Tokyo: After years of stagnation, the heiress of the yakuza arrives.

Kuroba Shido looked at the selfie sent to his phone and slowly gasped.

In the photo, Yoshiko Sawamura, sporting two darker panda eyes, is forced to stand in the center of the frame with a blank expression and empty eyes, as if she has just been temporarily pulled out of the ruins of a family war and used as some kind of identity verification prop.

Only a tiny bit of pink hair was visible on the side.

Very few.

But that's enough.

Kuroba Shido stared at that wisp of pink hair for two seconds, his eyes gradually becoming clearer.

"Oh ho."

He held his phone a little further away, his expression quite subtle.

That's it now.

The person he was chatting with on the other end of the phone wasn't Yoshiko Sawamura.

It's Ritsuki Sawamura.

The question, "You're not Aunt Yoshiko, are you?" was ostensibly to confirm her identity, but it wasn't really just a simple confirmation.

Kuroba Shido isn't like Yamamoto Shinto, a stickler for popular opinion. He wouldn't believe everyone who claims to be who they are.

The answer itself is not important.

How you answer, the tone you use, and the content of your answer are the key factors.

If the person opposite him really is Yoshiko Sawamura, based on Shido Kuroba's initial assessment of this Aunt Yoshiko, she would probably deny it outright, and would even very likely scold him with a very righteous indignation, "You damn lolicon, stop talking nonsense."

After all, in his impression, although Yoshiko Sawamura seemed very noble, very stubborn, and very good at fighting with the pink-haired girl, she didn't seem to be particularly hard to fool in essence.

You could even say she's a bit naive and innocent.

As a wealthy young lady, she actually went on to have an online romance when she was young.

What kind of behavior is this?

This is something that not just anyone could do.

Fortunately, the Clay family didn't have any bad intentions, otherwise she would have been dismantled and sold for parts in a foreign country when she was young.

Kuroba Shido's expression became even more serious as he thought about this.

Too dangerous.

These days, girls must protect themselves when they're out, especially the type like Yoshiko Sawamura, who seems to have only had romance in her mind when she was young and no anti-fraud system.

When faced with such a person's probing, the reasonable response would be to become angry or simply continue to be stubborn.

It is not self-proving.

It's not like they're sending over a picture of Yoshiko Sawamura.

Kuroba Shido looked at the selfie, and the corner of his mouth twitched slowly.

This is where the problem lies.

If the other party sends a photo of Sawamura Riyue herself, Kuroba Shido will not immediately conclude that the other party is Sawamura Riyue, because it may be a photo taken casually by Sawamura Yoshiko, or even a photo taken as evidence after a mother-daughter conflict.

Unfortunately, the person on the other end of the line was Yoshiko Sawamura herself.

She added very seriously, "I am Yoshiko Sawamura."

This is logically ridiculous.

It's like someone being asked if they are the murderer, then suddenly dragging another victim over to take a picture and saying, "Look, I am this victim."

Proof by contradiction.

Self-destructive proof by contradiction.

Kuroba Shido remained silent for a few seconds, then quietly lowered his phone.

He glanced at the time.

It was past 1 a.m.

very good.

At this point, continuing to talk to Ritsuki Sawamura about "Do you like me?" would be like wishing you hadn't died completely enough for the day.

Miyazaki Kiyoshi is going to have a club execution tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., the murderous aura on the third floor of the cafeteria at Onodera Zannen's place hasn't completely dissipated, and Amamiya Kaoru's house still has a smart lock whose battery was just removed, as well as an elementary school student who was traumatized by the big black dog.

Should we reopen the Sawamura/Liyue instance?

No.

Is this a choice a human being could make?

Shido Kuroba's brain gave a very clear warning.

If we continue this conversation, something bad might happen.

And this is bad news, not just ordinary bad news, but the kind of bad news that will sprout pink tentacles from the chat box and drag him into the hell of transnational loser essays.

He lowered his head and began typing.

"I have school tomorrow, so I'll rest now..."

After thinking for a moment, he added another sentence.

"Auntie Jiazi, you should get some rest too."

Pause for half a second.

Delete it.

No.

That's too mean; it could easily turn the pink-haired girl on the other side into fireworks.

Kuroba Shido ultimately left only the first half of the sentence and clicked send.

"I have school tomorrow, so I'll rest now..."

Sent successfully.

Then he decisively turned off the screen, placed the phone face down on the edge of the bed, and crawled into the blanket.

The moment I turned off my phone, I felt the world go quiet, and my cerebral cortex was gently soothed...

Kuroba Shido pulled the blanket up higher, closed his eyes, and spoke in a low voice as if he were saying his final goodbye to this crazy world.

Goodnight, Makka Pakka.

The bedroom fell silent again.

"squeak……"

The backpack in the corner moved slightly, and Big Black seemed to turn over inside, then fell silent again.

Kuroba Shido closed his eyes, trying his best to get rid of all the images in his mind: pink-haired girl, old lady, department head, and smart lock.

go to bed.

I need to sleep.

As long as he's asleep, the world can't hurt him for the time being.

the other side.

In the hotel room, Ritsuki Sawamura froze on the spot when she saw the message from Shido Kuroba: "I have to go to school tomorrow, so I'm going to rest now..."

She stared at the screen.

Read.

Then there's this sentence.

And that was it.

That's all?

That's it?

She asked such a dangerous question, risking social death by not taking it back, and even dragged the old lady over as a human shield, only to have Kuroba Shido reply with "I have to go to school tomorrow."

Riyue Sawamura's brain began to emit a very dangerous buzzing sound.

She looked down at the chat box, her fingers tightening little by little, her pink hair hanging down her side, her eyes red as if she were about to shove the whole phone into an old lady's mouth.

He doesn't believe it.

Yoshiko Sawamura was still sitting next to her, forced to maintain the pose she had just taken a selfie in. After hearing those three words, her eyes flickered subtly.

It's not that I don't believe it.

They believed it too much.

The letter arrived while the person was already preparing to sleep and flee for their life.

Ritsuki Sawamura suddenly turned to look at her.

"You prove it."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "???"

"Prove what?"

"This proves that you were the one who just sent the message."

Yoshiko Sawamura remained silent.

She had two panda eyes and a very complicated expression on her face.

How can this be proven?

Are you suggesting she record a video on the spot and say to the camera, "That's right, Shido, do you like me?" It's something I said, and it has nothing to do with the pink-haired girl next to me.

Will she be alive tomorrow?

Ritsuki Sawamura shoved the phone in front of her, her tone already showing obvious signs of vulnerability.

"Prove it quickly!"

Yoshiko Sawamura looked at her phone, then glanced at Ritsuki Sawamura.

The room fell silent.

A few seconds later, Yoshiko Sawamura slowly spoke: "Little pink-haired girl, have you ever thought about something?"

Ritsuki Sawamura's eyes are dangerous.

"What?"

Yoshiko Sawamura swallowed hard, trying to express a cruel truth in the gentlest tone.

"Is it possible that he's already figured it out?"

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

The air cooled down instantly.

Yoshiko Sawamura quickly added, "Of course, that's not necessarily true. He might just be sleepy. After all, young people have school tomorrow, it's normal, and a healthy sleep schedule is a good thing!"

Ritsuki Sawamura slowly lowered her head, looking at her phone screen.

Kuroba Shido did not reply.

The profile picture is as still as a tombstone.

In the chat box, the sentence "I have to go to school tomorrow, so I'm going to rest now..." sounded exceptionally calm and polite, as if the door had been locked from the inside and a "No Visitors" sign had been conveniently hung up.

Ritsuki Sawamura's fingers began to tremble.

"He escaped."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "..."

She couldn't refute that.

From a tactical perspective, Shido Kuroba did indeed escape, and he escaped decisively and skillfully, making it undeniable that there was a reason he survived until today.

Riki Sawamura suddenly looked up.

"You continue to prove it."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "How can I prove it?"

"Send a voice message."

"What should I post?"

"You said you sent all of those."

Yoshiko Sawamura was silent for half a second, then her expression suddenly became serious.

"Little pink-haired girl, Mommy thinks it's important to be honest."

Ritsuki Sawamura: "???"

Yoshiko Sawamura said seriously, "We can't create another lie just to cover up one one; that's wrong."

Ritsuki Sawamura looked at the panda eyes on her face.

Yoshiko Sawamura continued, "Especially when it comes to matters of the heart, sincerity is the ultimate weapon."

Ritsuki Sawamura picked up the pillow.

Yoshiko Sawamura immediately changed her mind: "I'll send it, I'll send it right now!"

She reached for her phone.

Ritsuki Sawamura suddenly put her phone away.

"no."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "???"

Ritsuki Sawamura stared at the screen, her face flushed red, and her voice lowered.

He's about to go to sleep.

Yoshiko Sawamura remained silent.

You know now that they're going to sleep?

Who just posted "You lolicon, don't pretend you didn't see this"?

But she dared not say it.

Because she still wants to live for the time being.

Ritsuki Sawamura sat on the bed, clutching her phone, huddled under the covers like a pink animal whose fur was about to fall out from the backlash of the chat history she had created.

She stared at the sentence, "I have to go to school tomorrow, so I'm going to rest now..." and the more she looked at it, the more she felt that this was not an ordinary goodnight.

This is an escape.

This is avoidance.

This is yet another piece of evidence that Shido Kuroba skillfully slipped away from her life.

Ritsuki Sawamura bit her lip and suddenly looked up at Yoshiko Sawamura.

"Do you think he hates me?"

Yoshiko Sawamura paused for a moment.

This time, she didn't immediately resort to insults.

Looking at Ritsuki Sawamura's red eyes and her expression that was both furious and terrified, a part of her heart softened slightly.

Then she thought for a moment and said very seriously, "Not necessarily."

Ritsuki Sawamura looked at her.

Yoshiko Sawamura touched her aching face and said in an unusually serious tone, "If he really hated you, he would have blocked you a long time ago. That guy doesn't seem like the type to care about other people's feelings, especially someone who would block me after reading my text message."

Ritsuki Sawamura was stunned.

Yoshiko Sawamura continued, "He might be running away now not because he dislikes you, but because he finds you troublesome, or he feels that continuing the conversation will lead to trouble."

Riki Sawamura looked down at her phone.

"Isn't that still annoying?"

"no."

Yoshiko Sawamura sighed and raised her hand to rub her messy hair.

"When a man finds something troublesome, it doesn't necessarily mean he hates it, especially the type who looks like he knows how to run away. Trouble and danger might be the same thing in his mind."

Ritsuki Sawamura remained silent for a few seconds.

Seeing that she hadn't killed her immediately, Yoshiko Sawamura became a little bolder.

"So the best thing you should do now is stop asking questions and let him go to sleep."

Ritsuki Sawamura looked up.

Yoshiko Sawamura immediately added, "Seriously, if we keep pursuing her, we'll just look like a loser."

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "..."

She seems to have said something wrong.

The next second, the pillow hit her face.

Yoshiko Sawamura screamed and fell back onto the bed.

Ritsuki Sawamura, clutching her phone, sullenly burrowed under the covers, muttering under her breath, "Shut up, old lady," but her fingers stopped sending messages to Shido Kuroba.

She just looked at the chat box repeatedly.

Check "Read".

See "I have to go to school tomorrow".

Look at that line she wanted to take back but couldn't bear to: "Shido, do you like me?"

After a long while, Riki Sawamura hugged her phone to her chest, her voice muffled.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Yoshiko Sawamura lay face down on the bed, her face buried in the pillow, her voice muffled.

"Yes, we'll talk about it tomorrow. Tomorrow, Mom will teach you new ways to date."

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

"Auntie"

"what?"

"You'll sleep on the floor tonight."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "???"