Bullying a Widow

"But... sob... you're covered in blood!"

Tanktop Girl froze for a moment, then looked at Baicang's hand, which kept dripping "blood," and started wiping away her tears again.

The two girls' noisy sobbing made Baicang wish he were dead. He reached out with his uninjured hand and smeared "blood" all over Tanktop Girl's face.

"Huh?"

The "blood" on her face didn't smell like blood, and it was incredibly sticky. Tanktop Girl finally caught on.

With her face smeared bright red, she looked at Baicang in delight. "This isn't blood! You're really okay!"

"I told you, this isn't my blood. It's the juice that came out of that monster."

Baicang spoke helplessly, then reached back and pulled Mizuki away as she clung to him, sobbing as though he were already dead.

"Stop crying. I'm still alive, but you're going to cry me to death."

Looking at Mizuki's face, half red and half white like a split hot pot, Baicang couldn't help wanting to laugh.

Tanktop Girl still stepped forward to examine his dangling left arm and the wounds on his body. After all, Baicang really did look rather frightening.

"Then what about your injuries?"

"It's fine. My arm's just dislocated, and the rest are only flesh wounds. Nothing serious."

As he spoke, Baicang even swung his injured left arm to prove it wasn't a big deal. Tanktop Girl hurried over in alarm, wanting to grab his arm, but she was afraid of making the injury worse. All she could do was give him a "fierce" glare.

"Are you really okay, senior?" Mizuki looked at Baicang anxiously, her big, tearful eyes seeming ready to spill over again at any moment.

Baicang really didn't want to explain anymore.

Just then, his savior appeared!

A voice rang out from the school gates. "I'm the rank 37 A-Class Hero, Snakebite Sneck! Everyone, please don't worry!"

A tall, thin man in a patterned suit came running over, shouting. Rather than use the main gate, he leaped straight over the wall, performed a difficult 720-degree backflip in midair, and landed firmly on his feet.

Baicang silently gave him an eight. His movements flowed quite nicely; he had clearly practiced hard.

After landing, Sneck eagerly showed off his strength as an A-Class Hero, launching into a vigorous snake-style boxing routine with a series of grunts and cries.

This time, Baicang gave him a six. The martial arts performance looked good, but those noises sounded a little sleazy, so he had to deduct points.

After finishing his routine, Sneck struck a pose and glanced back with a smile, revealing his gleaming white teeth.

Baicang immediately awarded him a perfect ten. The familiar movement reminded him of an old acquaintance who wore a red bandanna... he felt a little sick...

The cheers from the public that Sneck had imagined never came. When he turned around, all he saw was someone covered in "blood" and two girls sporting bizarre makeup. He was utterly bewildered. What was going on here?

"Perfect timing. I'll leave things here to you."

Though Sneck's confident backward glance and smile had certainly left Baicang "dazzled," he was far happier that someone had arrived to clean up the mess. He didn't want to stay and argue with the other heroes who would arrive later.

He left straightaway with Mizuki and Tanktop Girl, planning to treat his wounds at Sachiko's house. The unidentified red juice stuck to his body was making him itch.

Sneck was left alone, none the wiser.

A mysterious cloaked figure stood atop a nearby high-rise, observing everything that happened in the kindergarten.

"Reporting in. Experimental Subject S-102 Monster is dead, with no signs of regeneration... estimated strength barely reached Demon-level. It displayed an irrational, mentally unstable state, with actual combat capability below Demon-level."

"The experiment failed. Should I retrieve the subject?"

"No need. Come back for now."

"Understood."

The mysterious figure watched Baicang and the two girls leave, then looked at the Sunflower Monster's corpse on the ground. A glimmer of red flashed in the shadows beneath the cloak, and the surrounding space gradually distorted, swallowing the figure whole.

"Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"

Walking beside Baicang and looking at his battered body, Mizuki began to worry again.

"I really don't. They're all minor injuries. I just need to wash this disgusting stuff off."

With an uncomfortable expression, Baicang tugged at his clothes. The juice was growing sticky and clinging stubbornly to his clothes and skin, making him increasingly uncomfortable.

After leaving the kindergarten, Tanktop Girl had found a park and used water to wash the juice Baicang had smeared on her face away.

Mizuki had washed a little off too, but plenty still remained. Baicang had it worst: he was covered in it, and there was no way to rinse off what had gotten beneath his clothes.

If he went home looking like this, Runo would probably faint from fright. He could only go to Sachiko's house to clean up first.

As for his dislocated left arm...

Mizuki had popped it back into place along the way. Baicang was very curious where that silly girl had learned to do that.

Mizuki said she tended to overdo it when training alone and had dislocated her arm plenty of times practicing the javelin. She had gone to have it reset so often that she had learned how to do it herself. After explaining, she laughed proudly, only for Baicang to reward her with a bump on the head.

He warned her to make sure she rested during training and told her that if she didn't listen, he would forbid her from training with him. Frightened, Mizuki nodded repeatedly.

The three soon returned to Sachiko's house. From the street corner, they could already see Sachiko and Harano waiting for them at the door.

"Baicang!" "Mr. Baicang, Miss Mizuki... oh my goodness!"

Sachiko and Harano spotted Baicang and the girls and happily waved to them.

Sachiko quickly noticed Baicang's tattered clothes and the "blood" covering him. Her face paled, and she ran toward him.

Seeing her panic, Baicang hurried to explain. "Miss Sachiko, don't worry. This isn't our blood. I'm not hurt."

Mizuki also nodded repeatedly to indicate that the same went for her.

Hearing Baicang's words, Sachiko relaxed a little, but she still insisted on examining his injuries.

With marks all over his body and his clothes torn, it wasn't hard to imagine what a bitter battle he had endured. Her eyes reddened, and tears gathered at their corners.

Why does everyone cry when they see me? Can't they hope for something good for me for once?

"Miss Sachiko, could you let us use the bathroom to clean up first?"

Baicang felt helpless, but he couldn't let Sachiko burst into tears out on the street. Anyone who saw them might think he was bullying a widow.

"Yes, of course. Mr. Baicang, please come with me." Sachiko wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, then turned and led them back into the house.

"Harano, go pour some tea for our guest. Mr. Baicang, please come with me first."

As soon as they entered, Sachiko sent Harano to look after Tanktop Girl, while she took Baicang to the bathroom to clean up.

"No, let Mizuki go..."

"No! You have to go first this time, senior!" Before Baicang could finish, Mizuki pushed him forward. Unable to argue her out of it, he could only follow Sachiko to the bathroom.

Sachiko led the way, with Baicang following behind.

Sachiko's house wasn't large, so they should have reached the bathroom quickly. Yet she walked unusually slowly along this short stretch and said nothing.

Just as Baicang was wondering about it, Sachiko suddenly spoke with her back to him. "Lord Baicang, thank you."

"It's nothing. It was the right thing to do."

Baicang found it a little strange, but didn't think much of it.

"No. I know you helped me with the Yamato Group. Although the news didn't mention it, I heard the Yamato Group had a B-Class Hero backing them. You're only a C-Class Hero, but you were still willing to risk yourself for me."

Baicang felt increasingly puzzled.

"This time, when something suddenly happened to Harano, you were the only person I could think of. I didn't even consider that you were only a C-Class Hero before asking you to save him. And now you've been hurt so badly because of me. I truly..."

With tears streaming down her face, Sachiko turned and threw herself into Baicang's arms.