I save a pathological girl with a twisted love story.

Asahina looked at the water stains in the cracks in the ground and twirled the umbrella handle.

Something was stirring within her that she herself didn't even know.

Is this anxiety and embarrassment? Is this anger and shame?

Or perhaps it was a secret delight?

She thought to herself, "Aoi Asahi, you are a shameless woman. You are a disgusting woman."

"This gaze clearly makes you uneasy, this gaze clearly disgusts you utterly. This gaze clearly contains only mockery."

"But deep down, you felt a tiny bit of secret joy. Was it the envy in those people's eyes? Or the joy of being connected to Xia Wuzhao?"

She lowered her eyelids, unable to provide an answer to the question.

"Aoi Asahi, you're such a coward. You should be thanking him; he got you out of that predicament."

"Aoi Asahi, you are such a vicious woman. It was Natsugiri Kai who helped you, yet you feel resentment, jealousy, and anger."

"You're thinking that you've really made a fool of yourself again. You've made a fool of yourself in front of Xia Wuzhao. And you're even thinking—what if he hadn't given that explanation, what if he hadn't helped you?"

"I have every reason to be annoyed, every reason to be angry, and every reason to complain about Xia Wuzhao."

This feeling resonated in my heart.

She was startled, suddenly remembering something that she found both laughable and pathetic.

"Aoi Asahi, you are so much like your mother."

As Aoi thought about it, a sad smile appeared on her face.

"Lift your head, those people are gone."

Xia Wuzhao said calmly.

She looked up at the crowd in the distance, where laughter and joy filled the air, causing ripples to spread across the puddles along the roadside.

Aoi said, "I'm not bowing my head because of those people."

"Oh?" Xia Wuzhao scoffed. "Then why?"

“I was just thinking about what you just said,” Aoi said, “but it just sounded like you were talking nonsense.”

"Oh? What nonsense?"

“What you said makes absolutely no sense,” Aoi said.

"Then just assume there's no reasoning at all." Xia Wuzhao didn't continue arguing with him.

"Hmph." She tilted her chin up as if she were smug: "Just as I thought, I won after all."

"Where did you win?"

“I saw through all that nonsense you were spouting,” Aoi Asahi said earnestly.

"Ha, then you win."

Xia Wuzhao just chuckled indifferently as he carried his umbrella and walked towards the school.

Aoi frowned and headed towards the school.

But after walking for a while, she found herself walking in Xia Wuzhao's shadow.

Doesn't that mean we've lost?

She tried to catch up with Xia Wuzhao quickly, but she couldn't close the distance between them.

She finally started jogging, and the jogging gradually turned into a long stride.

The wind blew past her ears, and splashes of water clung to her calves.

She began to pant, and for the first time, she felt the heaviness of her body.

It was so clear that I could feel my heart pounding.

I could feel my muscles vibrating, and my bones seemed to be trembling.

Heavy fatigue and discouragement enveloped her, gradually extinguishing the motivation in her heart.

She thought, "It's okay if I can't catch up; it's not like I've lost. At least I can avoid being laughed at by others."

So she stopped and bent over.

Panting heavily.

With her hands supporting her knees, beads of sweat on her forehead mingled with the puddles.

Heavy strands of hair fell from all directions, obscuring her entire world.

"How ridiculous, Aoi Asahi."

"You were the one who decided to catch up with Xia Wuzhao, but you gave up on it yourself."

"How ridiculous, to comfort yourself with excuses."

She laughed at herself inwardly, finally regaining some strength, and straightened up to see where Xia Wuzhao was.

But when he stood up, he realized that Xia Wuzhao was standing right in front of him.

He didn't turn around, he just carried the umbrella.

Stepping on cherry blossom petals: "You should exercise, Aoi Asahi."

"You still like to make others your puppets, Natsugiri Kai." Asahi Aoi retorted sharply.

She stood up, trying to calm her rapid breathing.

Looking around, she suddenly noticed the noisy, vibrant high school students, radiating the glow of youthful rosy hues.

To Xia Wuzhao, she asked, "Why do boys always do these kinds of things?"

"It's probably because they subconsciously try to get close to these girls, but don't know how to attract them. So they resort to these clumsy methods to get their attention," Xia Wuzhao answered bluntly.

“But there are also boys who don’t do that,” Aoi said. “What do you think is the reason?”

Xia Wuzhao replied lazily, "Because they are more mature than other boys, and this maturity makes them think more than others. But this maturity also makes them hesitant and indecisive."

"They have matured, but only a little. So they have chosen the most advantageous course of action—suppressing their fantasies and all outrageous actions."

"That way, you won't lose anything. Of course, you won't gain anything either."

Asahi walked up to Natsugiri Kai and turned around.

Holding the transparent umbrella in her hand, she said to Xia Wuzhao, "So... which one do you think you are?"

Chapter 15 The Dark Side Beneath the Emerald Leaves

"None of them."

Xia Wuzhao looked at Asahi Aoi and started walking again.

This time, Aoi walked ahead, waving her transparent umbrella: "Are you lying? Or are you—"

"Or what should I say?"

Xia Wuzhao said, "Are you saying that I'm actually the first type of person, and that everything I did before was intentionally to attract your attention?"

Aoi Asahi was stunned and speechless.

She gripped the umbrella tightly with her fingers, until they turned white.

"Do you still remember what you said?" Xia Wuzhao asked.

"Oh."

The astonishment on Aoi's face turned into deep sorrow, then solidified into relief, and finally dried into a mocking smile: "Of course I remember—you were too arrogant."

"This is the second time you've said it. Even if my grades are below yours, I'm still capable of remembering these words. Not to mention, I'm the one who said it."

"Hmm." Xia Wuzhao simply responded with a flat tone.

Asahi Aoi forcefully swept her bangs back, looking at Natsugiri Kai with her bright eyes.

She said provocatively, "Xia Wuzhao, let's have a competition."

Xia Wuzhao asked, "What kind of competition do you want to have?"

"Take the exam, the exam is next week."

Asahi said, "Let's see who comes in first place in next week's exam."

"The loser is the most arrogant one."

Asahi, holding an umbrella, looked at Natsugiri Kai and asked, "Will you agree?"

"I agreed."

Natsugiri Kai answered Asahi Aoi's question softly, without any further questions.

"Then, that's for the best."

Asahi Aoi said this, she stopped turning her head and just kept walking forward.

"I want to shout out loud—Xia Wuzhao, I will never lose to you."

"But in the end I didn't say it. Perhaps Xia Wuzhao's indifference extinguished my courage."

"Perhaps it's because we weren't familiar with each other. My mother works at an izakaya (Japanese pub), and I'm just living on my mother's money. He, on the other hand, lives on his own money."

"We only met once on the rooftop; he just wanted to stop me from planting those highly poisonous plants."

"Apart from that, there is no other connection."

"His future is bright enough, while my future is just a single beam of light; stepping out of that light leads to endless darkness."

She smoothed her hair, using her bangs to cover her eyes.

Just like any other day.

The original plan was to walk slowly, trying to avoid attracting other people's attention.

But today she couldn't help walking fast, and even bumped into a few girls, which made the girls shout in dissatisfaction.

She just timidly said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

He said these words, but didn't stop at all.

Hey! Asahi Aoi!

The girls were shouting loudly from behind.

But Aoi ignored everything and kept walking forward, while the girls behind her shouted angrily at her.

"Hey! You hit us and just left?"

The girls seemed indignant.

The sunflower stopped when it reached a bend in the road.

The girls were somewhat pleased: "See? Sunflower doesn't dare to stand still; she definitely doesn't dare ignore us."

But Aoi didn't stop because of that; she just looked back through the gaps in the green leaves.

Xia Wuzhao remained standing in the same spot, casually twirling the umbrella she carried on her shoulder.

He didn't see himself.

"When I saw this moment, I inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief. But then I wanted to deny my earlier relief—because it meant that I didn't actually want to make a fool of myself in front of Xia Wuzhao."

"It's like losing."

"I just don't want to show this side of myself in front of Xia Wuzhao. I have this inexplicable insistence in my heart."

"But this kind of insistence is really ridiculous, because my image has already been deeply ingrained in people's minds at school."

"A gloomy and incompetent girl, that's my image."

With that thought in mind, she quickly headed towards the school.

The girls who wanted to question Asahi Aoi stared at her in disbelief.

She looked at her friend with some uncertainty: "Just now, Asahi Aoi bumped into us, right? Definitely, right?"

"Yes, yes. She's the one who bumped into us."

"She still looks like this? I thought we bumped into her!"

The girls loudly expressed their dissatisfaction.