Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

What awaits me inside?

Xiangzi's mind was still in a daze. She couldn't think about so many things anymore, so she simply went all the way and, with a heavy heart, pushed open the heavy door.

squeak-

The world behind the door seemed to have been without sunlight for a long time. The mere act of pushing the door open stirred up a cloud of dust, causing Xiangzi to cough violently several times.

She squinted, fanned away the dust that rose up, and leaned against the door to look inside.

Sunlight streamed through the crack in the opened door, illuminating the dusty interior. The light, influenced by the dust, transformed into visible lines, brightening the dim room.

The door serves as a boundary, seemingly stripping away the colors inside. Following the path of light, the marble floor appears to be stained with something, with dark brown lumps stuck to the ground that cannot be cleaned off. Most of the furniture is covered with white dust-proof cloths.

Xiangzi put his hand down and took a step forward.

The sounds of nature disappeared, and Xiangzi suddenly stepped into a monotonous world devoid of color and life.

Then, just like in the unknown white hall earlier, Xiangzi heard music.

That was the sound of a piano, coming from upstairs. Judging from the volume and direction of the sound, it was the place where I often played the piano.

Who is playing the piano?

With this thought in mind, Xiangzi went upstairs.

The upstairs windows seemed to be open, and the sunlight streamed into the room without restraint, illuminating the entire second floor. Even Xiangzi, who was on the first floor and hadn't yet climbed the stairs, could see the sunlight coming from the second floor.

As Xiangzi climbed up to the second floor, he returned to a world full of color.

She saw the figure of the pianist.

is himself.

"Even though I've made friends like everyone else, and I'm with everyone, it feels like I'm all alone."

"I wish I could live like everyone else~"

It was the same Toyokawa Shoko from before, playing an impromptu tune and singing lyrics written by Takamatsu Akari.

Deng stood to the side, her eyes filled with envy, amazement, and even more bewilderment.

Upon seeing the lamp, Xiangzi felt a jolt.

The memories of deceiving himself flooded back like a tide, and Xiangzi even found himself blaming the lamp.

If only it had been a real light that caught up with us back then!

Why not her?

Even after going through so much together, is Deng still the same coward who dares not utter a sound?

No... you can't think like that.

Xiangzi pursed his lips and hugged his right upper arm with his left hand.

It's all just wishful thinking on my part that led to this.

She closed her eyes, and after a while, she opened them again. There was no longer any image of herself playing the piano or any lights listening in. The colorful second floor had become as monotonous and gloomy as the first floor. The windows were tightly closed and sealed, and it was pitch black.

Xiangzi sighed, turned around and went downstairs.

Before I had taken two steps, a foul smell entered my nostrils.

She stopped and looked at the changed first floor.

Two...three bodies lay on the marble floor.

Xiangzi was one of the corpses. There were two gruesome wounds on his temples. One was just a small spot, like a large mole, while the other was shocking and grotesque. The bullet had obviously entered through the smaller hole and come out from the other side. The edges of the large hole were covered with burn marks. Through the hole, you could see a writhing, grayish-white brain. One of his eyeballs had been squeezed out by the bullet and fell to the ground.

suddenly.

The body moved.

Xiangzi stood on the stairs, as if under a spell, unable to move at all.

She watched as the image of herself, whose head had been blown off, got up, picked up her eyes, and put them back in their sockets.

The wound was healing at a slow but visible pace, and her fallen eyeballs quickly regained focus. She looked at the mess on the ground, her mouth opening and closing, emitting a mournful whimper, as if she wanted to cry but couldn't make a sound.

She seemed unable to see Xiangzi standing at the door, like a wounded cub hiding in the shadows where the sunlight couldn't reach, hugging her knees, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

Xiangzi looked at himself curled up in the corner.

Even though it was herself, she felt no empathy whatsoever, as if she were an audience member sitting outside the fourth wall, coldly observing an absurd drama that emphasized alienation.

Xiangzi watched as Qiu Bi darted out from the corner, revealing the whole truth little by little to his increasingly desperate self.

Seeing himself break down, Xiangzi threw Cupid aside, drew his gun, aimed at the Soul Gem, and pulled the trigger.

boom----!

As the gemstone cracked, so too did the world before Xiangzi's eyes.

The absurd drama, like a shattered mirror, fell to the ground, revealing a sky overcast with dark clouds.

It was raining when Xiangzi found himself holding an umbrella.

She stood by the roadside, holding an umbrella, the raindrops falling on the umbrella canopy, making a sound like percussion.

Tick ​​tock.

The RiNG logo hangs on the glass curtain wall. A person soaked to the bone walks out of the door under the sign and onto the street. Without an umbrella, she looks as frail as a wet paper doll, as if she might collapse at any moment.

Suddenly, the soaked paper figure began to perform as if no one else was around.

The rain started falling faster, and the scenery in Xiangzi's eyes began to fast-forward.

Half a year of wandering, the Candy Witch, the reunion with Chu Hua, Morfonica's live performance, being tricked by Miao Meng, talking to myself like a madman, the lonely nights spent in internet cafes—everything flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

The image gradually became blurry and indistinct, like an old-fashioned CRT television set covered in static.

Fast forward to the moment she pressed the Remington M11 against her chin, and the image became completely chaotic, filled with static and white noise.

A moment later, the snowflakes gradually disappeared, and the picture reappeared.

Xiangzi suddenly realized that he was actually sitting in front of a CRT television, watching as an observer as the Xiangzi on the screen woke up in a pure white hall.

The scene returned to the beginning, starting a series of cycles.

"I swear, I'm unarmed, no, I'm unarmed, I have no gun, like a long-forgotten memory..."

In the scene, Toyokawa Shoko is strangled by her own reflection in the mirror; her world shatters. She returns to her front door and, as an observer, witnesses her past. Then, she finds herself sitting in front of a television, watching everything unfold. The television screen gradually blurs, and amidst static and white noise, the Toyokawa Shoko within the television screen is strangled by her own reflection in the mirror; her world shatters...

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Zi————

Everything before my eyes was like an old-fashioned CRT television being turned off: a flash of white light, and then everything returned to darkness.

“memoria~memoria~”

An unknown song, which had been playing on repeat for a long time, drifted through the darkness, accompanied by simple guitar music.

Xiangzi stood there, bewildered, still not understanding what had happened.

Just as she was getting used to the darkness, a hand grabbed a rope switch in the darkness and pulled it down.

Snapped.

The tungsten filament lit up, and the light expanded rapidly. It first spread outwards randomly, then its direction was regulated by the lampshade outside, and it shone down in an orderly manner.

The darkness suddenly receded, drawing a circle with the tungsten filament lamp at its center.

Xiangzi covered his eyes with the back of his hand under the strong light, and only slowly lowered them after his eyes had adjusted.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself sitting down at a simple dining table, without even realizing it.

Toyokawa Shoko sat directly opposite, legs crossed, holding a guitar and humming an unknown song. She noticed Shoko's gaze and the song slowly faded away.

"Where is this?" Xiangzi asked.

“Memoria is Spanish for ‘memory’,” Toyokawa Shoko said calmly without answering her question. “But if you break it down and write it as ‘me moria,’ it becomes ‘I am going to die.’”

“Dreams are a continuation of reality, and reality is the end of dreams.” She said these nonsensical words, took out a Remington M11 from under the table, and pointed it at Xiangzi’s forehead. “This is your dream. Today is Monday. You have to go to school. It’s time to get up.”

"Is that so...?" Xiangzi nodded knowingly.

“When you wake up, don’t forget,” Toyokawa Shoko said again, “memoria, me moria.”

"what?"

Before Xiangzi could ask any further questions, Toyokawa Xiangzi pulled the trigger.

Click.

boom!

The No. 20 shotgun shell flew out of the muzzle, blasting Xiangzi's neck and above into a dazzling flower.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Xiangzi opens his eyes.

drip-

The alarm clock rang at 6:30 a.m.

The Tale of Nirvana: Keeping to Your True Self: Chapter 116 Harmony's Invitation

Tuesday marked five days until Yushina's ultimatum.

The weather was clear and sunny. Through a window at the back of Class 1-B at Haneoka Girls' Academy, Xiangzi was sitting upright, listening attentively to the lesson. Her dignified demeanor made her stand out in the classroom. Even while taking notes, Xiangzi could feel many eyes secretly drifting towards her.

Xiangzi pretended not to see it and silently lowered his head to start taking notes.

Since Xiangzi transferred to our school, she has been the center of attention in the class.

There was no other reason than that Xiangzi's special aura was too conspicuous in a school like Yuqiu, where everyone was just ordinary. Just by sitting there, one could feel his distinct difference from others.

Her brief yet poised self-introduction during her first appearance, her decisive and perfectly correct answers when called upon by the teacher in class, and the natural and dignified posture she adopted when holding the handle of her thermos while pouring water—all these signs told the classmates that the new transfer student was a rich young lady.

On his first day at school, Xiangzi was surrounded by female students.

"Shoko, are you a young lady?"

"Xiangzi, do you know how to play the piano?"

"Xiangzi, would you like to form a band with us?"

"Xiangzi, my classmate..."

"Xiangzi, my classmate..."

But soon, Xiangzi "pushed away" these overly enthusiastic classmates.

"Excuse me, you've disturbed my studies."

Xiangzi's voice sounded cold, completely different from when he answered questions in class. It was like the cold air from Siberia moving south, freezing the air in the classroom.

After that, no one dared to bother Xiangzi anymore.

So when the last class ended at noon, everyone walked out of the classroom in twos and threes, or moved chairs over to sit around a table and opened the lunch boxes they brought from home. Looking around, only Xiangzi was all alone.

The fewer people who know you at school, the better; ideally, you shouldn't have any.

Xiangzi packed up his textbooks and, under the furtive gazes of the classmates who remained in the classroom, left the classroom, intending to go to the cafeteria to buy something to fill his stomach.

There's no way she can expect to make a bento box. These past few days, she's been getting up early every morning and checking on Nirvana's barrier before going to school. She simply doesn't have time to make something as time-consuming and laborious as a bento box.

The food in the cafeteria isn't bad, it's okay for getting by...

"—Light, do you think Ryuna-chan will come today?"

--"have no idea......"

Xiangzi stopped and took a step back into the classroom.

"Sigh, we agreed to come every day, but we haven't made any progress since she hasn't come. Lixi is in a bad mood." Ai Yin spread her hands and sighed. "Speaking of Lixi, Lixi is the same. If Le Nai isn't coming, we shouldn't have rushed things. There are still several days left, why is she in such a hurry? Luckily Su Shi stopped her, otherwise we probably would have all gotten hurt."

"Um......"

Aine noticed that Tama was becoming absent-minded again, with her hands behind her back, her body leaning slightly forward, and her head turned to look at Tama's face.

"Hey, it seems like you've been looking around a lot lately when you're at school."

Yesterday was the same; while walking, someone suddenly turned around and said they saw something.

The result is nothing.