Thanks for everyone who reviewed so far. Every time you do so you encourage me to write and to keep improving the quality of the story. Currently I'm writing "The Greatest Heist in the History of Second Life" - that is Chapter 28 or 29. You'll see it soon!

Chapter Twenty Six - Wicked

Zhuo Lin Bin, Chemistry student, woke up with a wild feeling of satisfaction.

He wasn't sure how, but Guileastos had managed to screw up big time, and now Prince didn't want him around even to give him a trashing. With the fool out of the picture, he was sure Xiao Lan would acknowledge his feelings.

"Yang Ming, I need to ask you something."

"Hey, Yu An, what's up?"

"I would like you to tell me honestly what my chances with your sister are."

"YOU WHAT?!"

Yu An just stood there, smiling, waiting for Yang Ming to recover from the shock.

"Why would you want to know something like that?"

Yang Ming's question caught the other by surprise, making his answer sound extremely unsure.

"Because... I want to ask her out?"

"Yeah, I figured as much, what I mean is... why?"

"Well... she is nice. She's not seeing anyone, I'm not seeing anyone. I guess that is it, really."

Yang Ming just stared at him, as if trying to solve a very complex Math problem.

"Aren't you going to spout some nonsense about wanting to marry her or being head over heels for her or something?"

If language was swordsmanship, Yang Ming had just taken a rigid stance that showed that, depending on the answer, he was read to draw.

"No."

"So why are you coming to me?"

"You see, I hoped for some useful information like 'Not very likely, you're not her type' or 'Go for it, but the zoo is a no-go, she's scared of elephants'. Things like that."

Yang Ming relaxed a little bit.

"Well, I surely can't tell you what my sister's tastes in men are. I don't really keep track of her love life, so what you do is not really my problem. But I should warn you that there are two other guys that are crazy in love with my sister."

Yu An nodded.

"Does she know that?"

"Now that you ask... I'm not sure."

"Then I guess they are just not very competent."

"One of them is my best friend since I was little." The metaphorical hand was back on the sword's hilt. That gave Yu An some pause.

"So... you support him."

"He is like a brother to me; I guess I'm not against becoming real brothers."

"Very well. That will not stop me from asking Xiao Lan out, so you should tell him to speed up his game."

"Are you encouraging him?"

"You said your friend loves her. I just think she is nice, so I really can't compete. But nothing is going to happen if he doesn't do anything, and I'm not sitting around idle, either."

Feng Yang Ming shook his head in disbelief.

"You are a weird fellow, Yu An. I guess I wish you luck. And I wonder what exactly you see in my monster sister..."

Bai Yu An acted first.

"Hey, Xiao Lan. What do you think about watching a movie this Friday?"

"Sure. Who else is coming?"

"Well, you see, I was thinking about just the two of us. Like a date."

Feng Lan froze. She measured the boy from head to toe, staring as if he'd come from outer space. The boy felt her struggle and smiled kindly at her. She was once again stricken with how much he looked like Prince. A little voice in her head that spoke like Lollidragon noted that if he didn't look so sick, he would actually be handsome.

"Look, I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend or something." He said. "Let's just go out, have a good time, and if it - meaning, the two of us - feels right, we may or may not do it again. If it doesn't, at least we'll have watched a good movie."

She thought about that.

"A dozen girls are waiting in the line to go out with you. So why me?"

"A dozen girls are waiting in the line to go out with Prince, you mean. I'm just asking you out because you are a cool girl, Xiao Lan." From her expression, he felt that he should elaborate. "You are smart, funny. You are really spontaneous, that's one thing that I really like about you. You are cute, no sense pretending I didn't take that into account, and you treat me normally. So I wanted to get a chance to know you better, see what happens."

Lan felt herself blush. Yu An's matter-of-fact praise had the double effect of raising her self-esteem and opening the possibility of... well, a date that wouldn't end in embarrassment, heartache or self pity.

"Can I... can I think about that, and get back to you later?"

"Sure. But do get back to me, even if the answer is no, ok?" He looked away dramatically. "The uncertainty would kill me."

Feng Lan chuckled. Suddenly she felt very partial about saying yes.

And that was the more reason why she felt cornered when Zhuo Lin Bin showed up at her doorstep the following day.

"Xiao Lan, I have something important to tell you."

In that brief moment before he continued to speak she tried to recall his facial expressions from when they'd first met - in game, she meant. They were not on the best terms then, so Wicked and all his team would look at Odd Squad with a sense of rivalry and grudging respect. She missed that expression.

"Do you remember when we were kids, and you would always follow me around?"

She smiled. She had vague recollections of that.

"I've loved you ever since that time, Xiao Lan, and I was so happy when we met again... In those years we've been apart you've grown into such a beautiful woman."

That caught her by surprise. Something in her ego seemed to highlight the word "beautiful", contrasting it with "cute". That distracted her so much she almost missed the next part.

"That's why I would like to ask you to give me a chance. I know you are the right girl for me, and I will never love anyone else, so please give me a chance to prove I'm the right guy for you."

Second Life

System Notice: Skill "Quantum Arrow" has been upgraded. Loading time for this skill has been reduced.

System Notice: Player Crow has learned the skill "Fissure Arrow".

The Black Brotherhood was learning crazy new skills on a daily basis. Crow opened his menu to check on the new one.

Fissure Arrow: this skill weakens resistance and durability of the target, highlighting weaknesses in the structure in the form of cracks. This skill may only be used on inanimate objects.

"It's a debuff." He told his friends. Just like his Disruption Arrow. He was trying really hard to get some serious attack power, but the system seemed to read through his personality. Even the Quantum Arrow, the jewel of his collection, dealt its damage based on a trick, rather than sheer power.

Quantum Arrow: This high energy projectile can tunnel though solid barriers, hitting sheltered or unseen targets.

"Let's test it". Dash sounded curious. They chose a nearby tree as a target.

Crow shot it. From his arrow, a very minute crack appeared. Not very impressive.

"See if the effects are cumulative." Jet suggested. "Do it again."

The second arrow didn't hit far from the first. The crack grew to become a thin line that spanned about thirty centimeters.

"Just one more time."

This time the crack widened dangerously. There was just one more test to perform.

"Lowers resistance and reveals structural weaknesses, right?" Pen brandished her tenketsu like a baseball bat, hitting the tree trunk where the fissure was widest.

The tree collapsed, breaking in two where the girl had hit it.

"No way..." The team was really impressed. Pen looked at her tenketsu as if amazed at her own strength. She was indeed stronger than mage and bard, but she had never before been capable of such destruction. Then a thought occurred her.

"I wonder what it can do to armor."

"Getting revenge for barrier break?" Dee guessed, and they both laughed.

"Better than that." Dash still contemplated the tree. "That's something we can use for the Doughnut."

Real Life

In the end, Feng Lan couldn't bring herself to tell Lin Bin she couldn't go out with him that Saturday because someone had already invited her, and she thought it would be unkind to tell him she couldn't go without at least offering a reason.

The consequence for that choice was that now she had to tell Bai Yu An she couldn't go out with him.

"You know that was not what I asked you, right?" His question caught her off guard.

"I didn't ask you if you could go out this Friday. I asked you if you wanted to go out. Totally different."

"Well, it's not as if a girl can just tell a guy 'Sorry, I just don't want to go out with you'." Her retort came a little more heated than she intended.

"Why not? If we are both mentally healthy, the worst thing that can happen to you is insistence despite continuous refusal, and the worst thing that can happen to the guy is continuous refusal despite insistence."

Lan smiled at that, but refused to budge.

"Still, what if you hurt the other person's feelings?"

"Well, of course I'm not telling you to be rude or anything, but you can't date someone out of pity either. People disagree about things, and sometimes they get frustrated and hurt over that, but that doesn't make either of them a bad person."

There was a long silence after that. So long that even Yu An started feeling uncomfortable and wondering if he should say something, change the subject or what.

"I guess I should answer your question." Lan said just when he was about to break. "I want to go out with you. But this Friday I can't."

Sighing in relief on the inside, Yu An was back to his element.

"In that case... we will find another day. The calendar has plenty of them."

And then it was Friday and Feng Lan went on a date with Zhuo Lin Bin. If she wasn't so nervous, it would have been actually pretty good.

Lin Bin took her to a cultural fair about the Middle East. Countless stands draped in cloth represented various countries, some booths focusing on art, others history, others typical foods, some explored local children's games, and of course some sold souvenirs. Lan loved it. She couldn't help but to think about Sunshine and feel like she was part of the tales of the Thousand and One Nights. And she loved the food. But all the time she was expecting for Zhuo-gege to bring it up again. His confession. And worse than that: his expectation that she would answer him there and then.

She wasn't disappointed. At some point Zhuo started to gently stir her away from the crowd and find a quiet spot where the two of them could talk.

It was rather fortuitous that he never phrased it like a question.

"I want to stay by your side."

If he had, she wasn't sure of what she would answer.

With all that, Lan was rather nervous that Yu An would ask her out again and expect for an immediate answer.

He didn't do that. He didn't bring that up on Monday or Tuesday. And when Wednesday came, he was extremely casual about it.

"Hey, Xiao Lan. Do you have plans for the weekend?"

"Not really."

Yu An knew she had been on a date. In fact, he was quite surprised that the guy didn't set up a return appointment. Amateur. But he didn't skip a beat.

"Ok, so my next question: you're a fan of horror movies, aren't you?"

"Yeah...?" Quite the unusual question, she thought.

"The fifth movie in the 'Blood, guts and horror' series just came out. Do you want to watch it together?"

"That's not very romantic!" She sputtered. She regretted it immediately, but Yu An just chuckled.

"I'm being true to what I promised. If going out together doesn't feel right, at least we'll have watched a movie we both enjoy."

She smiled. It was the first time she realized Bai Yu An made her feel good.

"Are you Bai Yu An?"

An older student tapped Yu An on the shoulder. He wasn't someone the boy was used to seeing around, which probably meant he wasn't in any of the humanities programs. Science program students tended to flock around other areas of the campus, but could often be found in the library.

"Yes. And you are..."

...Definitely hostile, Yu An completed in his head as the other student measured him up and held obstinate silence for a full minute.

"Zhuo Lin Bin. Chemistry department."

They shook hands.

"So, what can I do for you, Zhuo Lin Bin, of the Chemistry department?"

"I've heard you've asked Xiao Lan on a date."

Oh, my. I wonder who you heard that from. A small voice that sounded like "Remember: you've been killed by the Black Brotherhood" whispered in his ear, while automatically adding a few labels. Contestant number two. Childhood friend. The other guy.

"I'm going out with Xiao Lan, so you should stop getting involved with her."

Rather impossible, since we have all of our classes together. Yu An himself was surprised at his belligerent answers. He made an effort to be calm and polite.

"Are you her boyfriend?"

Zhuo didn't answer right away, but his eyes betrayed his desire. That was answer enough.

"Well, if she doesn't have a boyfriend, then any guy can just come and ask her on a date, right?"

Lin Bin was fuming. No, not right. But this time he was able to articulate a response.

"I don't think it's right for two people to approach her at the same time."

"And I disagree with that."

"It's not your opinion that counts."

"You're right. It's hers. Have you talked to her about it yet?"

Yu An didn't have a death wish. He hoped playing innocent would keep Lin Bin on the right side of rationality to prevent physical violence.

"Ch... I know your reputation. You've gone out with a dozen different girls. I'm not going to let you take advantage of Xiao Lan."

Well... there was really nothing Yu An could say about that (it would be lame to say "Actually, Lan is the tenth, but who's counting?") and Zhuo took the boy's silence as an indication of having finally scored a point in the discussion.

He left with a determined expression.