"Immediately send people to blockade Zhutai High. Don't let anyone leave before the cleaning time ends!" Aoi waved her hand, her expression far from pleasant. She knew well that a sower was a walking time bomb. If it were to detonate in a crowded place and trigger a chain reaction of fear, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Members of the Mountain Crow family moved out. Before long, jeeps were driving out of the chemical plant one after another. Natsu Kuri stepped over the dense spider webs on the ground, once again checking the egg sacs scattered in every corner of the plant. After confirming Aunt Nishimiya wasn't there, she slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Aoi was by her side.
"Your Highness, let us go."
Natsu Kuri nodded. "Okay, Big Sister Snow Crow Aoi."
Aoi frowned slightly.
The autumn temperature always changed quickly. At noon, one could still lie in the courtyard and soak in the warm sun, but by afternoon, a bleak wind was blowing through the alleys.
The sound of distant car horns faded into the autumn wind.
Xu Xiaoyou added a green olive to her wine glass. Beside her, a mature woman who was dead drunk leaned on her shoulder, shaking it continuously, her mouth mumbling, "My dear Little Rose, my honey, my sweetheart..."
Xu Xiaoyou sighed softly, using a wet wipe to clean the lipstick marks off her face, smiling helplessly. "The afternoon service time is almost up, Ms. Gaogai."
"What else do you want? I can give you anything. A land-air vehicle from the Lawrence Pantheon... if you want to settle down in Dragonfly Town, I can buy you two more houses for work. We can have a home, baby. Just stay with me for another hour, okay?"
"I'm sorry, but in my heart, principles can never be measured by money. They are unshakeable." Xu Xiaoyou maintained her smile, detaching the woman's arms that were wrapped around her shoulders like snakes. She carefully supported the dead-drunk woman, letting her lie sideways on the long sofa, and took off her own windbreaker to cover her.
"A little vixen who knows how to hook people, hmph, I like you just like this..."
After the woman fell asleep, Xu Xiaoyou went to the window. Her gaze passed through the floor-to-ceiling glass to look at the street. A dozen jeeps sped past.
The black raven logo was extremely recognizable. Based on the direction where the distant sirens were gathering, it wasn't hard to judge that these vehicles were headed toward Zhutai High.
"Do you still plan to keep playing house with that little family head?"
A somewhat cold female voice came from behind. Through the reflection, she could see Angelina leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Her expression hadn't changed much from before, still that same unfriendly coldness.
Xu Xiaoyou was used to Angelina's cold attitude. Ever since their fates were bound together, the other girl hadn't given her a single good look, and she would occasionally snap.
"Exactly how long do you plan to keep rolling that die?" Angelina frowned. "We've been in Dragonfly Town for almost a month. When are we going back to the Star of Art?"
"How is it that Anya cares about my affairs more than I do?" Xu Xiaoyou rolled the bronze-colored die in her hand.
"I've had enough of the scent of rouge here. Not everyone can enjoy themselves like you do," Angelina mocked.
"Besides," Angelina's tone shifted, "I'm quite looking forward to seeing you trigger the descent of an artist just because your left foot stepped into the Star of Art first, being refined into a human musical note."
"Despite what you say, Anya treasures me more than anyone. When the time comes, you'll definitely rush to block the front, ignoring your own safety again," Xu Xiaoyou said.
"That's only for my own sake!" Angelina was about to lash out when the bronze die spinning frantically in the air gradually came to a stop. A faint, indiscernible smile appeared on Xu Xiaoyou's face.
"Anya, tomorrow we return to the Star of Art. We go back to that long-lost land of ice and snow."
Xu Xiaoyou turned her body, looking at the figure of an old man waiting nearby. The old man stood tall, his clothes neatly arranged, a peaceful smile on his wrinkled face.
"Of course, before that, I have a personal matter to handle."
...
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure. I heard it's a temporary drill."
"Hahaha, as if anyone takes those drills seriously."
"Tch, maybe something really did happen, who knows."
Inside Zhutai High, the broadcast for assembly echoed over the corridors. Students who had finished their club activities were blocked at the school gate.
The outside was filled with black vehicles. Everyone was whispering, not understanding what was happening. One or two members of the Mountain Crow family held megaphones, responsible for organizing the order in the front, while the rest were distributed in every corner of the high school, laying out a comprehensive net with no blind spots. Once a suspicious figure appeared, they would surely be taken down immediately.
"Building C is clear."
"No abnormalities in Building B."
"The building next to the playground is also clear."
"No abnormalities here in the club activity building. There are a few students still in their clubs. I've told them to stay put."
"Understood. Continue narrowing the search area."
"How nostalgic, high school times... school trips, summer festivals, and pretty underclassmen."
"After the mission is over, let's go get a couple of drinks at the nearby tavern. It's been a long time since I've had plum wine."
Somewhat relaxed conversations came through the communication channel. Clearly, this wasn't the first time they had performed such a mission.
They had arrived in time and evacuated the crowd promptly. A single sower wouldn't be much of a threat to them.
Natsu Kuri had no heart to listen to these rough men discussing their romantic pasts. Five minutes ago, she had sent a dozen messages to Yugawa Mao's Line, but the other party hadn't replied. That sense of unease rose again. She prayed silently in her heart that the girl had just happened to be busy and hadn't seen the messages.
"Xiao Xu, your mother is still waiting for you to come home for dinner."
Natsu Kuri had searched almost all the places she remembered Yugawa Mao would frequent—the corridor in front of the club activity room, the school roof, the back garden, the cultural square—but she couldn't find her. She was certain the girl wasn't in the crowd gathered at the school gate. Had she already gone home? Then why didn't she reply to the messages?
The complex thoughts in her head made Natsu Kuri inexplicably anxious. To outsiders, she was the omnipotent little witch, but only she knew that she didn't actually have many friends. Aside from Yuzu, perhaps Xiao Xu was the only friend she had since leaving the Main House.
Suddenly, Natsu Kuri froze.
Could she and Yugawa Mao really be called friends?
Did she really understand that girl?
These places in her memory where Yugawa Mao often went were just the places she often went. The other girl just followed behind her with her head down, always with her head down...
The other party seemed to have never poured out her heart to her. She herself had never thought about trying to understand the girl's heart more either. She had just self-righteously helped the other party, then equated her with a friend and ordered her around.
Only now did Natsu Kuri realize that in most of her memories, that girl who followed her every day and spoke in a soft voice was always looking down. She rarely showed a sad or sorrowful side to her, rarely spoke of her vulnerabilities or vented the emotions built up in her heart. It seemed she was always cautiously trying to please her, circling around her every day with a humble attitude, afraid of her frowning, afraid of her dissatisfaction, afraid of her showing even the slightest bit of unhappiness.
She suddenly recalled the joy and sadness hidden within that brilliant smile at the train tracks earlier today.
Before today, the girl had never once personally requested her help with anything...
What was she like when she was sad?
She didn't know.
Where would she be when she was sad?
She didn't know.
Had the girl ever shown her true self?
She knew nothing at all.
"Xiao Xu..." Natsu Kuri murmured, dazed.
The quiet atmosphere around her seemed to turn into a surging tide, invisibly drowning Natsu Kuri. Intense fear grew from within her heart. Like a person about to drown, she repeatedly scrolled through her past chat records with Yugawa Mao.
Yes, it had always been her unilaterally sharing every little detail of her life, whether happy or sad. The other party was always responding to her—responding submissively, responding numbly, responding tirelessly. She had never expressed her own true thoughts or opinions; tens of thousands of messages were all like this.
Even in the middle of the night, when she couldn't sleep because of some minor emotion and was too embarrassed to wake Yuzu, the girl always responded immediately when she went to vent to Yugawa Mao...
[: Haha, Little Natsu, this is very interesting.]
[: Did Little Natsu make this snack? It's very pretty. Who is it for?]
[: Mother's affairs? Mother is doing well. Thank you, Little Natsu. Let's not talk about that. The album Little Natsu shared is very good.]
[: Little Natsu...]
[: Little Natsu...]
Just then, her Line finally received a reply from Yugawa Mao.
[Xiao Xu: Little Natsu, I'm so scared right now...]
Natsu Kuri's pupils shrank, and she replied immediately.
[Mori no Natsu: Xiao Xu, listen to me. It's very dangerous inside the school. Where are you now? I'll come find you.]
[Xiao Xu: I'm really so scared... I don't know what to do anymore, Little Natsu.]
[Mori no Natsu: What nonsense are you saying? Quickly tell me where you are!]
[Xiao Xu: Can you take those people away? Just let me be alone for a while. Tomorrow I'll be fine, Little Natsu. I'll still be like before, I won't let Little Natsu be unhappy.]
Seeing this passage, Natsu Kuri's mind went blank. The blood in her body seemed to turn cold, squeezed out of her heart with force.
[Mori no Natsu: Haha, what are you talking about, Xiao Xu? What do you mean by leaving? What unhappiness? I'm worried about you right now. I'm going to be really angry if you keep saying such strange things. You're fine, right?]
[Xiao Xu: I'm fine, I'm really fine. I'm just a little sad and want to be alone for a while. I'll slowly get better. Just like Mother, tomorrow will slowly get better.]
Just like before, tomorrow would always slowly get better.
[Mori no Natsu: We're friends, right?]
Natsu Kuri's fingertips were almost trembling as she typed this line.
There was no reply from the other side for a long time. Finally, another sentence came.
[Xiao Xu: Little Natsu, you are my best friend. I don't want you to see what I look like now. Please go.]
Natsu Kuri suddenly remembered the first time she had met Yugawa Mao. At the time, she was curled up in a bathroom, having been splashed with ice water, completely soaked and shivering uncontrollably.
A voice in her heart told her that Yugawa Mao must be hiding in that same place right now.
[Mori no Natsu: I know where you are, Xiao Xu. I just want... to see you...]
[: ...]
[: The other party is typing...]
[: ...]
[Xiao Xu: Can you... not bring those people over?]
Humble, submissive, pleading—everything was so familiar. Natsu Kuri felt as if she could see that girl with a face full of freckles through the screen, with her rustic braids and thick, opaque lenses, secretly watching and testing her.
[Mori no Natsu: I promise.]
[Xiao Xu: I believe you, Little Natsu.]
Natsu Kuri didn't remember how she reached that bathroom after giving her word. She had never felt her footsteps so heavy, as if she were dragging several iron balls.
She gently knocked on the door of the bathroom stall in front of her. "Xiao Xu, I'm here."
Inside came the sound of Yugawa Mao's choked sobbing. "Little Natsu, listen, I'm fine. I'm just a little sad." Her voice was so dry and raspy, as if she had just finished crying...
As if afraid she wouldn't believe her, the stall door was slowly opened a crack. In the darkness, Yugawa Mao's slightly pale face peeked out halfway. She looked no different from usual, youthful and... only the corners of her eyes were slightly wet, her gaze carrying a bit of hope.
"See, I told you I was right, Little Natsu."
Natsu Kuri remained silent.
She looked down at the blood-red chunks of flesh extending from the stall, and the white spider webs that filled almost the entire bathroom. These sticky, thick spider webs crawling with small black insects were distributed everywhere. Dark red blood slowly flowed out from the stall, washing past Natsu Kuri's ankles.
"Can you... open the door a bit more?"
Natsu Kuri tried to make her words sound calm, although her trembling voice had already betrayed her.
"I want to see what you look like now. That way I can feel a bit more at ease..."
The last flickering flame of hope in the girl's heart was wavering.
The stall door was slammed shut with force.
"Why are you always like this, Little Natsu?" Yugawa Mao's raspy voice spread out.
"Why are you always like this, never considering others' feelings? You're always forcing your self-righteous thoughts onto others, never putting yourself in someone else's shoes to think about problems. It's as if everything is just a matter of course."
Natsu Kuri bit her bloodless lip tightly. "Why don't you ask yourself?"
"Xiao Xu, why didn't you speak up sooner if you were dissatisfied with me? Have you ever even considered me your friend?"
"If you had just said something, I would have changed. I admit, I was spoiled, my temper was as headstrong as a young miss, but..."
"So you knew." Yugawa Mao interrupted calmly.
"So you knew all along, Little Natsu, just how difficult you are to get along with."
"You never once considered that I simply didn't have the courage."
"Give me a break. Going on and on about being friends... this charity of a friendship is disgusting." Yugawa Mao spoke in a cold voice. "I have never once considered you my friend. That was just your own wishful thinking."
"I'm a terrible person. I only got close to you to treat Mother's illness. Because you have money and are so easy to fool. I only needed to circle around you like a little lackey, say a few nice things, and Mother's health would get better day by day. No one would bully me anymore, and tomorrow would become better."
"I didn't need you to care about my feelings. I only needed to cater to you, to please you, fearing I would miss a single message, avoiding anything that would make you unhappy. These two years would pass quickly, and all the terrible things would pass..."
"Then why are you crying, Xiao Xu?" Natsu Kuri asked.
Yugawa Mao inside the stall had long since broken into uncontrollable sobs, her voice straying from its original tone, sounding like a distorted old record player.
The swollen flesh finally crushed the stall door, revealing the monster inside. The girl's face was dim and lifeless. Her dark hair had almost all fallen out. On her forehead, cheeks, and the back of her head, round, black, and shiny simple eyes of a spider had opened.
Her neck was connected to violently proliferating bodily tissues—tumors, fat, and flesh—through thick muscle fibers, looking like a small mound melting onto a porcelain toilet. Four pairs of iron-black spider legs extended from below, and cocoon-like white silk covered her body's surface. On her chest, the faint outline of a woman's face could be seen.
"Please... leave, Little Natsu."
"I really don't want to... hurt you."
Rate on N.U.
