Miwa's Past

Since silver was scarce and Chrome did not have much either, he had no choice but to search for it himself, bit by bit, and have old Kaseki make it for him.

Meanwhile, to win over Miwa, who was someone he could currently recruit, Senku had already made a rough dagger and handed it to old Kaseki to finish shaping.

Miwa drew the plans beside him. Although her memories were hazy, old Kaseki corrected the design little by little.

At last, the iron dagger made by Kaseki and Miwa was complete.

Holding the dagger, Miwa began to cry.

Miwa remembered the time she had spent with her father as a child.

In the open space of a small courtyard, a young girl repeatedly swung the dagger in her hand.

Again and again, until she finally lost patience and hurled it at a large tree ten meters away, striking the red bull's-eye of a target dead on.

"Seriously, it's the same boring exercise every day. I'm bored to death," little Miwa said angrily.

"Oh, is my little Miwa angry again?" A man walked over and stroked her head.

"Seriously, I just don't get it. I want to be a doctor. I don't want to learn these boring exercises. Doctors don't need them." Miwa angrily brushed his large hand off her head and turned away.

"Huh? Haha, Miwa, I know you don't like this, but you need to learn how to defend yourself. What if someday you run into..." The man laughed awkwardly, but Miwa interrupted him before he could explain.

"Hmph, I don't want to learn. Besides, I have Daddy. With Daddy protecting me, I'm perfectly safe." Miwa looked at him and smiled.

"Huh? Heh, all right. As long as Daddy's here, Miwa won't be in danger."

The man had not expected her to say that. He started to respond, then changed tack and spoke gently instead.

"Hehe, all right. Oh, Daddy, what's for dinner tonight?" Miwa laughed happily, hugged his arm, and asked.

"Hmm... sushi? We haven't had that in a while," the man said after some thought.

"Sushi? Oh, fine, sushi it is. Hehe, let's go! Time for sushi!" With that, Miwa skipped into the house.

That evening, the sound of the two bickering filled the house.

"Hey, Daddy, you're stealing my food again! That's mine."

"Hey, wait. Kids can't eat that."

"Hmph! I don't care. I want it."

"Then how about one bite?"

"Okay."

"Hey, why are you taking so many bites?"

"Hehe, bleh, bleh, bleh!"

Those warm days passed in a flash. She never imagined that one day, when she came home from school and opened the door, she would find the living room in complete disarray.

She was about to scold her father for doing nothing when she saw blood flowing out of the kitchen.

She slowly approached and found her father with blood staining his chest.

Terror left her at a loss. When she came to her senses, she went over to check his vital signs.

He still had a faint heartbeat. She was about to make a call when his large hands caught hers.

"Little... get out... they... haven't gone far..." he said haltingly.

She was about to speak when someone knocked on the door. "Hello, emergency services. We received a call. Please open the door."

In that instant, she understood that the killers had not left. She hurriedly bandaged her father's wound and dragged him upstairs. Then she took the dagger she kept by her bed and hid nervously behind the door.

The knocking stopped. A tremendous crash followed as the door was kicked open.

They searched downstairs, then the footsteps stopped. Through the periscope she used to play with, she saw them coming upstairs.

She nervously gripped her dagger.

Suddenly, the man behind her covered her mouth. "Shh... Kitano, take this dagger and leave. Run to the ends of the earth. Never come back, understand?"

His voice grew fainter toward the end. Then he wrapped her in a quilt and pillows and tied them around her. She tried to struggle, but he held her so firmly that she had no chance to fight back.

"Remember... stay quiet... understand? Daddy's going to play a game with you... once you find Daddy... you can... do whatever you want to me..."

In the end, she was found in a narrow gap behind the house, while the home she had shared with her father had been burned to the ground.

Afterward, she moved elsewhere. Because she was so young, she entered an orphanage. When she grew older, she drew on her previous experience and enrolled in a high school.

From then on, she rarely spoke.

She wanted revenge.

One day afterward, she saw one of the people she had spotted through the periscope that day. His face had been disfigured, but he had survived by sheer luck.

After that, she trained herself relentlessly, all for the sake of revenge.

But a flash of light shattered her hopes.

She thought that would be the end, but then she was revived. After speaking with Chen Yu, she learned that she could revive that man. She would torture him slowly...

"There's killing intent in your eyes."

A voice suddenly sounded beside her ear. Like a startled bird, she immediately leaped backward, putting distance between herself and the speaker.

The people beside her were stunned by her leap. That did not seem like a jump an ordinary-looking girl could make.

"Could you tell me what you're after? Why are you hiding who you are?" Chen Yu asked evenly.

When he returned and saw Miwa staring blankly at the dagger in her hand, he sensed that something was wrong. From her expression and the look in her eyes, he felt killing intent.

Miwa tightened her grip on the dagger and watched Chen Yu warily.

"Your stance looks unusual. It seems defensive, and your footing is solid. That's not how a high school student moves. You hid it well. You nearly fooled me," Chen Yu said, studying her stance.

Reiko stared blankly at the two of them, unable to understand what was happening.

Kohaku also readied herself, prepared to rush in and stop Miwa the moment she made another move.

"Don't be nervous. We're not enemies, are we?" Chen Yu said with a smile.

"It's none of your business," Miwa said coldly.

"You're my assistant. How is it none of my business?" Chen Yu asked, scratching his head.

Miwa said nothing, watching Chen Yu nervously.

As the atmosphere grew tense, Chen Yu exchanged a look with Senku.

Senku understood. He stepped aside, took out a small piece he had previously removed from the copper sheet, and struck it hard.

The sudden sound startled Miwa, distracting her for an instant.

Seizing the opening, Chen Yu immediately used martial arts footwork to close the distance. He swiftly knocked the dagger out of Miwa's hand, then twisted her arm and dislocated it before grabbing the other.

Miwa winced in pain. She was about to fight back when she realized he had restrained her so completely that she could not move.

"Go on, then. What's going on?" Chen Yu asked, sounding as though he was not curious in the least.

(Leaving you on a cliffhanger.)