The dense raindrops beat against the eaves, the pitter-patter of collisions mixing with the steady drizzle to wake Fujiang from her deep sleep.
Leaning against the headboard, Fujiang wore a somewhat dazed expression before her gaze turned distant as she looked out the window.
She had dreamed of that day again—that afternoon filled with blood plasma and the feeble struggles of dying people, just like today, washed clean by heavy rain.
Click. The bedroom door opened, and Matsushima Yuko, who had been quietly watching the news, turned to look at her granddaughter.
“Awake? No university classes today, and rainy weather is perfect for sleeping. Why not rest a bit longer?”
Fujiang walked over and sat beside her grandmother, joining her in watching the news on TV.
“Grandma…”
“What is it?”
“…Never mind.”
Matsushima Yuko watched Fujiang’s hesitant expression and, after a moment’s thought, guessed what was on her mind. She switched to another channel.
On the screen, a young couple—the female lead with her stubborn personality and various misunderstandings—were arguing loudly. The male lead, too proud to back down, and the female lead ultimately chose to go their separate ways.
“Relationships are inherently full of twists and turns—personality, interests, pride, and all that.”
“But what matters most is each other, isn’t it? As long as you care about him and he cares about you, some things can actually be let go or negotiated.”
Fujiang knew exactly what her grandmother’s meaningful words referred to. She turned to look out the window at the gradually subsiding storm.
The rain curtain reflected in Fujiang’s lowered eyes, the moist air drifting through the window to brush against her face.
“Grandma, I’m going to play with Jiaye.”
“Alright~ go ahead.”
Simply slipping on her shoes without even changing out of her pink, form-fitting hot pants, Fujiang dashed through the light rain into Yu Duojiaye’s home just next door.
Smack!
A cold sensation accompanied by pressure spread across his face. Yu Duojiaye groggily opened his eyes to see Fujiang standing right in front of him.
Hands on her hips at the bedside, her slender, snow-white legs adorned with bright red nail polish were planted on his face. His gaze traveled up her calves, finally landing on her flawless, naturally enchanting face.
“Ah!”
With a startled cry, Yu Duojiaye grabbed Fujiang’s calf and flung her onto the bed.
“Yu Duojiaye, are you trying to die?!”
Fuming, Fujiang rose from the bed and, without another word, straddled Yu Duojiaye, pounding his shoulders through the blanket.
Thump, thump, thump—accompanied by the beating sounds, Yu Duojiaye’s sharp intakes of breath kept coming.
“Stop! Do you even know how much your hits hurt?!”
“Shut up and endure it!”
“…You asked for this!”
After a brief struggle, Yu Duojiaye pinned Fujiang’s hands and held her down beneath him, looking at her jet-black hair fanned across the pillow and her defiant, unyielding eyes.
“Are you having an episode?”
“Grrr!”
Fujiang lifted her neck to bite Yu Duojiaye’s wrist, but he released her and dodged.
“Alright, enough messing around. I’ll go start the fire now.”
Letting go of Fujiang and getting up, Yu Duojiaye found a lighter and headed out of the bedroom.
“Stop right there!”
“What are you doing—holy shit!”
Before Yu Duojiaye could finish turning his head, a small cloth piece from her special period, covered with fresh Splintered body parts, came flying straight at his face.
His reflexes made him catch it hastily, but as soon as Yu Duojiaye realized what it was, his hand trembled with the urge to throw it away. Still, he suppressed his discomfort and looked at Fujiang.
“Just pulling it out like that—aren’t you disgusted?!”
Fujiang watched Yu Duojiaye’s flustered state, crossed her arms, and smirked triumphantly.
“Bite me.”
“You’re insane!”
Well, Fujiang had always been a bit insane—otherwise, she wouldn’t have obsessively lured those men to kill and dismember her.
Sighing helplessly, he carefully pinched a corner of the small cloth scrap, placed it in a bag, then took an umbrella and went into the yard to start a fire.
By the time he finished dealing with the cloth and returned, he found Fujiang sitting quietly in the living room, watching him.
“What’s up with you today?”
Faced with the question, Fujiang stared at him for a moment, then patted the empty spot on the sofa beside her.
Hesitating briefly, and not wanting to provoke the madwoman, Yu Duojiaye obediently walked over and sat down.
But the moment his rear touched the cushion, Fujiang’s hand wandered mischievously toward the hem of his shirt.
“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing in broad daylight?! I’ll scream!”
Smack!
A furious slap from Fujiang landed on his forehead, and Yu Duojiaye abruptly fell silent. Seeing her enraged expression, he silently turned his face away, afraid to witness the impending disaster.
“Don’t touch it—it feels weird.”
As her fingers traced the scars, a mix of numbness, slight itching, and faint stinging sensations arose—a sign of regenerating nerves struggling to transmit signals accurately.
Gazing at the scars on Yu Duojiaye’s abdomen and chest, the longest nearly ten centimeters, Fujiang’s eyes held complex emotions.
“What’s really going on with you—”
Before Yu Duojiaye could finish, Fujiang clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Your mouth only spouts nonsense. Don’t ruin my mood.”
“…”
Her fingers gently stroked the scars on Yu Duojiaye’s abdomen, over and over.
Unbidden, the memory surfaced of that day in Yamazaki Alley—how Yu Duojiaye fought desperately with those two homeless men to save her, only to be stabbed in the abdomen.
“Were you scared?Fujiang’s low tone caught Yu Duojiaye off guard. He recalled the sensation of his body temperature plummeting as blood drained away.
“A little, but not much. Adrenaline was pumping hard, and you were hurt worse than me. All I could think about was killing those bastards.”
“If I had to name a fear, it was more about facing consequences afterward.”
His answer left Fujiang silent. Her fingers continued kneading his scars.
“I won’t ask how you knew about my… peculiarities, or why you’re unaffected by me. I just want to know—why did you save me that day?”
Staring into Fujiang’s pitch-black eyes, as dark as her hair tips, Yu Duojiaye froze for a moment.
“I don’t know.”
“?”
Smack!
“After all the emotion I’ve been building up, that’s all you have to say?!”
“Ouch—”
Clutching his left chest, Yu Duojiaye’s face contorted in pain.
“I really don’t know! The moment I saw you get slashed in the shoulder, I just snapped. Who had time to think about why I was saving you?!”
“Is this what I wanted to hear? Is this what I wanted to hear!? Can’t you say something nice?! Is your mouth only good for eating and pissing me off, with no other function!?”
Slap slap slap!
“Stop hitting me, or I’ll lose my temper!”
“I’ll keep hitting you, go ahead and hit me back if you dare!”
“You bastard!”
With a sudden flip, Yu Duojiaye pinned Fujiang beneath him, staring at her furious, wide-eyed expression.
Her chest heaved violently with ragged breaths, and Yu Duojiaye’s gaze involuntarily dropped to it.
For some reason, Fujiang had encountered similar looks from Yu Duojiaye before, but today’s gaze made her particularly shy.
Struggling fiercely, Fujiang abruptly covered her chest.
“Speak!”
Sitting astride Fujiang’s hips, Yu Duojiaye stared at her reproachful yet charmingly alluring face.
“Maybe… it’s because I’m lustful.”
“…”
“Go to hell!!”
Yanking her leg free, Fujiang delivered a powerful kick to Yu Duojiaye’s stomach, sending him flying backward to crash onto the floor.