“Is there something on my face, Yu-kun?”
Jiayezi felt quite uncomfortable under Yu Duojiaye’s intense stare, unconsciously recalling how those bullies used to glare at her relentlessly.
At this thought, Jiayezi sadly lowered her gaze, no longer daring to look at Yu Duojiaye.
“Nothing, I just thought our names are somewhat similar.”
Hearing Yu Duojiaye speak, Jiayezi felt a heavy weight lift from her heart.
“Y-yes, they are”
As long as… as long as he didn’t hate her upon hearing her name like those people did, that was enough.
“Staying here isn’t ideal. When you regain your strength, I’ll take you to the guest room.”
“Mhm… thank you…”
Yu Duojiaye looked at the timid, evasive Jiayezi before him. Honestly, he found it hard to connect this beautiful girl with the unreasonable, murderous Jiayezi from Ju-on who killed anyone she saw.
After exchanging a few brief words with Jiayezi, Yu Duojiaye went to the kitchen to wash the day’s dishes.
In the living room, lying on the sofa, Jiayezi listened to the sound of running water from the kitchen, feeling a long-lost sense of security and comfort.
From her angle, she could clearly see Yu Duojiaye’s back as he washed the dishes.
Watching Yu Duojiaye, slowly, Jiayezi’s gaze became entranced.
While Jiayezi was lost in her thoughts, Yu Duojiaye in the kitchen was also pondering how to handle the current situation.
Kawaye Jiayezi, one of Japan’s most vicious evil spirits, in a way, could be considered the childhood nightmare of an entire generation.
And unlike ordinary evil spirits, Jiayezi could be said to be utterly unreasonable, being the first to break the “hide under blankets to survive” rule.
She possessed numerous abilities including but not limited to: physical immunity, infinite resurrection, infinite clones, shapeshifting, space-time control, mental attack, electronic control, and malice infection.
In the publicly released film adaptations, Jiayezi’s powers were undoubtedly heavily nerfed versions. In the original work, she existed purely for the sake of terror.
A completely top-tier evil spirit, powerful beyond all reason.
In one version, Jiayezi had her long-“criticized” bug of lacking area-of-effect attacks fixed.
Her power instantly skyrocketed, nearly reaching the level of the Heavenly Dao in that worldview.
The key point was that she didn’t follow any rules of karma or retribution. Once she set her sights on you, regardless of your circumstances, she would eliminate you.
If he remembered correctly, Kobayashi Toshio was killed by her, and he was the only person she had ever loved before that.
Recalling all the details about Jiayezi, Yu Duojiaye felt nothing but a headache.
But that wasn’t the most troubling part. What truly frustrated him was mainly the presence of Fujiang by his side!
Fujiang’s ability was immortality, and it was practically an unsolvable form of immortality.
Yu Duojiaye didn’t even dare to imagine what would happen to this world if these two combined and created some bizarre reaction.
Wouldn’t the Earth just immediately die on the spot?!
Distractedly finishing the dishes, he returned to the living room and saw Jiayezi, who had somehow gotten a blanket to cover her mouth, staring at him unblinkingly.
“Running a fever again?”
“…No.”
From the barely audible response and Jiayezi’s evasive gaze, Yu Duojiaye roughly guessed that this girl was probably starting to fantasize about various scenarios of being in a relationship with him.
Little did he know that Jiayezi’s thoughts had gone even deeper and more specific, nearly staining his pajamas in the process.
“Feeling a bit stronger now?”
“Mhm.”
“Then I’ll take you there.”
“Wait a little longer.”
“?”
Yu Duojiaye didn’t understand why Jiayezi asked him to wait longer, but he could only sit opposite her and wait patiently.
However, gradually Yu Duojiaye noticed something off about Jiayezi’s gaze—rather than looking at him, she seemed to be spacing out?
“Jiayezi, Jiayezi?”
“Mhm~ Mhm? I-I’m fine!”
Watching the suddenly flustered Jiayezi, Yu Duojiaye was completely baffled.
“Are you okay?”
“N-no, nothing’s wrong. Could you please lead the way, Kaya-kun?”
“Ah? Okay.”
Yu Duojiaye never dreamed that one day he would become someone’s creative material, and right in front of him at that.
Getting up and walking ahead, he glanced back at Jiayezi, whose face was flushed and head bowed low.
“We’re here. This is the guest room. The bedding is already laid out for you. Rest here for the night.”
“Mhm, thank you, Kaya-kun~”
Yu Duojiaye nodded and was about to step aside to return to his room when Jiayezi suddenly called out to stop him.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“Kaya-kun… would it be okay if I call you that from now on?”
Seeing how extremely nervous she was, her fingers tightly intertwined, Yu Duojiaye sighed inwardly.
“Sure, go get some rest now.”
“Mhm~! Goodnight, Kaya-kun~”
Though he didn’t understand why a simple form of address could make Jiayezi so happy, Yu Duojiaye could only attribute it to her peculiar personality shaped by her upbringing.
Returning to his room, Yu Duojiaye closed the door and held his head in his hands with a pained expression.
“What’s wrong, Kaya?”
Little Tomie looked at Yu Duojiaye’s conflicted expression with concern, stepping across the bedding to come closer.
Yu Duojiaye looked up at Little Tomie, sighed after a moment, and said, “It’s nothing. You should go to sleep.”
“Are you really okay?”
Yu Duojiaye nodded, then forced a smile as he carried Little Tomie to the head of the bed. He began gently stroking her hair as usual to lull her to sleep.
Late at night, when all was silent, the sleeping Tomie faintly sensed someone by her bedside.
Blearily opening her eyes, she saw a shadow crouched by the wall—someone who had entered her room at some unknown time—and instinctively almost screamed.
“It’s me…”
“Yu Duojiaye, are you out of your—!”
Tomie, suppressing her voice, was about to curse when she suddenly noticed that Yu Duojiaye’s tone sounded off—unusually somber.
She had only heard him use that tone once before, back in Yamazaki Alley.
Remembering this, Tomie threw off the covers and knelt beside Yu Duojiaye.
“What’s wrong?”
Yu Duojiaye didn’t speak, just gazed at Tomie’s enchantingly beautiful face in the dim light from the streetlamp outside the window.
To be honest, he didn’t understand either why he had impulsively come to Tomie’s room.
Seeing Yu Duojiaye staring blankly at her, Tomie grew increasingly anxious.
“What’s wrong? Just tell me! Are you trying to worry me to death?”
“It’s nothing. I just wanted to see you. Go back to sleep, I’ll leave now—”
“Come back!”
Before Yu Duojiaye could stand up, Tomie hissed at him in a low voice.
“Sorry, I had an episode, I didn’t—”
Before he could finish speaking, an intoxicating fragrance suddenly flooded Yu Duojiaye’s nostrils, followed instantly by a soft sensation against his cheek.
Fujiang held Yu Duojiaye tightly, not loosening her grip for even a moment.
“Hold me.”
“…Okay.”
At Fujiang’s request, Yu Duojiaye wrapped his arms around her waist.
The chirping of insects drifted in from outside the window as Fujiang, in the darkness, wrapped her legs around Yu Duojiaye’s lower back and pulled him tightly against her chest as they tumbled to the floor.