I am the emotional sustenance of your deceased

　Chitose walked towards the back alley, pulling down his convenience store employee cap.

　"The relationship with the simulated object named Aine is gradually getting closer. If nothing unexpected happens, this will be one of the difficulties she will need to deal with in the future."

　Just one kind of trouble is not enough.

　Touching the medical eye patch, Chitose felt the stinging in his eyes.

　This eye was really injured, and all the other wounds on Qiansui's body were caused by the sinister system.

　But it wasn't just the system that beat the "mother," it was also the one that beat the...

　"Hey, what are you doing?"

　A girl came from the end of the alley.

　Her long silver hair was draped over her shoulders, and her golden eyes were dazzling facing the sun.

　In addition to the "mother", there is also a system that plays the role of "classmate".

　Haizuka Kyo walked forward without hesitation, still shouting, "You've been really close to Chihaya Aine lately!"

　Ch275. Creating a warm campus both on and off the stage

　[Today, Chitose's right eye is covered with a medical patch, and there's a wound dressing under her left eye... Wait, that's not right, why are there so many more wounds?]

　In the morning, when Aine passed by Chitose's seat, she was startled by her face.

　There was a Band-Aid on the left corner of his mouth, and there were obvious bruises on the right side and chin.

　There was a small wound dressing under the eye patch on his right eye, and it looked like... he had been beaten up.

　"Are you ok?"

　"Go away."

　[It looks bad.]

　The corners of Aine's mouth trembled a few times. When she wanted to say a few more words to the other party, she found that Chitose was no longer looking at her.

　"Oh, alright then."

　She had no choice but to leave. The school election would be held in an hour. She and several other candidates would give their speeches in the school lecture hall, and then everyone would vote to elect the student union president.

　She still had to memorize the script, and even though she had memorized it by heart, she was still worried... Therefore, Aine didn't have much time to pay attention to Chitose.

　She sat on the chair.

　She sat very unsteadily.

　She would look back from time to time, and when she was discovered, Chitose would glare at her.

　It's the look a kitten gives its owner.

　That should be... right?

　"Chihaya, you should go to the waiting room and clean up."

　Soon, the homeroom teacher’s voice rang out from the front door. Aine answered and followed the other person out.

　She looked in Chitose's direction one last time before walking out of the classroom.

　Noshiro Chitose's lips...did they move a few times?

　In a short period of time, Aine actually understood what the other person wanted to say.

　"Are you trying to say come on? You're such a tsundere, you're such a tsundere."

　I'll make sure to ask you what happened to your injury during lunch time, Chitose Noshiro!

　【I think I can finally be your friend today. 】

　Although there are many things that Aine doesn’t understand, she knows that it is easiest to increase someone’s favorability when they are vulnerable.

　She felt like a really bad woman.

　……

　She felt like a really bad woman.

　Chitose Noshiro felt like laughing when she thought about what would happen next.

　"Stupid Tong, aren't you ready yet?"

　"Right away, I'm adjusting the camera angle."

　This was the backstage of the lecture hall, and she and Aine's classmate Haizuka was holding a camera and pointing it at Chitose Noshiro.

　At this moment, they are planning key props for a certain moment in the future.

　"Should we say three, two, one, years old?"

　"You decide, really."

　"Oh, then I'll start."

　Blinking its emotionless golden eyes, the system pressed the start button on the video recorder.

　With a click, the recording begins.

　At the same time, there were voices coming from thousands of people on the stage.

　The sound of early love speech.

　"Today, with a deep love and sense of responsibility for my campus, I stand here to run for Student Union President. The core of my campaign platform is to [fight campus bullying with zero tolerance and build a community of respect and inclusion]."

　The show begins.

　Trapped in a corner, Chitose Noshiro looked towards Haizuka in panic.

　"What... did you ask me to do?"

　Qiansui got into the state in an instant.

　She tried hard to break free from the system's hand that was strangling her neck, but it was no use no matter how hard she tried.

　"Were you the one who was mean to Chihaya-san this morning? Was it you?"

　Behind Chitose is a pink poster.

　The portrait of Chihaya Aine is located in the center of the poster. She holds a fist with one hand as if preparing to give an inspiring speech. At the bottom of the poster is written:

　[Put an end to all bullying in school! Start with me, Chihaya Aine! ]

　【Creating! Campus warmth!】

　"I...what do you want to do?"

　Chitose's little face was being kneaded by Huizuka's hands, and her body was being pressed down continuously.

　"What do I want to do?"

　"I'm going to beat you up. You're just a student sitting at the back of the class, yet you're so arrogant... Why don't you learn your lesson? I've already taught you a lesson so many times. Aiyin taking you out to play is a gift to you, so why won't you accept it?"

　The camera is close to his face, Haizuka's movements are rough and Chitose's expression is obviously painful.

　And Aine's speech continued in front of the curtain.

　"A girl who was long ridiculed for her appearance wrote in her diary: 'I feel like I'm trapped in a transparent cage, no one hears my cries for help.' This painful silence must be broken."

　“Well, Nodai-san, please apologize to me and Aine!”

　"I…"

　"No, I've changed my mind," Haizuka's voice was filled with rampant emotion. "You need to apologize to me first! After all, I ran away from the group just to teach you a lesson."

　"I don't want to!" Noshiro Chitose's tone was so gnashing, but unfortunately, it only led to further actions from the abuser.

　A bottle of red ink was picked up, and Huizuka unscrewed the lid and shook it above Chitose's head.

　"Kneel down and apologize to me. I will forgive you if you apologize. Otherwise, I will dye your hair."

　"No way! I...ah!"

　Huizuka's movements were not slow at all. Through the camera lens, one could clearly see a whole bottle of red ink being poured on Chitose's head.

　The red ink was like a waterfall, rushing down amid the girl's wailing.

　She dyed the girl's silver-white hair on top of her head and forehead red, and the ink flowed down her cheeks and across her white neck.

　Finally, the school uniforms were polluted with overbearing colors.

　While this series of processes was happening, Qiansui had been resisting fiercely but unfortunately it had little effect.

　“Don’t…”

　The victims' cries were drowned out by the confident speech of the speaker on stage.

　Only the video recorder and Haizuka could hear Chitose's wails clearly.

　"Students, opposing bullying is not just a slogan; it's a commitment to upholding the goodness of human nature! If I'm elected, I will put my three promises into action: to protect victims, to awaken bystanders, and to correct perpetrators."

　The lights in the backstage flickered a few times, and when Kyo Haizuka let go of Chitose Noshiro, the latter covered her face and ran away.

　The bandage on her face was torn off and stuck to the floor like a tombstone engraved with an epic poem.

　But soon it was stepped on by Huizhong.

　Huizhong left just like that.

　In the backstage, only the promotional poster with Aine's portrait was still shining.

　It was also splashed with red ink, and the ink slid down along the word "warmth" in "Creating a Warm Campus".

　"call--"

　Amidst the applause, Chihaya Aine walked backstage, drinking Pocari Sweat to relax while still thinking about the speech she had just made.

　She glanced at her poster and noticed something was wrong.

　"Hey! I look so photogenic, so cute. I'll ask if I can take this one home for my collection later!"

　How come it got stained with some...unexplained liquid?

　Then forget it.

　Ch276. Touching her crimson-dyed hair

　Chihaya Aine sat blankly on the stone steps beside a quiet path in the campus.

　Today she didn't wait for the girl covered in wounds.

　"Are you asking for leave to go home?"

　Aine stuffed the prepared lunch box back into the thermos bag. For some reason, Chitose Noshiro was missing. She unexpectedly had no appetite today.

　It turns out that when eating, you still need to look at some cute things to make the food more delicious.

　"Really? She didn't even tell me... Could it be that she's not a tsundere and just really hates me?"

　On her way back to the classroom, Chihaya Aine remembered a joke she had read before:

　[I thought she was my childhood sweetheart, but I didn't expect she really hated me.]

　"Ha ha…"

　Not funny at all!

　It was clearly a tragic declaration of defeat.

　The corner at the back of the first floor of the teaching building is very quiet.

　Aiyin passed by a nearby bathroom and noticed a sign at the door saying it was under renovation.

　She didn't think much about it and planned to take a detour, but -

　"Woo..."

　"Huh? What's that sound?"

　Prospective students

　The president ignored the school sign and walked straight in. Aiyin followed the direction of the sound and walked to a private bathroom.

　She placed her food cooler bag on the sink, and the sound from inside the door felt increasingly familiar.

　"Isn't that Chitose's voice? So she didn't go to eat and was crying instead."

　She is so cute.