In Izumo, Make Honkai Great Again

But why... did she feel a little disappointed? Was she jealous? Jealous that Kiana had other friends she didn't know?

"Mm-hmm." Kiana nodded decisively. "I don't want to break my promise, so how about next time? I'll stay over next time?"

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

She still didn't know where Kiana lived.

Thinking about it, Mei felt that she had cared far too little about Kiana. She really shouldn't have.

She didn't even care for Kiana as much as Kiana cared for her. What right did she have to feel such unwarranted possessiveness here?

Kiana quickly shook her head. "No need. My hand doesn't hurt anymore. Just get some proper rest at the Shrine. You don't need to worry about me."

"...All right." Mei lowered her eyes slightly and said listlessly, "Please be careful on your way home."

Mei's demeanor made Kiana a little worried. She didn't think much of it, assuming that Mei simply hadn't recovered from the matter concerning her father.

She immediately decided to ask for leave from the convenience store tomorrow and skip work. "I'll come see you again tomorrow."

Mei froze for a moment, then smiled reassuringly at Kiana. "All right. I'll wait for you at the Shrine."

"I'm heading back now. See you tomorrow, Mei."

Watching Kiana leave like a gust of wind, Mei pressed her lips together and did not say goodbye.

Sure enough, she couldn't help caring.

Kiana left the Shrine and followed the road back to where she was staying in this city.

Her place was not particularly far from the Shrine. It only took a little over half an hour to reach it on foot.

She passed through one bustling street after another.

The closer she got to home, the older and shabbier the surrounding buildings became. Her destination was the old district.

"Kiana!"

When she returned to the run-down Zhuohua Street, a tiny child beneath a streetlamp spotted her and jumped up excitedly.

"Over here! Over here!"

Zhuohua Street had nearly a hundred years of history. Located on the outskirts of the city, it was unquestionably part of the old district, and now Changkong City's slum. Most of the people living here were elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.

"So? Did those guys show up?" As Kiana walked over, she complained, "You have no idea what I turned down for you today! Damn it, if those guys didn't show up today, I'm definitely treating you to a few knuckle sandwiches."

The little boy looked terrified at Kiana's words. Clutching his head, he backed away. "But Kiana told me to keep watch for those bad guys!"

"So, did they come or not?"

The boy nodded repeatedly and said in a low voice, "I went to check by the river. The news Zaoxue heard was all true. Those guys were catching fish there today!"

"All of them?"

Kiana clenched her fists. Even though her shoulder still felt slightly uncomfortable, she had more than enough strength to deal with a few thugs.

"Mm-hmm! Xiaofeng and I counted them several times!" The child held up both hands, extending six fingers. "Six! We definitely didn't count wrong!"

"Very good!"

Kiana patted the child on the shoulder and praised him, "Xiaoji really is a smart kid. Wait here for my good news. I'm going to teach those bastards a lesson for daring to come to Zhuohua Street and collect protection money while I was gone."

"I'm coming too! I want to go too! I want to watch Kiana beat up the bad guys!"

Kiana immediately went back on her word. "Don't even think about it. Go home and eat dinner already. With those tiny arms and legs, you'd only get in my way."

"I knew Kiana wouldn't keep her promise!" Xiaoji suddenly put his hands on his hips, wearing an expression that said he had seen right through her.

"So why aren't you hurrying home for dinner? Your mom will be searching all over the streets for you soon."

"But Zaoxue and Xiaofeng are still by the river watching those bad guys. You let them watch but won't let me..."

"Zaoxue and Xiaofeng are still by the river?"

Kiana's expression changed.

"Mm-hmm. Don't worry, Kiana, we're not stupid. We hid really well. They won't find us!"

"We all want to watch Kiana beat up the bad guys! When I grow up, I want to be like Kiana too and beat up all the people who bully everyone until they're begging for mercy!" As Xiaoji spoke, he threw a few punches into the air.

"Tch." Kiana lightly knocked Xiaoji on the head in annoyance, then picked him up. "You little brats really know how to cause trouble."

The river Xiaoji mentioned was a large river not far from Zhuohua Street, four or five meters wide and full of fish and shrimp.

Many people from Zhuohua Street used to fish there to help support their families. But half a year ago, a group of thugs came to Zhuohua Street. Those lazy good-for-nothings simply seized the place, set up a dragnet to catch fish for sale, and violently drove away anyone who tried to fish upstream.

Relying on their numbers and youthful strength, those guys strutted around with knives. Eventually, they were no longer satisfied with merely occupying the riverbank and began coming to Zhuohua Street to collect protection money. Three months ago, Kiana had wiped them out in one go.

Kiana had arrived in this world without any identification and didn't even have a place to stay. It was Granny Zhuohua of Zhuohua Street who took pity on her and gave her a room, allowing her to finally have a foothold in this world.

She didn't dare claim she was such a wonderful person, but she could say that she was someone who repaid kindness and had principles.

She might not be able to help with everything, but when it came to matters within her capabilities, she would never begrudge using her strength.

Chapter 11: This Is My Turf

After Kiana drove off those thugs, Zhuohua Street remained peaceful for several months. But that peace lasted only two months before it was shattered again.

Kiana had been busy working to get herself an ID. It was Zaoxue, the barbecue stall owner's granddaughter, who had taken the initiative to tell her about it.

Ever since she had driven off that gang of bullies by herself a few months ago, the children of Zhuohua Street had regarded her as an omnipotent hero.

They had eaten without paying, collected protection money, and had nearly smashed her family's stall.

Kiana flew into a rage the moment she heard that. So these thugs came in waves after getting beaten up, and they could respawn too, huh?

She immediately decided to teach those audacious bastards a lesson. She even took a day off specifically to lie in wait on Zhuohua Street all day.

But somehow, the news leaked. Those guys simply never showed up the entire day, wasting one of her precious days off for nothing.

She waited another two days. Once she confirmed there was an informant tipping them off, she temporarily gave up on staking the place out and handed the important task of gathering intelligence to several little brats who spent all day with nothing to do and would not attract attention.

They arrived by the river together.

Sure enough, she spotted several laughing young men by the river, their hair dyed in several colors. Quite a few of them were as skinny as bamboo poles.

After setting Xiaoji down, the grass by the roadside rustled. Then the dry grass was pushed aside, revealing two eight- or nine-year-old children about Xiaoji's age, a boy and a girl.

"Big Sister Kiana! Xiaoji!"

Kiana deliberately put on a stern face. "Didn't I tell you to leave as soon as you spotted them from afar?"

The little ones looked at each other, then answered in unison, "We're not scared! Even if the bad guys catch us, Big Sister Kiana will definitely descend from Heaven like the superheroes in stories and beat them until they're utterly defeated!"

Kiana could not help rubbing her forehead.

She had no idea she was that amazing. Where had these little brats even heard such things?

Cartoons were all lies!

"I'm definitely telling your fathers and mothers about this." Kiana brought out her ultimate weapon.

"Huh?? But we're helping Big Sister Kiana!" The children, still innocent to the dangers of the world, cried out in disbelief.

"So I'll apologize to them too."

If she did not teach these kids a lesson, they might grow bolder and bolder later on. She had to properly punish them.

After stuffing the little ones into the bushes, she instructed them, "Hide well and don't make a sound until I've knocked them down."

"Mm-hmm!"

The moment they heard she was going to fight, the three children immediately forgot Kiana's threat to tell on them. Their eyes sparkled as they watched her.

Honestly...

Kiana's head was starting to hurt under their gazes.

Once this was over, she was absolutely, definitely going to complain to these little brats' families!

She could not take her anger out on children, so Kiana turned her resentment toward those people who had perfectly good hands and feet but refused to find proper jobs, instead loafing around all day and coming here to collect protection money.

It was all these guys' fault!

If these guys had not come to Zhuohua Street as thugs to cause trouble, she would not have had to painfully turn down Mei's invitation in order to get rid of this menace. She could have spent the night at the Shrine with Mei, cuddling up close without a care in the world.

"Hey! You lot!"

The few men who had bought several bottles of alcohol and were drinking by the river, already somewhat tipsy, turned at the sound. When they saw the hostile-looking Kiana, they sobered up by seventy percent immediately.

"B-B-Boss!" The underling with a tuft of red-dyed hair stammered, "It's the White Devil Kaneda told us about!!!"

"I'm not blind, damn it!"

The burly man with yellow-dyed hair stood up. Alcohol gave courage to the cowardly as he smashed an empty bottle against the ground. Reeking of booze, he glared fiercely at Kiana as she approached with clenched fists.

"I've put up with you for a long time!"

He pointed at Kiana and shouted.

"What a coincidence." Kiana took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I've put up with you slippery scumbags of society for a! Very! Long! Time!"

How much time had she wasted trying to catch these people collecting protection money on Zhuohua Street? And how much had she lost because of them?

Aaargh!

Her chance to sleep in the same bed as Mei!

What were they going to use to compensate her for that?!

"Enough talk! Let's fight!"

"You could've become a boss and claimed territory, but instead you stay in this dump protecting those old geezers, wasting your strength. I don't believe you're so amazing that you can beat all six of us!" The yellow-haired man charged with a punch, only for Kiana to effortlessly kick him flying.

They were just ordinary people.

The most ordinary kind.

Forget Yae Sakura and Raiden Mei—even the teenagers who had trained at the dojo for a few months could probably beat them.

"You rely on your strong bodies to bully the weak however you please. You're the ones who should reflect on yourselves!"

Not one of the yellow-haired man's five underlings had any loyalty. Seeing their boss kicked away by Kiana, they fled in every direction in sheer terror.

They had only gathered around the yellow-haired man because they had no food to eat, hoping to make some money by extorting protection fees. There was no need to take a savage beating for him.

"You have hands and feet, but you refuse to work for money. Instead, you come to a place like this specifically to bully old people and children! Do you know that the world keeps getting worse precisely because of awful bastards like you?!"

Kiana was not about to watch them escape. Unless she gave them a painful lesson and beat them until it hurt, these guys would never leave.

With pent-up frustration, she dragged the men back and effortlessly beat all six of them to their knees.

They were already weaklings to begin with, let alone after drinking.

Running to the riverside to drink in the middle of the night, Kiana felt these guys were not only bold, but had something wrong with their heads.

Had they not considered the possibility of slipping and drowning?

After beating them down with punch after punch, Kiana vented the anger in her heart, and her mood lightened considerably.

What woke scum like them up was not reason.

It was fists!

"Don't ever show up on Zhuohua Street again. This is my turf, got it?"

Kiana rubbed her faintly aching right shoulder. She had gotten too carried away fighting and forgotten that her right shoulder was still injured.

Afraid that failing to answer would earn them more blows, the groaning thugs hurriedly replied, "Got it, got it! We'll never show up on Zhuohua Street again!"

They did not want to come to Zhuohua Street either.

Sang Biao had taken their original turf, and they could not take anyone else's, so they could only come here.

They had thought that as long as they took a step back and collected protection money while the White Devil was away, avoiding her would keep them out of trouble. Never in their wildest dreams had they expected the White Devil to care so much about this street. Even after getting off work, she had tracked them down and given them another brutal beating.

Were those fists made of iron?!

It really hurt!

"Hmph. You'd better remember what you said. If I see you on Zhuohua Street again, don't blame me for making you cripples for the rest of your lives, begging on the streets!"

Kiana was afraid they were only yielding verbally, only to pull some trick in a couple of days and come back to cause trouble while she was gone, so she threatened them.

Perhaps because she had hit them too hard, not a single one of the men she had beaten down suspected that she was merely threatening them.

"Don't! I-I swear! We'll never show up on Zhuohua Street again!"