zhenshi could react, suddenly, a strong white light shone on Zhenshi and the others.

"Found it! Found the target!"

"Mana! Mio! Run!"

After yelling without thinking, Shinshi took Mio's hand and ran at full speed towards the depths of the forest.

25 The Past of Shinji and Mio (Ten)

==============================

“Ha…ha…Ah…”

Hiding in the shadows of the forest, Shinshi leaned against a tree trunk, his shoulders swaying violently with his breathing.

The bright red blood gradually dyed his shoulders red. Zhenshi clenched his teeth and his forehead was covered with sweat of pain.

Just during the escape, Zhenshi was unlucky and was hit in the shoulder by a bullet.

"Shinshi, is it painful?"

"Hmph... this injury is nothing--Gu!"

He originally wanted to act cool and say some tough guy lines to Mio, but the severe pain from the wound soon made him lose the energy to show off. It was like a rivet stirring deep in his bone marrow. Shinshi's facial muscles twisted and he almost cried in pain.

"It's okay, leave it to me."

As she spoke, Mio slowly squatted down beside Shinshi, placed her hands on the wound on her shoulder, and released a faint fluorescent light.

Soon, something miraculous happened. The bullet embedded in the bone was easily removed. The skin, muscles, and bones were all healing at an astonishing speed. The maddening pain from before also gradually eased and disappeared.

After finishing the treatment, Mio breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay... Zhen, try to move your arms."

"Hmm...?! That's amazing, it doesn't hurt at all! That's amazing, Mio!"

Shinji couldn't help but exclaim as he moved his arms as Mio instructed.

"It's no big deal." Mio shook her head and said, "I just used my spiritual power to remove the bullet and stimulate the self-healing ability of my body."

"No... that's already very impressive."

Shinji couldn't help but smile bitterly. If the doctor saw what happened just now, he would definitely be shocked and doubt his life.

Just then, the rustling sound of leaves rubbing against each other and the sound of hard footsteps on the ground rang in my ears.

Shinshi and Mio held their breath at the same time.

——Found it?

——No. Probably not in this area.

——Then let’s go look over there.

After the white light of the searchlight flashed over the two people's heads several times, the footsteps gradually faded away into the distance.

"call……"

Shinji couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said to Mio.

"We will be discovered sooner or later if we stay here. Let's get out of here quickly."

"Ah."

Mio nodded, holding Shinshi's hand, and walked through the forest while avoiding the crowds.

Silent silence spread between the two of them. Although he was alone holding hands with the person he loved most, Zhenshi couldn't feel happy in his heart.

"real……"

Finally, Mio couldn't help but speak.

"Is she... okay?"

"…I'm sure it'll be fine."

Shinji pursed his lips and answered in a somewhat dry voice.

Due to the hasty escape just now, Mana got separated from them halfway and her whereabouts are now unknown.

Although Shinji is now very worried about his sister, as Mio's boyfriend, he must not behave in a way that would make Mio uneasy and panic.

"Even if we encounter an enemy, Mana's strength is more than enough to defeat them with swordsmanship. She must be somewhere in this forest now, preparing to join us."

"Ah."

With a small smile on her face, Mio nodded slightly.

Rather, it was Shinshi who was in danger. Although they were familiar with the terrain and could temporarily avoid the enemy, the enemy was numerous and armed. If they really met, an unarmed high school student like him would surely die.

(It would be nice if there were some weapons to fight with.)

Shinji glanced at Mio secretly. If the story is told in anime or light novels, the hero would usually gain power from the heroine who descended from the sky, such as pulling out a big sword from her bosom, or signing a contract to awaken some special power, and then reverse the situation in one go.

"Hey...Mio, can you do something with your spirit power? Like conjure up a big sword, or teleport or something?"

Shinji couldn't help but ask.

"——!?"

Shinshi felt that Mio's hand trembled suddenly.

"I'm sorry, Zhen, I'm afraid I can't live up to your expectations." Mio whispered, "The power I have... is very terrible, so terrible that I can't control it... I can't control it yet... If I use it casually... If it goes out of control..."

"If you run away?"

"Probably... all the mountains in this area will be razed to the ground... nothing will be left."

"I see……"

Shinji couldn't help but feel ashamed. Indeed, if that happened, Mio might survive, but he and Shinji would definitely die.

"Besides...I don't want to hurt anyone."

Suddenly, Mio's voice became choked.

"The world is so beautiful, and there are so many kind people like Shin and Mana. If I use my power... thousands... tens of thousands of people will die."

"I... don't want to kill anyone anymore."

"Mio."

Shinji was a little stunned. Then he quickly realized that TV stations and the Internet were all recording reports of casualties from space earthquake disasters, as well as the sad news from the victims' families. As one of the channels for obtaining knowledge and information, it is impossible that Mio has not used TV and computers.

In other words, she was the culprit of the spacequake, and she knew this fact better than anyone else.

However, even so, in order not to worry others, she still greeted Shinji with her gentle and bright smile as always, hiding her pain in her heart alone.

After realizing this, Zhenshi wanted to slap himself a few times.

"Don't worry, Shin." Mio seemed to have made a decision and said solemnly, "Their target should be me. If it really comes to the last resort..."

"If that happens, and I hand you over, will Mana and I be able to have peace?"

Finishing Mio's line first, Shinshi couldn't help but laugh and shook his head.

"Really? He said so many nice things. But when he encountered danger, he couldn't help but rely on his girlfriend. In the end, he still had to be worried and protected by his girlfriend? Haha... I am such a failure as a boyfriend.——!"

Suddenly, Shinji clenched his fist and punched himself hard in the face.

"--real!?"

"It's okay, Mio. Just trying to sober myself up."

Shaking his head, Shinshi smiled bitterly and waved his hand and said,

"Don't worry, Mio. From the moment I spoke to the girl at the center of the explosion, I was prepared to get into trouble."

Holding Mio's soft little hand tightly, Shinji said firmly,

"We are family, right? Even if I use you to buy safety, Mana and I will never be happy. So, don't say that again."

"……Um."

As if sensing Shinji's determination, Mio shook his hand and nodded.

——Hey, come on. Why did you come to me?

At this time, a voice came from the front. The two of them immediately tensed up. Soon, a blond foreign man walked out from the deep forest in front.

Although he was not familiar with the aesthetics of Europeans and Americans, the man in front of him was definitely handsome in his eyes, with a tall and neat figure, bright blond hair, and handsome and heroic facial features. As soon as the other person appeared, Zhenshi, as a man, felt frustrated.

If the other person hadn't been wearing a black suit of the same style as DEM's, Shinshi would probably have mistaken him for a Hollywood star or something.

Looking at Mio and Shinji who were alert, the man was confused or at a loss. He scratched his hair with a very unmotivated expression.

"Um...excuse me, young man over there. Can you please let me have the girl next to you?"

The blond man spoke in fluent Japanese.

"...Why?"

Zhenshi couldn't help but frown. Judging from the attitude, the other party was obviously different from the previous man in black, but he was somewhat surprised.

"Well... what should I say... to protect world peace. This girl, although she is so beautiful, is the culprit that caused the spacequake. It will be very dangerous if we leave her alone."

"Throat...are you still trying to say that you are a partner of justice?"

Shinji asked back with a sneer.

"Well... although it's hard to say that everyone is like that, at least that's what I think."

"If so, why would they shoot ordinary citizens like us?"

"Eh? Shooting? Shit... the subordinates that Allen taught are really..."