Volume Three: The Academy Runs Amok - Unstable

A Girl's Memories, Part Five

Xiao Wu never expected that, before anyone else, her dangerous daily life, which she thought would continue in this way, would be suddenly disrupted.

Why... why... why!

Xiao Wu dashed through the streets, running desperately toward the small apartment she called home, the one she shared with Auntie Lucy.

She was clutching a piece of paper tightly in her hand.

Urahara Sakura Dance Mai personally declares:

So, by the time you see this comment, you've probably already beaten my adorable little brothers to a pulp.

Hahaha.

This is a gift for your sixteenth birthday.

You don't need to worry about who I am. You have so many enemies anyway, it doesn't matter who I am.

The person you live with seems to be a scholar who is somewhat well-known.

I find it strange that no one has thought of this idea before.

Are they all a bunch of useless people? They don't dare touch her just because she's a scholar.

Signature: Someone

The note ended there.

All that remains is deep-seated malice.

Why, why was I so stupid?!

Why didn't anyone consider the possibility that Auntie Lucy might be being targeted? Auntie Lucy has No Supernatural Ability and even lacks basic combat skills. If she were targeted by villains, the consequences...

"Lucy!"

Xiao Wu burst through the door and rushed in, looking around at the familiar living room—no one was there.

If no one's in the living room... the bathroom?

It's empty too.

There is no bedroom, no storage room, and no kitchen.

Was it all just a false alarm?

Xiao Wu just about to breathe a sigh of relief--

"...Ugh..."

Soft moans came from outside.

--balcony!

Xiao Wu practically smashed open the balcony door, and by the dim light of the setting sun, she could see the scene on the balcony.

The flowers and plants that Auntie cherished were covered with tiny red droplets.

It's blood.

The owner of the blood was lying in Blood Pool.

"Saki... Mai..."

There were multiple bloody holes in her chest and abdomen, from which blood gushed out. Her beautiful face was stained crimson, and her trembling lips were still calling out the names of her family.

"Lucy... Lucy!!!"

Everything happened so fast after that.

All she remembered was desperately trying to stop Lucy's injuries, frantically carrying her to the nearest hospital, grabbing the doctors and nurses by the collar and yelling that she had to heal Lucy. She couldn't recall the specific details.

Then Lucy was rushed into the emergency room.

The waiting process is painful and lengthy.

Despite the anxiety it caused, Xiao Wu was willing to wait forever.

Having practiced Xiao Wu since childhood, Saki is intimately familiar with the human body's lethal points.

She knew from the beginning what would happen to Auntie Lucy.

But there is no such thing as an eternal wait in this world.

Soon after, a somber-faced doctor led her inside, where she was met with the deathly silence of the emergency room, where the bodies of familiar people awaited her.

The trope of a dying person leaving a tearful last message to the living—a scene so overused in literature—did not actually happen.

He didn't even get to say his last words, let alone exchange one last look with her.

The sudden departure was so unexpected that it made one want to exclaim, "Is this the end?" Yet, reality is indeed so sudden and illogical.

Xiao Wu's memory of what happened next is hazy.

She attended the funeral in a daze, managed the inheritance in a daze, and endured the pointing fingers and whispers from her aunt's colleagues, such as, "If it weren't for this devil's daughter, Lucy wouldn't be..."

Xiao Wu's heart is now completely empty.

It was only then that she realized she knew absolutely nothing about Lucy.

How did she know her mother? Why did she volunteer to be her own guardian? What are her family relationships? What is she researching as a scholar? How old is she exactly? Why is she willing to live in this small, dilapidated apartment?

I know absolutely nothing about it.

No, actually, if she just asked, Lucy would definitely tell her.

The fault lies with me. Why did I never properly communicate with Lucy? We spent several years together, why didn't we create many happy memories together? Why did I only feel regret after losing her?

But no matter how much she regrets it, her only companion is gone, and Xiao Wu is all alone in this vast world.

"Ah, I see..."

Xiao Wu finally understood why she was so heartbroken, so regretful, and so devastated.

"Is it family love...?"

Perhaps, in the end, all I crave is the "family affection" I've never received.

No, I had already received it from Lucy, but I only realized it was family affection after I lost it.

After the sadness and regret, all that remains is loneliness and emptiness.

She needed to find something to do, so she went back to the person who had invited her to be Scavengers.

"I'll do your bidding for now, but you have to help me investigate the bastards who killed Auntie Lucy"—the deal was quickly struck.

The revenge was so easy it was unbelievable. They were found partying in a nightclub, and the fight was relatively minor.

However, Xiao Wu ultimately didn't kill the culprits; she just beat them half to death and handed them over to the Enforcement Team.

"But, Xiao Wu, I hope you will never kill again." "There's no going back. Once you've tried killing, there's no going back."

Lucy's words kept echoing in her ears, like both a warning and a curse.

Perhaps Lucy is right; I am probably truly too kind to be anything but.

More importantly--

Are "using violence for oneself" and "using violence for others" completely different?

I feel like I'm starting to understand the meaning of that sentence.

To avenge Lucy —this was the first time in his life he had used violence for someone else, even though that "someone else" was already dead.

The deceased are gone, and the enmity is over.

What should I do next?

Should we continue to numb ourselves with violence?

Or should I leave the Central United Academy forever and start a new life?

The choices are as numerous as a mountain.

A bullet that misfires can end up anywhere.

Since that's the case.

Why not try using your power for others, just like Lucy suggested?

So--

"Hey, old man, yes, it's me, Urahara Sakura Dance. I've thought it through, yes, that's right--"

So, Xiao Wu made her choice.

"I agree to be a 'Scavengers'."

"Breaking news! The largest underground brothel in the Central United Academy Bethlehem Aristocratic Academy! Its owner is none other than Bethlehem student and world-renowned idol— Siyana Greenty! She was found brutally mutilated, and there were numerous signs of a violent struggle in the surrounding buildings. Enforcement Team has intervened, and we will continue to follow up with further reports! Please stay tuned to the Broadcasting Club News Station—"

The old radio went silent after the news briefing finished playing. I turned it off and breathed a sigh of relief.

"The content of the broadcast is basically consistent with what I discovered."

"So, Xiao Wu and Kogetsu succeeded..."

Next to me was a projection of Givinia, suspended in mid-air, who was remotely monitoring the situation.

Anyway, it's good that the three of them are alright.

"Oh, right, just now Miss Haoyue and Miss Xiao Wu suddenly started fighting with the other side."

"Really... Eh!?"

Xiao Wu and Kogetsu? They got into a fight? They don't seem like the type to act so impulsively.

"Well... judging from the situation, it's less of a fight and more like... deepening understanding? Or flirting? Or testing each other's strengths?"

"It seems like deepening understanding is the most natural thing to do."

"To deepen understanding?"

"As for Haoyue, she's probably thinking things like, 'Oh no, what if Xiao Ye wants to have a threesome someday? I need to find him a girlfriend quickly,' and then she'll actually go and find me a hookup."

"That can't be right, that's impossible."

"Believe me, Haoyue is capable of anything, and for some reason, I have a feeling my premonition is true."

"This... Miss Haoyue is truly an oddball, beyond my expectations." Givinia was a little dumbfounded.

"That's just the kind of person she is... Hey? Where are those brats?"

"Maybe the tension made them tired, and they fell asleep."

"Really? Then I'll get some rest too. Anyway, Xiao's fine now, so I'll—"

--!!!

I suddenly shuddered.

"... Ah... Ye?"

Givinia's voice suddenly seemed very distant.

... Why?

What happened?

"Strange, how come—uh!!!"

I clutched my chest abruptly, collapsing to my knees, my body convulsing. Seeing this, Givinia immediately summoned her true form to approach me.

"Don't come any closer!!!"

I immediately stopped her, and at the same time, a strange feeling, both familiar and terrifying, gradually awakened within me.

I haven't experienced this feeling in a long time; to be precise, I've only experienced it once.

Something murky surged up from deep within my body—

Kill. "No..."

Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill.

"Stop..."

Kill

"Stop... stop!"

Berserk, brutal, cruel, ferocious, savage, violent rage, madness, fear, anger, misery, sorrow, pleasure, bloodlust, and sadism.

"Gurgle... Ooh... Ahh..."

Vision, vision turned completely red. An endless, malevolent aura scorched his brain. A violent, mad, and tyrannical power surged within him. Pain, pain, pain—like ants biting him relentlessly all over his body. His limbs wouldn't obey him, his eyes felt like they were about to burst. Incoherent sounds emanated from his crookedly open mouth. Runes, runes, tiny, densely packed runes like ants appeared in his blood-red vision, eroding reason, eroding flesh, eroding soul, eroding life, roaring and shouting, eager to release, eager to destroy, eager, eager, eager, eager—

"This is... the Rakshasa True Word? It really is...!"

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Power! Power! Power! Surging power! Raging power! Frenzied power! Brutal power! Brutality! Brutality! Brutality! Unleashed, unleashed! Kill...

"A Ye! Control yourself! At least—"

So noisy! So noisy! So noisy! Woman! Woman! A beautiful woman right in front of me! Light brown hair, pretty face, shapely body! It's her! It's her! It's definitely her! Ravage her! Torture her! Abuse her! Kill her! Dismember her! Eat her! Kill...

The furnishings in the room suddenly receded, and I began to advance, reaching out with hands that began to sprout crimson runes, grabbing at her beautiful, slender, white neck. Then, and then—

"--I'm sorry, A Ye!"

The moment she was caught, the girl vanished in a phantom image, and then—

Snap!!!

The last thing I felt was something hard stabbing into my neck. In that instant, the immense, malevolent energy within me suddenly collapsed, as if it had never existed in the first place.

Consciousness swiftly sank into the deep darkness...

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A new chapter is about to begin.