I save a pathological girl with a twisted love story.

Aoi was somewhat reluctant to speak.

But she still told Xia Wuzhao the reason: "It's because you helped me when I entered the classroom."

Upon hearing Asahi Aoi's explanation, Natsugiri Kai scoffed, "Do you even remember what you told me before?"

"Don't flatter yourself, that's probably what you meant," Xia Wuzhao said. "This time, I want to say the same thing to you."

"Don't flatter yourself, Aoi Asahi. You think I'm helping you? That's a shame, it's not helping you at all."

Asahi looked at Natsugiri Kai and found it strange.

"That action was clearly helping myself. Why deny it? Am I just deliberately mocking myself?"

She looked at Xia Wuzhao and questioned, "Then why did you take such a long detour on your way back?"

Aoi's expression was very serious; she tilted her chin up.

Her delicate face peeked out from behind her thick, barrier-like bangs, and the afternoon sunlight streamed through the gaps in the swaying broad leaves, illuminating her cheeks.

At this moment, her skin was so fair it seemed to have a translucent quality.

"You've said so much out of self-righteousness, just for this reason?" Xia Wuzhao chuckled. "Let me tell you, the reason I did that was simply because I deeply respect Professor Yokokawa. That's why I didn't pass by the podium, but deliberately took a long detour."

The temperature on the girl's face gradually faded.

"Hehe, is that so?"

Asahi looked at Natsugiri Kai and said coldly, "If you want to humiliate me, you don't need to use this method. Natsugiri Kai."

Am I humiliating you?

Although Xia Wuzhao sounded surprised, her expression remained indifferent.

That look was utterly contemptuous.

Asahi's gaze grew even more indifferent, like wisps of snowflakes falling from the sky onto her neck.

It sent a chill down my spine.

But it had no effect on Xia Wuzhao.

"Heh." Asahi Aoi chuckled coldly, ceasing all talk about such topics with Natsugiri Kai, and simply asked in a completely emotionless tone, "What are you doing here?"

“First, this place isn’t yours.” Xia Wuzhao held up one finger. “Second, the tables and chairs piled up near the stairwell of the club building were messed up by you. They need to be tidied up properly.”

Being a woman means receiving all sorts of preferential treatment at school.

Especially in physically demanding tasks, if a boy asks a girl to do such a thing alone...

It always makes people look down on him, and always makes people feel like the boy has done something wrong.

"If I said this to other girls, it might offend them. But the girl in front of me is Aoi Asahi, and she's not an ordinary girl."

Xia Wuzhao looked at the girl with long hair tied up in front of him and said, "What is your answer?"

"Is that even a question? Xia Wuzhao, you're so smug, can't you guess what I'm thinking?"

Asahi sneered with sharp tongue.

Xia Wuzhao simply smiled and said, "Since you say that, don't you understand what I'm thinking?"

He answered Aoi's question with the same question.

Aoi said nothing more, but stood up, dappled sunlight falling from her cheeks onto her bare thighs.

Fortunately, the club building is not far from the playground; in fact, it's practically right next to it.

Xia Wuzhao followed beside her, and the April breeze blew past them, carrying the scent of late-blooming cherry blossoms.

This seems too intimate; someone unaware of the situation might mistake them for a couple.

The people on the playground who witnessed this scene began to whisper among themselves.

The boys were a little better off because they were in the classroom and had all heard the previous conversation.

—Asahi's family situation, and Asahi's unspeakable mother.

Even if Aoi Asahi really was a beautiful girl as Natsugiri Kai said, all the boys still chose to keep their distance.

Moreover, we don't even know if Asahi Aoi is a beautiful girl yet.

Compared to the calm boys, the girls were a little jealous.

"I really don't know what Xia Wuzhao could possibly have fallen for that gloomy girl."

The girls complained.

“It’s probably because the sunflower is so pitiful,” said a girl named Risa Yajima.

"Risa, you're still too soft-hearted."

The other girls laughed and teased each other, as if they were all good friends.

Risa simply waved her hand dismissively: "Because I'm not interested in sunflowers at all, it's just that your discussions about sunflowers have completely ruined the original topic."

The other students all said, "I understand, I understand."

The girls laughed and chimed in, then started discussing the nearby dessert shops, or other makeup and jewelry items.

The atmosphere seemed no different from before.

Natsugiri Kai and Asahi Aoi walked up the stairs, the handrail painted a deep blue like the sky.

However, much of the paint had peeled off, revealing a dull rust red.

"Guess what they were talking about just now?"

It was like a pointless attempt to strike up a conversation, leaving Asahi Aoi's heart completely unmoved.

The sunflowers that came to this deserted place were completely different from the sunflowers in the classroom.

She said sarcastically, "Xia Wuzhao, your flirting skills are shockingly bad."

A biting cold wind seemed to scatter the fragrance of the late-blooming cherry blossoms, making the surrounding atmosphere somber and cold.

It's as if every word you utter turns into cold wind and icy nails.

“I bet you were in the conversations those girls were having.” Xia Wuzhao didn’t seem to care much about Asahi Aoi’s sarcasm: “And it wasn’t anything nice about you.”

"What are you trying to say? What do you want me to do?" Asahi Aoi said in a cold tone, "Do you think you can control me and make me do what you want? Natsugiri Kai, you're a bit arrogant."

"Arrogance to the point of being ridiculous."

As she uttered those words, a look of satisfaction spread across her face.

It was as if he had been holding it in for a long time and finally let it out.

The girl finally looked at Xia Wuzhao, hoping to see a different expression on her face.

Unfortunately, Xia Wuzhao's face remained expressionless.

Even after retaliating, is he still so indifferent?

"It's as if they're looking down on me."

She lowered her head and bit her lip, feeling angry.

Yet, deep within that barely perceptible heart, there was a faint sense of relief that even the young girl failed to notice.

Or it could be described as the girl's deliberate acquiescence.

She ignored Xia Wuzhao and focused on moving the tables and chairs.

Before long, his hands, legs, and even the white sports short-sleeved shirt in front of him were all covered with a thick layer of gray dust.

Over time, this dust can accumulate and stick together like felt.

The girl seemed to be crawling through an abandoned, dilapidated tunnel.

It wasn't until after gym class that Asahi finally restored the cage made up of discarded tables and chairs with exposed edges to its original state.

Xia Wuzhao did not offer any help during this time, but simply watched silently.

After Asahi finished her work, she said, as if explaining, "I actually had a reason."

"Oh," Aoi replied calmly.

She didn't care about such things.

"I heard there's a pub that's doing really well lately, so I'm thinking of going there to see if I can find a job. I need to maintain good physical condition in case I fail at the job."

Xia Wuzhao's words, spoken casually, struck Asahi Aoi like thunder, hitting her very soul.

It made her body tremble.

Chapter 6: Poverty Permeates This Place

"Why would he say that? Why would he deliberately bring it up in front of me?"

"Was it intentional?"

It felt as if a thousand steel knives had scraped across the girl's heart, leaving it riddled with holes.

An overwhelming sense of shame nearly overwhelmed her, making her vision go black.

"Oh? What do you want to do? What's the point of telling me?"

Aoi clenched her fists and gave a very indifferent reply.

She walked down to the dressing room covered in dust, as if she were tired of Xia Wuzhao.

Xia Wuzhao just smiled.

It meant nothing in particular, yet it seemed to contain a subtle, almost imperceptible, mockery.

"Lord Natsugiri, I understand your actions less and less," Xiao Ai muttered. "Aren't we supposed to win over Asahi Aoi? Aren't we supposed to fill the void in her heart?"

"But now your image in Aoi's heart must be getting worse and worse. I'm afraid you can't even be considered a friend anymore."

She sighed.

Xia Wuzhao said, "Do you think that ordinary help can solve the problem of Asahi Aoi? Actually, it's not that simple. It's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish."

"If it's just about helping, how long can I help Aoi Asahi?"

"Won't Asahi Aoi suffer psychological trauma again after I leave her, and won't monsters appear again?"

“If I’m going to do it, I’ll solve all her problems at once.”

Xiao Ai remained silent for a while, then finally asked with admiration, "What do you want to do?"

“Let Aoi deal with her own psychological trauma so that there will be no worries about the future,” Natsumi Kai said casually.

"This is not a simple matter, Lord Natsugiri. If you do this, it may prolong the time required to extract the demon seed. Do you still want to do it?"

Xiao Ai was a little worried.

"What is there to hesitate about?"

Xia Wuzhao answered Xiao Ai's question in an indifferent tone.

-----------------

Since leaving the school, Xia Wuzhao has never seen Asahi Kui again.

I didn't see them in the classroom or on the way home from school.

Like a ghost, it vanished without a trace.

The girls were used to it: "Even in the classroom, no one can see Sunflower."

The girls laughed.

So Natsugiri Kai found Sato, not to inquire about Asahi Aoi's whereabouts.

"Do you know where that izakaya is?"

"An izakaya?" Sato repeated in confusion, then seemed to remember something and exclaimed in sudden realization, "The izakaya where Aoi Asahi's mother works?"

"Yes."

“Natsugiri, you didn’t actually get entangled with Asahi Aoi, did you?” Sato frowned. “Her family situation is terrible; it will drag your life down with it.”

"It's alright."

Xia Wuzhao answered casually.

Sato sighed helplessly, "Fine, I'll draw you a map."