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When Arthur left Camp Lehigh, it was already afternoon. By the time he arrived at the restaurant, dusk had settled in. He and Lily stepped out of the campus and made their way to the restaurant just in time for dinner.
Arthur was still in the guise of Lily's father, and as they entered the restaurant arm in arm, it felt surreal. Lily confidently ordered steak, as if she were a regular, and they took their seats facing each other.
Suddenly, Lily burst into laughter.
"...What's so funny?" Arthur asked, wiping his face in exasperation.
"I can't help it! Every time I think of my dad looking at me with such affection, I feel guilty," she replied, her laughter subsiding.
Lily sighed, "Think about it, people go on dates, and here I am, clearly with my boyfriend, but he looks just like my dad..."
Arthur fell silent for a moment, scratching his head. "So what do we do?"
"Nothing can be done. We just roll with it," Lily said. "How long are you staying?"
"One night..." Arthur replied. "I sell skills, not my body."
"...That's because you can't get a price, right?" she teased.
The conversation drifted from there, and they chatted casually, but every time Lily glanced at Arthur's face, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
Arthur felt helpless; it was his own bad luck for choosing the wrong face when he left. Now it was too late to change. If they were seen walking arm in arm and he suddenly changed back, how could Lily ever come back here again?
With a strange sense of absurdity, they finished dinner and strolled to a nearby cinema. Arthur had no idea what movie was playing; the title suggested it might be a romance.
However, once they sat down, he quickly realized he was mistaken. The film was a horror movie, and a particularly terrifying one at that! Lily watched with rapt attention while Arthur trembled in fear, sweating profusely.
It wasn't just the gruesome scenes that scared him; it was the sudden jump scares that sent his adrenaline soaring. At one point, a horrifying scene appeared so abruptly that Arthur instinctively felt like pulling out a gun and shooting the giant screen in front of him!
The entire movie felt like an eternity. If Lily hadn't been leaning against him the whole time, he would have bolted long ago.
After the credits rolled, Lily laughed so hard she could barely stand. "You're a superhero, but you're scared of horror movies! Doesn't that make me the brave one? Who are your usual foes? Cartoon fairies?"
If anyone else had said that, Arthur would have shown them just how red roses can be! But since it was Lily, he held his breath and vowed to get back at her later, promising to make her so nervous she wouldn't know where to cry for her mom and dad!
"Little brat, enjoy yourself now, just wait until tonight!" Arthur thought fiercely, completely forgetting his earlier resolve about selling skills but not his body.
As they walked, a sudden cry for help pierced the air.
They were taking a shortcut closer to the car. To keep things realistic, Arthur hadn't stored the car in the Disassembler space; he had parked it in the restaurant's lot. The shortcut was meant to get them back faster.
But that cry for help stunned both Arthur and Lily.
They exchanged glances, and Lily asked, "So, are you going to change your outfit first? Then go save the person?"
"Probably not…" Arthur replied.
He activated an Eye of Horus scan, quickly spotting a few guys dressed like classic villains in a nearby alley, pressing a long-haired girl against the wall.
The scene was cliché, but seeing it unfold meant he couldn't just ignore it.
"Wait here," He said.
"I want to watch!!!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes wide. "I've never seen you fight before!!!"
"...Why do you want to watch me fight? Are you some delinquent girl who enjoys brawls?" Arthur couldn't help but mockingly retort. It had been a while since he'd done a proper tsukkomi, and he felt a twinge of guilt for neglecting his comedic roots.
"I don't care, I want to watch!" she insisted. "Besides, isn't there no time to waste?"
"Alright, let's go." Arthur grabbed Lily's waist, spread his wings behind him, and with a whoosh, her vision blurred amid the roaring wind. When her view cleared, they were already on the rooftop of a building.
"I'll go down first. You stay put… oh, here, put this on."
Before she could react, a mask appeared on her face. Arthur patted his chest, and in the next moment, he was cloaked in a jet-black cape and a cold, solemn mask.
"So cool!" Lily stared at him, wide-eyed.
Her fangirl reaction oddly satisfied Arthur's vanity. He reached out and patted her head. "I'll be back soon."
Since she wanted to watch, he had to put on a good show.
He landed lightly, his steps soft and silent.
The thugs had no idea Arthur had arrived. They were still hurling vulgarities at the long-haired beauty, making obscene gestures. One of them had already grabbed her hand and pinned her against the wall, his hands behaving suspiciously, as if about to do something horrible.
Seeing how deeply involved those guys were, Arthur didn't even know what to say.
He simply cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me."
The thugs were so engrossed in their debauchery that they barely noticed him, too caught up in their twisted pleasure to heed his words.
Arthur sighed, reaching out to pat one guy on the shoulder. "Bro, what you're doing is wrong."
The man jumped, turned sharply, and saw Arthur's inhuman face up close. His whole body twitched violently, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.
Arthur was taken aback. Could it be these guys weren't thugs but just cowards? For heaven's sake, he hadn't even taken action yet!
"Who's there?" an angry shout rang out. Now that was a normal way to start a fight. The thugs turned around, glaring at Arthur. One even pulled a dagger from his waist and sneered, "Kid, mind your own business if you want to live."