Another heavy rain, the downpour bringing a few strands of coolness mixed with evaporating heat.
After the restroom beating incident, the girls in class looked at Yu Duojiaye with varying degrees of fear in their eyes.
It couldn’t be helped. Although domestic violence was also a serious issue in Japan, no one had ever seen someone like Yu Duojiaye single-handedly take down three people at once.
Not to mention these quasi-Heisei era university students, sheltered in their ivory towers and deeply influenced by the “ladies first” mentality.
If one had to say who was in the best mood after this incident, it would probably be Fujiang.
Not only had she learned Yu Duojiaye’s biggest secret, but their relationship had also made gratifying progress. Their mutual openness had brought Fujiang and Yu Duojiaye even closer.
Although Fujiang’s emotional promise was quite moving, Yu Duojiaye couldn’t accept becoming a pervert.
Helping her deal with the Splintered body parts that inevitably appeared during her menstrual cycle over the past two years had already put immense pressure on him. If he were to become like those others—turning into that deranged state, losing his mind and dismembering Fujiang—just the thought of it made Yu Duojiaye feel like he was going insane.
In contrast, Fujiang was quite happy. She had learned Yu Duojiaye’s biggest secret and confirmed the hidden worry that had kept him from getting close to her.
Although Fujiang wasn’t entirely sure about Yu Duojiaye’s current level of immunity to her abilities, as she had said herself:
No matter what Yu Duojiaye did to her, she would forgive him.
But cheating was not allowed!
Absolutely not!
“Dammit, I forgot to tell him that cheating is absolutely not allowed…”
“Fujiang-san, were you just talking to me?”
Looking at the male classmate with an inquiring expression, his face friendly but his eyes faintly carrying a trace of disbelief and pleasant surprise, Fujiang first pursed her lips into a smile, then abruptly let her expression fall.
“No!”
The male classmate, shut down by Fujiang, gave an awkward smile before turning away to silently emo.
Other classmates who witnessed this secretly pondered—Fujiang-san had become increasingly moody lately.
It was lunch break again, and Yu Duojiaye headed to the cafeteria with Azuma Saburo.
“Hey Jiaye, did you know something happened to Mamiko and the others?”
Yu Duojiaye glanced at Azuma Saburo upon hearing this.
“What about them?”
“You don’t know?”
“Should I know?”
Seeing Yu Duojiaye’s genuinely confused expression, Azuma Saburo pulled him aside.
“After you beat up those delinquent girls, for the next few days, Mamiko, Kotori Karashi, and Sakuragi Naeko haven’t been coming to class.”
“So?”
“The situation with Mamiko is unclear for now, but Kotori Karashi, Sakuragi Naeko, and two other girls—according to reliable information, they all died a few days ago.”
Yu Duojiaye froze upon hearing this, then looked at Azuma Saburo somewhat blankly.
“Died?”
“Yeah, and they died in really bizarre ways…”
Azuma Saburo couldn’t help but frown as he mentioned the fates of those delinquent girls.
“One’s whole family died in a car crash—all three became pancakes. One set fire to her own house and burned her whole family to death. One’s family of three mysteriously disappeared in a shopping mall. And the last one…”
“I heard she killed her parents, dismembered them, then committed suicide.”
Hearing Azuma Saburo describe the fates of those delinquent girls, Yu Duojiaye’s heart skipped a beat.
“What about Mamiko?”
Azuma Saburo shook his head.
“I don’t know, but those suspicious people haven’t been coming to school for several days either.”
After hearing Azuma Saburo’s news, Yu Duojiaye instinctively thought of Fujiang, but immediately dismissed the idea himself.
Given Fujiang’s abilities, it would be impossible for her to deal with those delinquent girls so quickly.
Fujiang’s ability requires time to activate – she can distort others’ will, but cannot react as quickly as Word Spirit.
Then what about Jiayezi?
But isn’t Jiayezi still alive?!
Seeing Yu Duojiaye’s troubled expression as he sank into thought, Azuma Saburo patted his shoulder and comforted him.
“Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with you. But these incidents are indeed quite strange – how did all those delinquent girls suddenly meet with misfortune? Weird…”
Yu Duojiaye stopped paying attention to what Azuma Saburo said next, his mind completely occupied with questions about Jiayezi.
Though he couldn’t be certain yet, Yu Duojiaye was about eighty percent sure this matter was related to Jiayezi.
However, Yu Duojiaye couldn’t figure out how Jiayezi had managed to do it.
The prerequisite for Ju-on’s appearance was Jiayezi’s death, but currently Jiayezi was alive and well – it was impossible and illogical for Ju-on to appear.
Unless Ju-on had found a different host, but that raised another question: if it had changed hosts, why would Mamiko and the others suddenly die?
No matter how he thought about it, Yu Duojiaye couldn’t understand Jiayezi’s role in this incident.
Carrying this doubt, Yu Duojiaye remained absent-minded until school ended.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
At the school gate, after their mutual confession, Fujiang no longer avoided going home with Yu Duojiaye like before.
Watching Yu Duojiaye beside her occasionally lost in thought, Fujiang spoke with concern.
“No, it’s just…”
“Hmm?”
Faced with Yu Duojiaye’s hesitation, Fujiang made a puzzled sound.
Looking at the confused expression on Fujiang’s delicate face, Yu Duojiaye hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose not to share his speculation with her.
Making up a random excuse to change the subject, Yu Duojiaye walked home together with Fujiang.
“Why do you keep looking back?”
Fujiang followed Yu Duojiaye’s frequent backward glances, looking at the scattered classmates walking behind them.
At first she thought Yu Duojiaye might be concerned about some girl behind them, but when Fujiang scanned the crowd…
Aside from one somewhat cute girl, no one could possibly compare to her.
“What’s wrong with you today?!”
“Nothing…”
“Are you going to tell me or not?!”
“…”
Watching the silent Yu Duojiaye, Fujiang poked his waist angrily.
The two walked along the road, playfully roughhousing as they headed home. After they disappeared around the street corner, Jiayezi – who had finally finished cleaning the classroom – hurriedly ran out of the school gate.
Seeing no sign of Yu Duojiaye on the street, an inexplicable sense of loss welled up in her heart.
“Kanade-kun…”
Feeling dejected, Jiayezi wandered aimlessly along the street. Passing by a supermarket, she followed the crowd inside and bought an unusually cheap discounted bento.
When passing by Yu Duojiaye’s door, Jiayezi couldn’t help but pause slightly.
She really, really wanted to tell Yu Duojiaye that she lived right next to him.
But she was afraid that once she confessed, it would provoke Fujiang’s hostility, and under her influence, Yu Duojiaye would also come to dislike or even distance himself from her.
After pausing for a moment, Jiayezi lowered her head and walked into her home.
In the living room, Jiayezi’s father, who was eating peanuts and drinking beer, calmly glanced at her returning from school.
“Father, I’m home.”
Jiayezi’s father nodded, then turned his attention back to the television in front of him.
He completely failed to notice the dirt-cheap, nearly expired bento in his daughter’s hand that cost only 100 yen.