My Sister is Bronya

So, after changing into the girls' school uniform, Ishiu calmly pushed open the door and stepped out.

Since there was no mirror in the storage room, Ishiu had no idea what he looked like now, but seeing Kiana's stunned expression, he knew he must look pretty good.

"You—are you really Ishiu?"

Kiana stammered a little, staring at the 'beautiful girl' before her, feeling her heartbeat quicken by half a beat.

"No duh, who else would I be? Got a mirror?" Ishiu curled his lip.

"I do..." Kiana instinctively pulled a small mirror from her clothes and handed it to Ishiu.

Ishiu took the mirror and looked—well, how to put it? He knew his face wasn't bad, but he really hadn't expected to suit girls' clothes this much.

In the mirror, he wore the standard uniform, the hem reaching his knees. Luckily, he didn't have much leg hair, or that would've been awkward.

His hair was short, but since he was still young, his features hadn't fully matured. His originally delicate face, now dressed in the girls' uniform, showed no hint of incongruity. He didn't even need makeup—if he walked out like this, he was sure no one would guess his real gender.

"Not bad, no problem. Let's go." Ishiu nodded in satisfaction. As expected of himself—even in girls' clothes, he still radiated masculine spirit.

He tossed the mirror back to Kiana casually, but she just stood there, staring straight at him.

"Hey? What are you staring at me for?" Ishiu asked, puzzled.

"Ishiu... could you keep wearing girls' clothes from now on?" Kiana swallowed hard, speaking in the most serious and earnest tone she'd ever used in her life.

"Go to hell." Ishiu's mouth twitched. He'd only worn girls' clothes out of necessity—he had no such weird hobby. Once was enough, and this idiot actually wanted him to keep wearing them? No way!

"Don't be like that! You look amazing in girls' clothes! It'd be such a waste to switch back!"

"Are you coming or not? If not, I'm going alone." Ishiu couldn't be bothered to argue further. He turned and jumped out the window.

Seeing Ishiu's firm stance, Kiana just let out a long sigh, then... pulled out her phone and snapped a hundred consecutive shots of him.

After all, she might never see this cute 'girl' again—she had to save a memento.

Of course, she took them secretly. Even as dumb as she was, she knew if Ishiu caught her, she wouldn't be able to keep them.

The two returned to that shadowy spot from before. After patiently waiting a few minutes, the bell for the end of class finally rang.

"Let's go. You lead the way." Watching students already filing out of the teaching building with their bags, heading home or to club activities, Ishiu and Kiana took the chance to slip into the crowd and enter the building.

It was dismissal time, and the hallways were filled with JK girls, giving Ishiu the strange feeling of stepping into a kingdom of women.

So this is a girls' school? Love it, love it.

But Kiana wasn't all that reliable. The Honkai Energy she sensed only gave her a vague idea of the location, not a precise fix. This sent them searching from the first floor to the fifth without finding the exact source.

"Kiana, can you do this or not?" After their third full sweep of the building, Ishiu had lost all patience and couldn't help complaining.

"Hold on—Girls can't say 'can't do it.' I think there are too many people right now, messing with my sensing. Once it clears up, it should work." Kiana sounded a bit unsure. This was her first time searching for a Honkai Source in a school, and she had no experience. If she messed up, Ishiu would mock her for sure.

"Fine, I'll just see how long this takes you." Bored, Ishiu plopped down on the railing at the edge of the fifth floor, casually gazing down at the playground.

Whoa... so many girls, so many gym shorts...

But he forgot he was wearing a skirt now. In that sitting position, from where Kiana stood, all she had to do was look up to see under his skirt.

"Ishiu!"

And so, our white-haired dumpling instantly blushed bright red. She rushed over, pressing down on his windblown skirt, and gritted out, "You... why are you wearing boxer shorts!"

"No duh, what else would a guy wear?" Ishiu said irritably. What was wrong with her? Was he supposed to wear lacy panties instead? That would be an eyesore.

"But don't you know—wearing boxer shorts under a skirt is a desecration of the skirt itself!" Kiana cried indignantly. "Do you have any idea how crushing it is when people have infinite expectations for what's under a skirt, only to see plain old boxer shorts?"

"?" Ishiu looked at Kiana like she was an alien. "Kiana, you've got issues. How can a girl say something like that without any self-awareness? And aren't you wearing safety shorts under your skirt too?"

Chapter 52: Sudden Turn of Events

"You! You saw that?!" Kiana's face reddened, and she quickly stepped back, pressing down her skirt.

Ishiu waved a hand, utterly disinterested. "Saw it ages ago. Don't worry, I'm not interested in your safety shorts."

"Damn it..." Kiana ground her teeth in frustration, but since Ishiu looked so cute right now, she couldn't bring herself to hit him.

"You... huh?!" Kiana opened her mouth to say more, but then her expression shifted. "Crap! The Honkai Energy reaction is spiking fast! I found it!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Move!" Ishiu jumped down from the railing.

Kiana didn't waste a word and bolted downstairs.

Both were fast—in under ten seconds, they reached the restroom on the east side of the third floor.

"It's here," Kiana said.

"Oh, this..." Looking at the prominent skirt symbol on the restroom door, Ishiu fell silent.

The women's restroom... if he went in, wouldn't that make him a pervert?

But there was no time for Ishiu to think it through. The next second, terrified screams from several girls echoed from inside.

"Crap! Something's wrong!" Kiana, without Ishiu's hesitation, shoved the door open and charged in.

Seeing that, Ishiu had no choice but to steel himself and follow.

This was his first time entering a women's restroom in both his lives.

Inside, there were four girls. Two had already gone weak-kneed and collapsed to the floor. One was being lifted by the neck by another girl. The one doing the grabbing was a short-haired girl, filthy all over, with obvious footprints on her clothes and a torn area at her chest, exposing large patches of pale skin.

But what drew even more attention were her eyes, gradually turning bloodshot, and the red, line-like patterns emerging on her cheeks and arms.

"Stop!" Kiana, righteous indignation flaring, charged straight at the girl.

The girl saw Kiana rushing toward her. Panic flickered across her face at first, but it vanished in an instant, replaced by a more pronounced madness.

"Don't come any closer! Take one more step and I'll choke her to death!"

She shouted the standard villain lines, red light flickering in her eyes, shoving the girl she was holding in front of her like a shield.

Kiana fell for it. She hurriedly halted her forward charge, nearly slipping and face-planting from the sudden stop, but Ishiu grabbed her arm just in time.

"She's infected with Honkai Energy," Kiana said quietly to Ishiu, looking at the short-haired girl. "Looks like the Honkai reaction is coming from her."

Ishiu frowned. He knew that some girls infected by Honkai would turn into mindless, killing Zombies, but he'd never seen it firsthand. And this girl didn't seem to have lost her reason entirely.

Ishiu voiced his confusion to Kiana, and she gave him an explanation.

"She hasn't been fully infected by Honkai Energy yet, so she's still holding onto some awareness. But it won't last. After a while longer, she'll completely turn into a Zombie."

Kiana pursed her lips. She reached under her skirt, and when her hand came back out, a gun was in it.

She aimed the muzzle at the short-haired girl, her voice ringing out, "Let her go! Or I'll blow your head off!"

Ishiu nearly dropped to his knees in front of Kiana.

What the hell? Are you Russian? When facing a hostage-taker, do you shoot the hostage first so the criminal surrenders?

The short-haired girl heard Kiana's words, and her agitation spiked. She squeezed the neck of the girl in her grip, her anguished, furious voice echoing through the bathroom.

"Why are you stopping me?! I just want revenge! Do you know what they did to me?! Why weren't you there when they were bullying me?!"

Ishiu pressed his lips together. Even without the short-haired girl's explanation, he could read the scene.

No doubt about it—this was a textbook case of school bullying.

It happened at every school. Nothing special. Some was cold violence; some, like this, was outright harassment.

In his past life, Ishiu had encountered this too. It happened to a classmate of his, and the scene had left a deep impression.

He would never forget the moment that person suddenly broke down crying in class and then jumped from the third floor.

She didn't die in the end, and those who bullied her were punished. But the damage done to her could never be undone.

Kiana stayed silent too. She didn't know the full story, but seeing the girl's face twisted in agony, the Honkai corrosion patterns spreading more visibly across her body, she knew they couldn't drag this out any longer.

"Ishiu, take these two girls out first. I'll handle the rest."

"...No. You take them out," Ishiu said in a low voice.

"Ishiu?" Kiana frowned, confused, looking at him. But Ishiu wasn't looking at her. His gaze was fixed on the short-haired girl.

"Hey... what's your name?" Ishiu took a few steps forward, his eyes calm as he looked at the short-haired girl.

He could easily save the girl whose neck was being squeezed. He could instantly take down the Honkai-infected girl. But he chose not to.

She had already suffered so much. Why should the world be so cruel to her?

"Who... are you?" The short-haired girl stared at Ishiu warily. Her face, once fairly pure and cute, was now ruined by her twisted expression.

"My name is Ishiu. Don't worry, I'm not your enemy," Ishiu said calmly.

"Help... help me..." The girl being choked seemed to still have some awareness. She looked at Ishiu with difficulty, her voice faint and garbled, hoping he would save her.

But Ishiu didn't even glance at her. He kept looking at the short-haired girl with a calm, gentle gaze.

Maybe it was Ishiu's attitude that moved her, or maybe the girl just wanted someone to talk to. After a brief hesitation, she spoke her name.

"My name is... Asakura Miyuki." The short-haired girl licked her pale, dry lips. She didn't know why she had become like this, but she knew she was in pain—pain all over her body. And a voice deep inside told her that if she snapped the neck of the person in her grip, the pain would stop.

Looking at this girl who had bullied her for so long, she felt nothing but hatred. She wanted to choke her to death. But for some reason, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Asakura Miyuki's body trembled uncontrollably. Her expression shifted—sometimes ferocious, sometimes hesitant. A storm of emotions flickered across her face, and Ishiu began to understand.

Hope the picture lives for a day.jpg

Chapter 53: [Headpat]

"So, Asakura Miyuki, can you tell me why you want revenge?" Ishiu asked in a low voice. He had already guessed the cause, but he needed her to say it herself for the catharsis to work.

Ishiu wasn't trying to persuade Asakura Miyuki to be kind or preach some "return good for evil" nonsense. Not everyone was a saint. If you hadn't experienced someone else's pain, what right did you have to tell them to be good?

People who urged others to repay evil with kindness—stay far away from them. People like that deserved to be struck by lightning.

All Ishiu could do now was be a listener. He couldn't position himself as a savior. He had come too late for that.

When someone trapped in despair starts to go mad, what they need isn't salvation anymore. It's someone who understands them. Someone on their side.

"I... because they're all bad people!" Asakura Miyuki bit her lip hard, as if trying to vent all her pain. Crimson blood trickled from the bitten wound.

"I never did anything wrong. Every day I listened to my mom, listened to my teachers. My grades weren't great, but I always tried my best. I never lost my temper with anyone, because I wanted to be friends with them. I even gave them homemade cookies... but why? Why did they still bully me?"

Her voice rose from sharp to fierce, then from fierce to furious, until all that remained was a hoarse, despairing rasp.

"I've already forgotten how I offended them. Maybe it was something trivial. After that, they started bullying me for fun, calling it 'just a joke.' At first, I wanted to tell the teacher, but I never did. I was afraid they really were just joking, and if I told, we wouldn't be friends anymore...

But I was wrong. Maybe my cowardice made it a habit for them. Gradually, I noticed even the other students started looking at me differently. By the time I realized it, there wasn't a single person left I could talk to..."

Ishiu pressed his lips tightly together, saying nothing. He didn't know what words could comfort a heart so fragile it was on the verge of shattering at any moment.

He could only listen quietly, doing his job as a listener.

Kiana, at some point, had walked up beside him. Her expression was equally complex and heavy. The gun in her hand hung limply at her thigh. She realized she could no longer raise it to aim at this pitiful girl.

Without a doubt, Kiana was also a kind girl. For her, fighting the Honkai and saving people were things she did often in recent years.

But when the two conflicted—when the person she wanted to save was tainted by the Honkai—what was she supposed to do?

Kiana didn't know. So she could only watch.

Asakura Miyuki seemed like she hadn't talked this much with anyone in a long time. Or perhaps these words had been buried in her heart for so long, with no one to confide in.

"...You know? I used to have really beautiful long hair. I took great care washing it every day, went to the salon every month. But in the end, I cut it off with my own hands. Because when they pulled my hair, it hurt... it really hurt..."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Ishiu looked at her and said softly. "You... want to kill her?"

Hearing Ishiu's words, Asakura Miyuki trembled violently, as if some switch had been triggered. Her expression, which had calmed slightly, instantly twisted again.

"Kill... kill..."

Her bloodless, pale hands tightened around the girl's neck. The red light in her eyes grew fiercer. A dense wave of malice surged forth, making Kiana instinctively raise the gun she had just lowered.

"What are you doing?" Kiana frowned, confused as she looked at Ishiu blocking her gun's muzzle. "I know she's pitiful. If I could avoid it, I wouldn't want to act either. But she's already been corrupted by the Honkai. In a little while, even her consciousness will be devoured. I can't just stand by and watch her kill someone!"

"Don't rush. Wait a little longer." Ishiu's voice remained calm. A realization dawned on him—in fact, he was already certain that Asakura Miyuki wouldn't actually kill that girl.

If she really meant to do it, she would have acted long ago. She wouldn't have hesitated this much.

This girl—even corrupted by the Honkai—was still a kind person at heart.

But unfortunately, in this world, kind people never seem to get their due.