I save a pathological girl with a twisted love story.

"It's like—you're the one throwing a tantrum for no reason, you're the one yelling and screaming in anger."

"It's as if you've become the perpetrator, as if you've hurt someone."

"It makes you feel guilty, it makes you feel a little love, but it also makes your heart overflow with pain."

"Chiharu Tokisaka is the same."

Xia Wuzhao said, "She may feel happy now, but who can say for sure what will happen in the future?"

Xiao Ai pondered for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "If that's the case, why does Tokisaka Chiharu always act so nonchalant?"

"Because—love, even just a little bit of love, can drive a person to persist in something. But even a little bit of hatred can't make a person do anything."

Xia Wuzhao answered in this way and walked towards the classroom.

"Did Chiharu Tokisaka's mother really not love her? Did she really not love her own daughter? If you were to ask Chiharu Tokisaka's mother this question, she would definitely answer firmly—she loved her."

"But her actions, her behavior, were not like that. Perhaps she believed that even actions that might cause pain to Chiharu Tokisaka were a form of love for her."

"So that's how it is. Love is really terrifying." Xiao Ai couldn't help but say, "Human emotions are really complicated."

She sighed, "Chiharu Tokisaka is probably the most difficult girl to deal with."

“Yes.” Xia Wuzhao did not deny it: “Because Tokisaka Chiharu is a very strong and stubborn girl.”

"Because her parents loved her. She could feel that thing called 'love,' which Kirishima Chiho and Asahi Aoi could not compare to."

"Aoi Asahi and Chiho Kirishima have never experienced love. That's why they are the ones who can be changed so easily."

Hearing this, Xiao Ai asked curiously, "Lord Natsugiri, do you think Asahi Aoi and Kirishima Chiho are lucky or unlucky?"

"Who knows?" Xia Wuzhao glanced at Asahi Aoi and said to Ai in her heart, "Who knows if this is lucky or unlucky?"

Asahi Aoi smoothed her hair slightly: "What's wrong? Natsugiri?"

She asked, puzzled, "Is there a problem?"

Xia Wuzhao shook her head: "It's nothing, it's just that the library has been doing well lately."

"Yeah, more or less." Asahi Aoi said as she walked, "But I guess I won't be a librarian by the time I'm in my second year of high school."

This time, Xia Wuzhao did not stop her.

He simply asked casually, "Have you made up your mind?"

“Hmm.” Asahi Aoi smiled, her leaden black hair held in her hand. “I’ve already decided, and even after December ends, I will submit my resignation from my position in the library to the school. As for the reasons, there will probably be many.”

"For example, I'd rather focus my energy on my studies. If I want to get into medical school, I'll need to work even harder."

"Moreover, the reason I became a librarian in the first place was because I really didn't have any money, and renting a place was really expensive. So, that's why I became a librarian."

"But it's already November, and since I'm staying at Xiawu's house, I still have quite a bit of money saved up, so I'm a little more financially secure."

"Therefore, there's not much point in being a librarian."

At this point, she joked, "But if you don't let me live in your house, I'll probably be homeless after I quit my job as a librarian."

Xia Wuzhao glanced at her: "This isn't something I can just get rid of if I want to. Don't I still owe you a favor?"

"I see."

Asahi Aoi's tone was slightly somber.

"A girl living alone in your house. What does that really mean? It should be quite clear."

"Even without memory, it should still be clear."

"But Xia Wu always talks about human relationships, recognizing each other, and exchanging things."

Touching the necklace around her neck, she suddenly smiled again: "That would be wonderful."

"Because, I might be troubling you, Xia Wu, for a very, very long time."

“A very long time, how long exactly?” Xia Wuzhao asked rhetorically.

"Hmm... It will take a hundred times longer than you can imagine."

Sunflowers smile brightly in the autumn morning.

Chapter 321 Ripples Spread Across the Grayness

—If I had to pinpoint a timeframe, it would probably be a lifetime.

Sunflower was looking forward to it.

It was radiant, as vibrant as an evergreen forest, overflowing with "happiness".

Xia Wuzhao watched, but for a moment she didn't make a move.

"Aoi rarely smiles like that, rarely smiles with such happiness."

Even though I've come here and left that small town.

"Has something good happened?"

Xia Wuzhao asked the question as if nothing was wrong.

"Good things happen every day."

Aoi smiled.

"Good things really do happen every day."

"However, perhaps it's because I finally made up my mind."

"Me? I'm always prone to anxiety and insecurity. I'm always too worried about Natsugiri, so I always find myself wanting to get closer to her."

"This kind of thing, this kind of habit, even in the future, I may not be able to change it."

"But perhaps I should become more mature and more at peace with myself."

The girl thought.

"If I hesitate any longer, I'll probably just become a burden."

She said, "From today onwards, I'm going to study even harder."

"Aren't you always very diligent?"

Xia Wuzhao asked in return, and the two of them slowly walked towards the school again.

"Oh, not really. I wasn't that serious before."

She smiled with relief: "Perhaps, it should be said that I didn't try my best."

"Yeah, that's good too."

Xia Wuzhao looked out at the sky through a window high up in the corridor: "Although this kind of thing is usually considered next year or the year after."

"But it's not a bad idea to consider it now. People always need to think about their future and what path they want to take."

“My future,” said Aoi Asahi, “is already definite in my heart.”

"Oh? What kind of future is that?"

"It's a very happy future. Just thinking about it makes me smile, even now."

"That's great," Xia Wuzhao said quietly.

After entering the classroom, Xia Wuzhao walked skillfully to her seat.

Asahi Aoi was doing the same, dealing with the classmates around her. After things finally quieted down, Kirishima Chiho walked in, all baring her teeth and brandishing her arms.

Hello, hello.

Chiho greeted them with a smile, and after returning to her seat, she complained to Aoi next to her, "Aoi, you guys came so early today. I thought I'd run into you today too."

Asahi said, "I came early because the weather was so nice today."

"Oh, I see."

Chiho nodded in sudden realization, resting her chin on her hand, and quietly watched Aoi Asahi for a while.

She complained again, "Today is so boring. Aoi, do you have any plans for fun this afternoon?"

"Probably not," Aoi replied calmly. "Because I need to study to prepare for the future."

"Ah, it's medical school, right?" Kirishima Chiho said in a complicated tone. "If you're going to take the entrance exam for medical school, you really have to put in a hundred times the effort."

"But it's really boring."

She slumped dejectedly onto the table, turning her head to look at Aoi: "It's no fun being all alone."

Aoi held the mechanical pencil in her hand and subconsciously tapped the page in her book.

As if nothing had happened, he said casually, "Where's Xia Wu? Didn't you go look for Xia Wu?"

“Natsugiri,” Kirishima Chiho said with a somewhat meaningful tone, “Natsugiri doesn’t have much time either. She spends all her time in the clubroom. But she doesn’t do anything else. She just casually flips through those old books that have been there for a very long time.”

"Even if I wanted to go out with him, there was nothing I could do."

She seemed somewhat discouraged.

"Oh."

Asahi Aoi, on the other hand, seemed unusually calm. She neither offered any advice to Kirishima Chiho nor tried to stop her.

He took a deep breath and blew out the white mist that quickly dissipated in the blink of an eye.

She knew why Xia Wuzhao had been waiting in the clubroom.

"If they were ordinary people, this would be like a romantic relationship."

"However, that's not the case in reality."

Asahi took a deep breath, the cool autumn air mingling with the slightly stuffy atmosphere in the classroom.

It has become something like mist, something that makes people involuntarily feel lost.

After the teacher came in, Asahi stopped daydreaming and listened attentively to the lesson.

In the entire classroom, she was the most attentive.

"It seems that Aoi has become a better person."

Xiao Ai said in Xia Wuzhao's heart, "Before, she was always anxious and insecure. Now she seems more relaxed and stronger."

"Hmm." Xia Wuzhao didn't look at Asahi Aoi.

—Because sunflowers are very perceptive, they will definitely be noticed if you look at them yourself.

Xia Wuzhao whiled away the time like this, occasionally listening attentively to the lectures.

However, he was somewhat lost in a state of emptiness.

"If it's just about money, I already have more than enough money if I'm frugal."

Even if we don't pay attention to these girls, and even if we just continue living ordinary lives, there won't be any problems.

Xia Wuzhao was thinking about this, but Xiao Ai reminded him.

"Lord Natsugiri, if the problem of the monsters isn't resolved, then the world will be in a lot of chaos, you know."

She said, "If a person's mind is occupied by a monster for too long, they may be affected by the monster's power."

Xia Wuzhao said expressionlessly, "So what?"

"Hmm." Xiao Ai was at a loss for words.

She thought for a moment: "From the very beginning, didn't Lord Xiawu treat this kind of thing as a game? So why not just keep playing?"

"Could it be that Lady Xiawu is feeling tired?"

"No," Xia Wuzhao replied calmly, as always.

And so, school life continued, repeating itself.

Class begins, get out of class ends.

We ate lunch in the department office at noon, and chatted occasionally.

In the afternoon, it was time for class again.

When school was over, I could hear the cheers of the students around me, and their excited discussions about where they would go to play later.

Xia Wuzhao listened, feeling somewhat dazed.

"It's like there's a thick barrier between us."