In Tokyo: They are heavily dependent on me

Chapter 122. What I like most is your utter ugliness.

"That's enough."

"Let's press it a little longer, Mizukami-kun seems to be in a lot of pain."

"I already said it's okay, don't imagine me to be so fragile."

"Since he himself has said so—"

I sat on the steps in front of the shrine for twenty minutes. Looking down, the vendors and tourists who had gathered on both sides of the road had become few and far between, and the dense atmosphere they brought had completely disappeared. The rain clouds that had piled up overhead had also dispersed, and the stars were twinkling in the distant sky.

The occasional breeze that blew my bangs felt nice, and after the crowd dispersed, the temperature dropped considerably.

After a short rest, the young lady's expression returned to normal. She looked up at the unknown night sky above her head and appeared more mature than usual, but also more vulnerable.

"With me involved, I'm sure my friend Shui Shang had a lot of fun tonight."

Kaoru's body fell backward, lying flat on the smooth shrine ground behind her.

The moonlight poured down, turning the young lady's figure silvery-white.

"Hoshino-kun, you're too confident."

Mizukami immediately refuted his words. As Kaoru waited for her to continue, the young lady turned around, her pale purple eyes staring at Kaoru's face without revealing any emotion.

"In fact, it's thanks to my involvement that Hoshino-san had so much fun tonight."

"If you think running around three city blocks is fun, then you're really an unreasonable guy."

"If I'm being unreasonable, then Hoshino-san, who attends a fireworks festival with three girls at the same time, is utterly despicable. If she were to die in a traffic accident, run over by vehicles, her internal organs scattered like garbage, I would actually look forward to that ending playing out on Hoshino-san. Hmm, Hoshino-san is truly pathetic. Even garbage has its place to go, but Hoshino-san is different. She can only suffer the fate of rotting, her body devoured by crows, and in the end, she'll be ignored like a dog or cat hit and killed on the roadside. In short, Hoshino-san is even worse than garbage."

"Hey! Your curse is far too vicious! I... I'm going to kill you!"

The next second, Xun pounced on her without warning, grabbing Shui Shang's slender neck with both hands and pressing her body against her.

Mizukami, who had been knocked down and was lying on the ground in front of the shrine, stared blankly at him.

"Are you angry because you're embarrassed? Because what I said is absolutely right."

A triumphant smile spread across her face... and the corners of her mouth curved upwards. Suddenly, Kaoru lost her temper.

He began to apply even more pressure to his fingers, his palms clearly feeling the pulse beating. The beautiful face in front of him quickly contorted with pain until he released his hands. The person in the water began to breathe greedily, like a drowning person coming into contact with fresh air.

Xun got off her and sat down beside her without saying a word.

I'm so annoying.

At that moment.

The young lady suddenly bumped into him, and the unsuspecting Kaoru was knocked to the ground.

By the time he realized what was happening, those slender hands had already wrapped around his neck, then applied a force that could easily crush a soda can.

"Hoshino-kun, this won't work. This level of effort isn't enough to completely kill me. You have to do it this way."

Then, the young lady squeezed the space between her palms and neck with terrifying force.

If she were a strong man instead of a delicate woman, such force might easily snap her fragile neck.

At that moment, Kaoru experienced the fear of death and the disgust that the other person inflicted on him.

The young lady hated him, which is why she was prepared to kill him.

Although those hands weren't good at doing cruel things like killing, she was still trying very hard to kill herself. She must have made an incredibly strong decision to do so, and the current reality forced her to do it.

Such intense and pure killing intent made Kaoru's limbs turn icy cold.

Although a man could easily break free from those hands with his strength, he had no intention of doing so. After his body got used to the feeling, he was surprised to find that the feeling of not being able to breathe was not as terrifying as he had imagined.

It wouldn't be so bad if I were just killed like this.

Xun closed her eyes.

In the instant before the brain loses consciousness—

The young lady on top of him suddenly released her hands, and as he was able to breathe, something soft pressed against his lips.

Immediately afterwards, his mouth was filled with the warm, moist breath of the other person's body. He breathed in greedily, not just inhaling air, but everything that remained in the body before him. Because he had drunk apple juice, this kiss had a faint sweetness to it.

The moment their lips parted, the young lady, panting heavily, looked at him with tears streaming down her face.

"Why aren't you resisting? Do you really want to be killed by me?"

"Well, if Mizukami-kun is willing to do that, I won't resist. In fact, being killed by the person you like isn't such a bad ending."

"You...don't talk big...you're just...you're actually afraid that kind of thing will happen...Hoshino-san doesn't think that way...I...I don't believe that kind of thing could exist..."

Mizukami started crying again.

The most heart-wrenching cries echoed through the deserted shrine.

Kaoru lay on the ground, having given up all struggle, her hands limply resting on the ground beside her body, her eyes fixed on the face in front of her, a face that seemed to be smiling or in pain.

"Mizukami-kun, I like you."

"Liar...liar...that kind of talk...it's not true at all..."

Despite crying uncontrollably, Mizukami continued to clench her hands tightly, trying to stop the tears from being pulled toward the ground by gravity.

The surrounding air felt icy cold.

"Mizukami-kun, I like you."

"Stop talking... I hate Hoshino-kun the most..."

"I know that even so, I've still fallen hopelessly in love with you."

"Ugh...shut up...shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!"

A growing sense of despair kept escaping from his throat, which was filled with bitterness.

Unable to even control her emotions, she was now like a child, pounding on Kaoru's chest and crying.

"Stop crying, you idiot, it's really embarrassing."

He gradually extended his right hand toward her cheek.

The tears dripped onto my fingertips, and the sensation was even colder than I had imagined.

"Mizukami-kun, I love you deeply. No matter when, no matter if you hate me or not, this feeling will never change."

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Finally, even the last vestiges of reason crumbled in that body.

She lay on the water, sobbing uncontrollably, her tears soaking her clothes and clinging to her skin. Occasionally, a breeze would sweep by, making the icy touch even more pronounced.

Xun silently hugged that body tightly.

The cicadas' chirping, which once filled the summer night sky, has now disappeared.