Tokyo Soft Rice King.

It's a black-tailed creature that understands human emotions! It must have just been saying 'Deal!'

Kuroba Akira started running after Kuroo, and the memories in his mind slowly came back to him. This was the road he had taken when he and Murasaki no Miyako went home together!

With Kuroo leading the way, Kuroba Akira quickly found the entrance to the abandoned shrine.

It's a mystery why this shrine has remained abandoned in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, where land is incredibly valuable. It's almost too extravagant.

Now is not the time to worry about such things. Kuroba Akira quickly passed through the torii gate, ran up the stone steps, and entered the shrine.

The shrine was surrounded by trees, which I remember being called the 'Forest of Guardians', but none of the trees were very big.

Hijikata Isamu must have hanged himself on a large tree, so it's very likely that he was tied to a sacred tree with a shimenawa rope, which should have made it quite conspicuous.

Not seeing any such tree in sight, Kuroba Akira crossed the approach and ran straight to the back of the main hall. Sure enough, he found a thick sacred tree next to the main hall, and also saw a pair of bathroom slippers.

The fact that Japanese people take off their shoes before committing suicide proves that Akira Kuroba's conjecture was completely correct; Akira Tashiro really did come here to hang herself!

At this moment, Tashiro Kurenai had already tied a bath towel to a tree branch to make a hanging ring, used the offering box in front of the shrine as a chair, stood on it, and put her neck around the hanging ring.

"Wait! Miss Hongxiang! Don't be impulsive!"

"Ugh...! Guh...!"

As a result, Kuroba Akira's shout only made Tashiro Kurenai panic. In her haste, she kicked the offering box at her feet and her body fell to the ground.

"Damn it! You're not allowed to die in front of me!"

Kuroba Akira rushed over and grabbed her swinging legs, then struggled to lift her up.

Once she regained support from her legs, Tashiro Kurenai was rescued without even experiencing the feeling of suffocation.

We made it just in time, albeit without any major incident...

Akira Kuroba successfully stopped Kurenai Tashiro from committing suicide.

Chapter 143 She was already overwhelmed

However, this only stops her in action. If we cannot eradicate this extreme idea from her, she will eventually repeat the same mistake.

As expected, Tashiro Kurenai began to struggle, and cried out in despair.

"Let go...! Let go of me! Mind your own business...!"

As expected, he still had to rely on words, so Kuroba Akira hugged her legs even tighter to prevent her from moving around while persuading her.

"Miss Hongxiang, listen to me first! Even if you commit suicide now, there's no guarantee you'll be able to merge with your other self!"

"What right do you have to say that!"

"Neither Hijikata nor I have split personalities! And I don't even have the memory of my other self!"

These words made Tashiro Kurenai waver, and she showed an expression of disbelief.

"You...you have no memory?"

"Yes! There must be a reason why the three of us are in different situations! Even if you learn from Mr. Hijikata, you might not be able to make another version of yourself inherit your memories!"

"Gurgle...!"

"Besides, Mr. Hijikata didn't want to die! At least the current Mr. Hijikata has never thought about dying! Even with a huge debt, he's working hard to pay it off! He's trying his best to live!"

"Well……"

"If it really was the gods who brought us into this world, then I think this is exactly the result the gods wanted to see. If you recklessly end your own life, do you think the gods would 'give you another chance'?"

"...!"

Kuroba Akira directly pointed out that her idea was too rash, and even brought up the idea of ​​gods, forcing Tashiro Kurenai to face reality.

She was clearly persuaded by Kuroba Akira, and after calming down, she felt a wave of fear.

Just as Kuroba Akira said, if the gods no longer take care of him this time, will he die along with his other self?

That's not the result I wanted!

"So please, Miss Hongxiang, get down first. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. My knees are trembling..."

In fact, Kuroba Akira could hold on for a while longer, but in order to get Tashiro Kurenai out of danger completely, he pretended to be powerless and started complaining.

6 "..."

After this persuasion, Tashiro Kurenai finally gave up the idea of ​​merging personalities through death, and tilted her head back to untie the rings from her neck.

The hanging ring made of a bath towel is not as strong as a hemp rope, and she is not a habitual suicide offender. The knot she tied is not a death trap, so it is not too difficult to untie.

As soon as she untied the rings, the towel on her body completely came undone, and Tashiro Kurenai lost her upper body support, crying out as she lost her balance.

As we all know, when a person is weightless, they will reflexively look for something to grab onto. At that moment, the only thing supporting Tashiro Kurenai was Kuroba Akira, who was clinging to her legs. So when she fell, she reflexively grabbed Kuroba Akira below.

Then, because the two were in an upper and lower structure, as Tashiro Kurenai fell, Kuroba Akira was used as a cushion, directly riding on her face, and his nose was also stuck between the camel's toes.

Last time it was face wash, this time it's face wash stock... Is this a reward for saving someone's life?

This reminded Kuroba Akira of the time when the class monitor covered his head with her skirt.

At the time, he only dared to smell it and didn't dare to touch it, but today he unexpectedly encountered Miss Hongxiang's... uh, it seems to have a pungent smell.

It's said that people who hang themselves often lose control of their bladder... Although I managed to grab her legs in time, she still leaked a little bit of her saliva, probably due to her nervousness.

Tashiro Kurenai also felt uncomfortable, a blush creeping up her cheeks. She immediately spread her legs and moved her body away, freeing Kuroba Akira, whom she was riding.

Kuroba Akira got up and wiped his nose with his arm; a faint scent of holy water still lingered in his nasal cavity…

But Akira Kuroba couldn't complain to Kurenai Tashiro, who had just gone through a life-or-death situation, so he simply picked up the high heels he had dropped in the heat of the moment and placed them in front of her.

"Let's go back first, Miss Hongxiang. I've brought your shoes for you."

However, Tashiro Akari blushed, bit her lower lip, and rubbed against the drum as she backed away.

"Miss Hongxiang?"

"No, don't come any closer!"

"..."

What's going on here... It's like I'm the one who wants to poke her... How could that be?

Kuroba Akira thought to himself that he hadn't had any ill intentions when he encountered a lone Murasaki no Miyako in the same place before, let alone when facing other women.

Kuroba knew he was far from being gentle, but he would never commit a crime.

If it's a mutually agreeable transaction, that's one thing, but one-sided forced sex is truly a despicable act, even worse than scum. He also agrees with chemically castrating those useless scumbags who can't control their lower bodies.

But no one knows what's wrong with Tashiro Kurenai. Instead of being grateful to Kuroba Akira for saving her, she fled from him in terror.

You could tell she was really scared, because even though her legs were too weak to stand up, she still crawled desperately, her stockings and knees were worn through, leaving bloodstains on the ground.

Tashiro Kurenai climbed up to the shrine in the main hall of the shrine and knelt down to beg.

"My Lord God...My Lord God...Please...Please let me disappear..."

Her voice was filled with deep pain and despair, then turned into intermittent sobs.

"Waaah... Why... Why must I continue to exist... Since you, God, have already brought a better version of me into this world, why keep me here..."

"Why don't you just make me disappear...! Make me disappear!"

"I no longer want to...exist..."

Kuroba Akira scratched his head, still not understanding why Tashiro Kurenai had this idea, so he walked over, but kept a distance of about five meters to prevent her from running away again in a panic.

"Tell me, Miss Hongxiang, why do you have such extreme thoughts? Is it because I asked you to be Ziyin's manager?"

"..."

She didn't respond, so Kuroba Akira continued.

"If this is really putting you in such a difficult position, then just pretend I never said anything. So I beg you not to do anything so extreme again."

In fact, this incident was just the trigger; the idea had been brewing for a long time, and she was already overwhelmed.

Tashiro Kurenai knew she had caused Kuroba Akira a lot of trouble, and felt guilty that she had been so ungrateful for the person who had saved her.

Kuroba Akira is a good person... She knows it, she's seen it all.

I should be able to get along with him... but I can't... because I'm too timid... afraid of getting hurt...

She hated men, she hated humanity, but at this moment... she hated herself even more.

That's why I wish I could disappear.

Everything will be alright once I'm gone.

Chapter 144 Only You Can Save Yourself

At this moment, these feelings could no longer be suppressed and burst forth in sharp words.

"Because! You need her, don't you! You want her to be your manager, not me!"

"It's the more mature me... not the me that nobody wants now!"

"So as long as I'm not around... as long as I give up my life, that's enough!"

This is too much of an inferiority complex... Kuroba Akira was very puzzled.

However, people with social anxiety are prone to feeling inferior. Perhaps it's because seeing another version of themselves able to interact with others naturally and easily amplifies their feelings of inferiority.

As one righteous person said, you can lose to anyone, but you can't lose to yourself.

She fell into utter despair because she lost to another version of herself.

However, Akira Kuroba felt that this idea was too narrow-minded.

"There's no need to be so clear about it, isn't there? The other Miss Hongxiang is you too?"

"No! I'm not the Miss Hongxiang you know! I'm not... I'm not worthy!"

When she first joined the company and started working, and was repeatedly frustrated because she was not good at communicating with people, Tashiro Kurenai also visited this shrine.

She made a wish, hoping to be freed from this burden.

Perhaps the prayers were truly answered, and the Savior truly descended.

That is yourself from another world.

Initially, she was genuinely grateful to her other self, who stood up for her when her boss made unreasonable overtime demands and assigned her, a newcomer, a gruesome corpse.

When faced with business communication that she wasn't good at, she would also step in and communicate with clients on her behalf... Thanks to her, the work has actually become much easier.