The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

"Clench your fist and punch him hard in the head."

"Crush."

"It looks like a watermelon."

The little pink fists swung around in mid-air, looking quite cute, but combined with the description, it was as if you could see a watermelon exploding.

Especially now that Hoshino Utsunomiya has a clear understanding of Sherry Tachibana's 'superhuman strength'.

That was indeed pulverized.

"I was extremely shocked at the time. I never imagined that human life could be so fragile."

Despite saying something very shocking, Tachibana Sherry's expression was as if she were talking about something insignificant.

"But it seems so, after all, in various works on TV, everyone dies one by one, and even in games, the standard for victory is to kill the opponent."

"Isn't life and death a trivial matter?"

Tachibana Sherry seems to have come to a conclusion.

"I care more about my clothes getting dirty than the death of the adult who bullied me. After all, if my clothes get dirty, I'll get scolded, and I have to apologize and get forgiveness before I get scolded."

"So I chuckled and apologized to the other staff members who came over, saying, 'Sorry, I made a mess.'" As she spoke, Tachibana Sherry touched the back of her head with her right hand, made an embarrassed smile, and stuck out her tongue slightly.

Hehe.

"Unfortunately, perhaps because I was still a child, no one saw me as the murderer." Tachibana Sherry shook her head with regret: "In the end, Sherry was adopted by someone."

"My adoptive parents were good people, so Shirley wanted to be a good person too."

The words, without our noticing, began to sound somewhat detached.

"Despite having no complaints about my adoptive parents, despite wanting to be the 'good child' they expected me to be, and despite trying to fit in with the people around me."

"But Shirley still doesn't seem to be able to do these things."

"Just like how Sherry could never bring herself to truly like Hoshino."

"How pathetic..."

With a soft sigh, Tachibana Sherry asked this question.

"Will things change if I fall in love?"

She took a deep breath and clasped her hands together.

"So, this is the 'tragic past' of Tachibana Sherry, a monster who is not human, not a being of human nature, and does not understand human hearts." A smile appeared on Tachibana Sherry's face:

"Were you moved? Did you feel sorry for her? Did you empathize with Shirley?"

"Will you come to like me because of this sorrow?"

ah......

You actually said it out loud.

As if possessed, he blurted it out and casually recounted the past.

Tachibana Sherry thought she could keep this a secret.

After all, if I say it out loud, I'll definitely be looked at differently.

If it can be kept secret, it's better to keep it secret.

Tachibana Sherry still wants to be treated as a normal person, something she has been striving for for many years.

But I still said it out loud.

It's like telling a story, like confiding in someone; once you start talking, you can't stop.

I want to tell you everything from the past.

Then, stare at his face and see how a 'normal person' would react to hearing this.

“...I see.” Hoshino Utsunomiya’s eyes remained calm and still.

Are you isolating yourself?

Because of past experiences, she began to close herself off emotionally, and because of the violence she suffered as a child, she tried to dissociate herself from her perception of pain.

To be honest, my experience is somewhat similar to Marge's.

Yes, when they were cuddling together, Baoshengma confided in him about her past.

The definition of love, the beginning of the idea of ​​what love looks like in one's heart, the distorted thoughts—all of that started at that time.

The moment when I was being beaten while listening to 'I love you'.

It seems that adults in this world really enjoy beating children.

He doesn't want anything else, he just wants to vent his anger through pure violence, and he likes to beat children.

They punched the orphanage and kicked the kindergarten.

I don't know if it's the influence of the witch factor.

...Do other people also have witch genes?

However, the person is already dead, so there's no point in blaming them anymore.

To take it to an extreme, Hoshino Utsunomiya should say "good riddance".

But if he wanted to be more serious, he should probably list out Tachibana Sherry's crimes of murder.

After all, the two cannot be equalized or offset.

However, as expected, such a description still makes it difficult for people to feel a sense of reality.

It's like someone suddenly telling you, 'I've actually killed someone,' which is something you can't easily imagine.

He probably did care, cared about the fact that the girl's hands were stained with blood. Even though he had been killed many times, his own death was ultimately different from the deaths of innocent... not innocent people.

Whether or not a murder occurred is something that should be taken very seriously.

However, after thinking about it, Hoshino Utsunomiya decided to put the matter aside for now.

It's like he completely ignored the fact that Meruru had killed him once, and continued to date Meruru as if nothing had happened.

This matter itself is not something he should be looking at with suspicion.

Putting the murder aside, let's return to Shirley Tachibana's situation. If we had to describe her state...

It means 'dissociation'.

It distinguishes individual thought from personal existence, observing oneself as if detached, without empathy or identification, objective, yet not entirely objective.

It's somewhat like how I feel about the memories I had before I fell into a coma.

However, this certainly doesn't mean that Tachibana Sherry was inhuman.

Hoshino Utsunomiya doesn't think of herself as inhuman, nor does she think Sherry Tachibana is inhuman.

Therefore, by thinking a little about what the girl might care about during and before the narration, we can arrive at an answer.

"There's no need to worry too much about it, nor is it necessary to deliberately pursue conforming to normal standards and definitions," he said.

"...But Sherry probably wanted to meet her adoptive parents' expectations." This was something she suddenly remembered halfway through her sentence: "That idea must be reasonable, right?"

Therefore, there is actually no particular need to persuade a girl to give up her pursuit of normalcy.

But the girl doesn't necessarily have to strive to conform to the normal definition.

“That’s right…?” Tachibana Sherry’s eyes flickered slightly. “…Don’t you think I’m weird?”

"will not."

"Aren't you scared?"

"will not."

"......Thanks."

Shirley Tachibana thanked her softly.

"Wow, you're so kind." The girl smiled. "If I were a little more normal, I would definitely fall in love with you."

Yes, if I were more normal, I would definitely have fallen in love with you like everyone else.

How can I possibly fall in love with you?

I want to be in a relationship.

How about we skip the romance part and just start kissing and hugging?

Well......

"...Actually, it's normal that you don't like me." Hoshino Utsunomiya felt a little uneasy.

It's actually normal for someone like Milia, who is so normal, to be unable to accept such a twisted relationship.

Although... Milia is also gradually becoming a little abnormal.

"is it?"

Tachibana Sherry tilted her head.

"But I want to fall in love with you, you know?" As she said this, Tachibana Sherry's back seemed to go limp, she was unwilling to straighten up, and she hugged the back of the chair:

"So, does that mean I still can't become normal?"

It's really sad.

*Sobbing*

“I do like Sherry quite a bit,” Hoshino Utsunomiya said. “Actually, I should have liked Sherry a long time ago.”

"After all, Shirley was very cute."

Moreover, when he liked other girls in the past, he did not force them to like him back.

Now they're making demands for this and that, which is a bit...

I still like it.

As I've mentioned before, if I had to pinpoint a point of interest, it's that Tachibana Sherry couldn't fall in love with him as she wished.

That's the appearance.