This Hateful World, Part 2

Kiana stood with her arms crossed, leaning against a streetlight by the bench.

It was nearing seven in the evening. In the dim surroundings, only the streetlight illuminated the area. Even in this dark, deserted environment, the girl's expression remained calm, as if she had already experienced countless things far darker, more sinister, and more terrifying than this.

Therefore, she could face the empty darkness with indifference, because she had long understood things far deeper, naturally allowing her to remain unmoved.

"Ah, that's great, Classmate Kiana, you really came," a girl with a face full of surprise scurried over from the darkness, holding something like a sachet in her hands. "This is a gift for you, Classmate Kiana." Asakura Miyuki panted slightly, her smile bright.

"This is a sachet called Three-Year Cherry Blossom, said to be recorded in the ancient Japanese text, Kono Hana Sakuya-hime's Miscellaneous Tales." The girl held the sachet with both hands, as if holding something precious, and recounted the origin of the sachet in her hand.

"If a maiden of marriageable age, at fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen years old, takes a cherry blossom from a tree to wear, then the gods will bless her." -- Kono Hana Sakuya-hime's Miscellaneous Tales

"When a maiden reaches her prime, if she makes a sachet from the petals of the same cherry blossom tree during the years of 14, 15, and 16, then Mount Fuji's god, Kono Hana Sakuya-hime, will bless her love."

"This is the 'Three-Year Cherry Blossom' that I made over three years, and I'm giving it to you now, Classmate Kiana." The girl handed the "Three-Year Cherry Blossom," which she treasured like a rare gem, to Kiana, her smile pure and harmless.

Kiana remained unmoved. She did not take the sachet.

"Did you give this to those missing girls too? But no one accepted you, so you killed them all." Kiana stated the unbelievable truth indifferently, looking at the girl before her, who appeared as harmless as a forest deer, her eyes complex.

Huh? What is Kiana talking about? How could I...

Such a confused thought only lingered in her mind for a moment before Asakura Miyuki suddenly understood.

She found the reason why she had started to break.

The thoughts her instincts subconsciously rejected began to turn like gears at this moment.

Ah, the moment I was rejected, my brain broke.

Why did everyone reject me?

Why did everyone reject me?

Why was I hurt like this? What did I do wrong!?

This is a joke, this is a joke, this is a joke.

Why, why, why.

Go to hell, go to hell, go to hell.

When her consciousness cleared, the girl's beautiful, fair neck had already been snapped by her own hands.

The girl's corpse lay like a fallen angel. Asakura Miyuki, realizing she had killed someone, flushed red.

In that instant, this girl, whose life had fallen into an abyss, completely broke.

Asakura Miyuki, recalling everything, her sclera stained with a bizarre color, her lips curled into an exaggerated arc, her smile terrifying.

She looked at Kiana.

Ah, are you going to reject me too? I won't allow it.

She lunged forward, just as she had done to the girls she had previously "loved."

Her fingernails grew long and sharp, while the eerie whites of her eyes and the purple veins surfacing on her cheeks made Kiana understand that this girl, her mind twisted by Honkai Energy, was already transforming into a Zombie.

The process of transforming into a Zombie was as if her soul were being dragged into an endless abyss.

It's hopeless. She sighed, yet her tone was as cold as if she were watching something so commonplace, so numbingly familiar.

"Click." That was the sound of the safety being released.

"Bang." That was the gunshot, just like yesterday.

Kiana had not lied to Satou Yunona; she had indeed gone to pick up the "package" first.

And so the girl fell to the ground, blood gushing out like a tide, tragically beautiful and blinding.

So weak. Even though she was almost a Mortal, she still couldn't withstand a single shot.

Such a weak, such a originally gentle, kind girl was out of place in this world.

"Kiana... I'm sorry..." On the verge of death, the soul named Asakura Miyuki was temporarily freed from the distortions of the Honkai. The cowardly, kind, and beautiful ordinary girl returned to this broken shell.

"And, thank you." She placed the Three-Year Cherry Blossom into Kiana's hand, her smile pure and relieved, and then closed her eyes forever.

What is she relieved about? She suffered such treatment, she was still looked upon with malicious eyes during her life, and even at the end, those bastards who caused her downfall still didn't let her go.

She was relieved by her death, relieved by her release.

Kiana understood. Even until the very end, this girl was still so weak it made one want to laugh, and so gentle it made one sad.

No matter how many similar tragedies I witness, I still can't get used to it.

The girl gently stroked her forehead and said, "You don't need to thank me."

"And, goodnight, Asakura Miyuki."

This world threatened by the Honkai was detestable, but for Asakura Miyuki, was it this world or those hideous, ghost-like humans that led her to this fate?

Asakura Miyuki should have had a simple and happy ordinary life, but she died here, suffering torment even in the time before her death.

Why would such a tragedy happen to a fifteen-year-old girl?

Kiana didn't understand. But she would not stop fighting against the Honkai.

From a long time ago, her reason for fighting the Honkai was no longer simply about learning or following in her father's footsteps.

Years of wandering had shown her the hells on earth. The war between humanity and the Honkai was happening constantly. Because of the Honkai Infection, parents lost their children, children lost their parents, and wives lost their husbands.

This world was so unreasonably hateful, with tragedies so numerous she could no longer count them.

But even though she hated tragedy, she could never get used to it, so she had to change it.

One day, Kiana made up her mind early.

She wanted to change this world into the one she longed for.

***

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Small party poppers burst open the moment Kiana entered, the ground covered in colorful streamers.

"Happy birthday, Kiana." She saw the young man holding a party popper, his face full of smiles.

"Kiana! Happy birthday! You took too long to get back!" Satou Yunona waved her own party popper, saying with a giggle.

"...You guys... how did you know today was my birthday?" The girl was momentarily speechless, asking in a somewhat dry tone.

"Ha, the Shopkeeper told me a few days ago that today was your birthday."

"Alright, let's not worry about that for now. Put this on!" Su Qing'an took a crown from a box on the table and placed it on the girl's head.

It was an exquisite crown, a silver band inlaid with arranged obsidian and diamonds.

"Today, Kiana is the birthday girl, so you have to wear this. But you came back so late, you must be hungry. Sato and I made a lot of food, so sit down first."

The coffee shop was decorated festively, with strings of lights displaying corresponding colors. A silly banner in German read:

"Happy Birthday, Kiana Kaslana.

Two idiots. I stopped celebrating birthdays long ago.

Kiana thought stubbornly, but in a daze, she recalled that winter surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

"Today is your birthday, isn't it? I've never properly celebrated it for you. I'm such an incompetent father. Let's go buy a big cake and celebrate! Come on..." the man said, "Kiana... my most proud daughter, Kiana Kaslana."

For some reason, this scene overlapped with the young man's serious expression as he placed the crown on her head.

At this moment, Kiana simply couldn't choose to be ungracious and proud.

She nodded heavily, her smile blooming as she said, "Yeah, thank you both."

Kiana grabbed Su Qing'an's hand and quickly walked to the table filled with dishes. "Wow, Su Qing'an, you guys made so much food! But this young lady can definitely eat it all."

"The Shopkeeper made you a cake himself!"

Amidst this warm, everyday conversation, Kiana Kaslana and Su Qing'an simultaneously made the same resolution.

They had to protect this kind of daily life in this world of Honkai.

At the same time, they had to protect their important friends.