Can Lixi look at me alone?

"Yuzuki, you'll be punished for talking like that."

Yuzuki, who treated Chuhua like a pet dog, ignored her and went back to her desk to continue cutting potato chunks.

"Please clean the snails for me, and then chop some celery."

After repeating the command, Jieyue turned on the gas stove.

"...Truly befitting a mental patient."

She had just had a fierce physical altercation with me, but now she can order me to do things for her without batting an eye.

Chu Hua couldn't understand Jie Yue's logic at all.

“If you say I’m mentally ill again, I guarantee you won’t see Xiang even once this month.”

The sound of the cleaver hitting the cutting board stopped, and Jieyue, holding the knife, was threatening Chuhua to submit obediently.

"Ha, what ability do you think you have to control Xiao Xiang? Do you think the whole world revolves around you, you lunatic?"

A dog on the roadside bit Jieyue, but Jieyue wouldn't bite the dog back.

But Yuzuki will bite the dog's owner.

"If you're not going to help, get out. I don't like taking care of Xiang's dog."

Well, it seems Yuzuki is still angry.

Worried that Yuzuki might be wronged, Riki also went into the kitchen. After gesturing for Hatsuka to leave, she watched her go and then approached Yuzuki, whose hand holding the knife was trembling slightly.

"Richie-chan."

She put her finger in her mouth, on which was a tiny cut she had accidentally made earlier.

"help me."

She was embraced.

……

While dealing with Aine and trying to stall Yuzuki, Hatsuka heard the kitchen door open.

Jie, carrying a large bento box

Yue greeted everyone.

"Well then, I'll go deliver food to Xiang now~"

Rakuna has already left and gone home. Aine, having gotten the autograph, plans to take more photos at home to show off. It's almost time for Mutsumi to go home too…

"Wait a minute, isn't it late already? What if Jieyue encounters danger while walking at night? Should we go find Xiaoxiang tomorrow?"

Yuzuki shook her head.

"It's okay, I won't be in any danger."

The person in danger today is Xiao Xiang.

"Even if you say that, it won't work. How about I go with Yuzuki...?"

Lixi walked to her side. Although Lixi didn't want to see Xiangzi at all, she was willing to spend this little bit of her time for Jieyue.

"No, Riki-chan."

Yuzuki smiled at her and then kissed her cheek.

"Help me, please stop Chuhua here? I'm scared... she'll follow us."

Jieyue wasn't afraid that Chuhua would follow and do something; she just didn't want Chuhua to ruin her enjoyment of catching up with Xiaoxiang.

Seeing that Lixi had agreed, he pushed open the security door with peace of mind.

"Chihaya~ and Mutsu~ be careful on your way home."

Xiao Xiang, shouldn't you go home now?

Don't be afraid, I'm coming to find you.

Xiangzi, who had bought a nearly expired bento box to eat for tomorrow, sneezed.

"I need to get home quickly, otherwise I'll have to spend money to treat a cold."

She gritted her teeth and stepped into the biting cold wind of Tokyo's streets, wearing only thin clothes.

Dividing line

I really don't hate Saki that much, do I? No, right?

Children, do you think I am?

Volume 1 Crychic! : Chapter 139 The Chase!

"Hey, I said... Shiina?"

Chu Hua looked at the woman with long, straight black hair who had blocked her way at the door and stared at her for a while.

"What?"

She retorted irritably, and Li Xi crossed her arms to remind her.

"Don't expect me to let you out to find Jieyue."

She looked at Mu sitting on the sofa and decided to bring Mu into her camp as well.

"Mu doesn't know yet, does he? This guy is the culprit behind the bruises on Yuzuki's wrist. He claims to be Xiangzi's childhood sweetheart and asked Yuzuki to bring him back to see Xiangzi after getting close to her."

Li Xi mercilessly exposed Chu Hua's past, causing Mu Ye, who was initially only worried about Jie Yue, to become hostile towards Chu Hua.

Jieyue's friends are all so infuriating.

Chu Hua's smile was somewhat stiff, but she couldn't afford to be cold now. After all, she needed these two people to listen to her and solve the problem.

"I'm so sorry, Shiina-san and Wakaba-san. It's my fault. I shouldn't have accidentally hurt Yuzuki in the kitchen."

Her attempt to apologize and back down did not improve their attitude in the slightest. Because both her parents were actors, Mu, who had some impression of Chu Hua, regarded her as an ordinary artist who wanted to get close to Xiang to obtain resources.

Neither using Xiang nor harming Jieyue will be accepted by Mu.

"You are not Xiang's friend."

Her hostile gaze made Chu Hua a little nervous. After all, if she lost her status as Xiao Xiang's friend now, it would probably be difficult for her to get close to Xiao Xiang again.

She didn't care about what Mu He and Li Xi said to her.

She only cared about whether she would cause trouble for Xiao Xiang.

"Did you hear that? This is Xiangzi's childhood friend, and she's never heard Xiangzi mention a friend like you... Tsk. You haven't actually gotten into Xiangzi's heart at all, have you?"

Lies don't hurt.

Chu Hua bit her tongue to calm herself down, just then Mu's butler knocked on the door.

"Goodbye."

With Mutsumi gone, things became much easier. After all, Shiina didn't seem as difficult to deal with as Wakaba.

Chu Hua smiled again.

“Shiina, maybe we should talk. Whatever I did before, now… I’m worried about Sho, and you’re worried about Yuzuki. Isn’t that right?”

Riki, who was genuinely worried that Yuzuki might encounter danger while walking alone at night like last time, didn't respond and listened quietly as she continued.

"So, why don't we follow them and see if they encounter any danger?"

……

Not really wanting to enter the dirty and messy stairwell of Xiangzi's apartment building, Jieyue turned on her phone and quietly waited for Xiangzi to come home.

What if I can't wait?

Then let's go up and find her.

Why not go up now?

Because if Xiaoxiang isn't home, it would be a waste for us to go up there now.

Yuzuki placed the lunchbox on the ground.

Time passed by, and Yuzuki's legs became stiff and sore from standing for so long.

Just as she bent down to stroke and massage her leg muscles, a thin figure noticed her.

Yuzuki...?!

Xiangzi gritted his teeth and immediately covered his mouth to avoid screaming.

Why did the month still come?! Did Mutsuki not listen to me?

Xiangzi nervously tried to think of a solution, but her mind was blank, drained by a day's work, and she felt nothing but tension and anxiety.

Just then, a gust of cold wind blew by, making Xiangzi shiver and Jieyue hunch her shoulders.

Their eyes met at that moment.

Just as Xiangzi's heart was about to stop beating from tension, Jieyue withdrew her gaze.

She didn't recognize that the girl not far away was Xiangzi.

This gave Xiangzi a chance to catch her breath. She felt the increasingly cold evening wind and carefully wrapped the thin fabric around her body.

No, I have to go home right away, or I'll get sick again.

Yuzuki, you can't catch up with me, can you?

Xiangzi took a deep breath, then swung his arms and started running.

Jieyue, who hadn't recognized her as Xiangzi at first, noticed her unusual behavior and couldn't help but take a second look at her.

Thanks to Xiangzi running, the distance between the two was rapidly closing, and Jieyue was able to see her face.

"...Xiao Xiang?!"

She overtook the stunned pink-haired girl, rushed up the steps, leaving Yuzuki's voice, whether from anger or worry, far behind.

Please, faster, faster! Yuzuki has never been able to outrun me since she was little…

She stood in front of the door, fumbling for the key in her pocket. Normally, she would mentally prepare herself before returning to her messy little house, but today, she wished she could just squeeze through the crack in the door to avoid Jieyue behind her.

As the sound of Yuki's footsteps grew clearer, Xiangzi nervously fumbled for the key, his hands trembling as he inserted it into the lock, turned it all the way to the right, and opened the door.

She gasped for breath, finally managing to lock herself in the small house before Yuzuki caught up...

Jieyue could hardly believe that the pale-skinned, thin girl in front of her was Xiaoxiang, whom she remembered playing around with every day.

The shocking truth left her stunned for a long while before, with the help of the angels, she embarked on her journey to catch up with Xiao Xiang.

.

She suddenly understood why Mu had said that…

"Jieyue will know when she sees Xiang."

She...did understand why Mu was so angry and why she wanted to help Xiang so much.

"Has Xiao Xiang not been eating lately?"

Yuzuki gripped the bento box tightly in her hand.

"Why aren't you eating? Why aren't you coming to find me?"

She couldn't understand it, but she knew... that behind that door was hiding her childhood sweetheart.

Just when Xiangzi, who was slumped on the ground, thought she was safe, the sound of Jieyue banging on the security door made her tremble.

"Xiao Xiang?! Open the door!"

She cried out to Qingmei to open the door and accept her help, but Xiangzi still chose to refuse.

She is Toyokawa Shoko; she has her own pride and dignity.

She won't accept help from others for nothing.