The tree, three or four stories high, trembled, and a few leaves fell for no apparent reason.
For some reason, Li Wu felt the sunlight had dimmed a bit.
The midday sun, which should have been warm, was chillingly cold, as if winter had arrived, the faint light wrapping the skin in a frosty chill.
[Kiana Kaslana is incredibly disappointed in you...]
He looked up at the figure before him, always proud and aloof, yet cold. The silent wind blew her single ponytail, swaying like willow catkins.
Kiana covered her injured small face, her eyes filled with disbelief. She pursed her lips; a smear of crimson hung at the corner of her mouth—bright and glaring...
Their eyes met, both seeing the surprise in each other's gaze.
But soon, Li Wu saw another emotion in Kiana's eyes, an emotion he couldn't understand but the system repeatedly mentioned—
Disappointment.
Kiana raised her hand and nonchalantly wiped away the bloodstain at the corner of her mouth. Then, covering half her cheek, she slowly walked toward him. With every step she took, Li Wu's heart beat faster.
Ever since dying over a thousand times to wipe out the Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps, his heart had never beaten so fast. It was as if someone were beating a drum inside his chest, every thump clearly audible.
Is she coming over to slap me back?
Should I... hit back?
Just when Li Wu thought Kiana was walking over to give him another slap, something unexpected happened.
Kiana ignored Li Wu, walking right past him to the commoner boy and the unconscious muscular boy. Her words were still cold: "Take him to the infirmary. After he wakes up, all four of you must not be missing. Wait for me at the back mountain of the school after class. If you make a mistake, you must receive the punishment you deserve."
The commoner boy nodded repeatedly, saying "Okay" non-stop. Then he looked up and asked cautiously, "Study Representative, the blood on the corner of your mouth hasn't been wiped clean..."
"Leave here."
"Okay!"
The commoner boy looked at the muscular boy lying on the ground, hesitated for two seconds, and then struggled to carry him on his back, leaving hurriedly with the other two nobles.
On the entire rooftop, only Raiden Mei, Li Wu, and Kiana Kaslana remained.
The chaotic sound of the wind seemed to become the only noise in this world.
Li Wu was stunned. He didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Kiana simply didn't understand what he had been through.
Comic plot, Return by Death. He had clearly cleared the level using the most efficient method; why should he be blamed? Why should he be slapped?
He could have abandoned Raiden Mei, but to give everyone a good ending, he chose to face all the crises himself. Why should he be treated like this?!
She doesn't understand me at all!
There was still a surge of anger in Li Wu's heart. But seeing Kiana's red, swollen eyes, the unwiped bloodstain at the corner of her mouth, and the faint moisture deep in her eyes, his previously numb emotions suddenly seemed to have something injected into them, becoming active again.
Only, what was injected was not water, but magma, burning him constantly from within.
"I..." Li Wu reached out his hand, wanting to say something.
Kiana completely ignored him, turning and leaving through the only exit.
As they brushed past each other, she didn't even look up at him.
Kiana's retreating figure grew farther and farther away, and increasingly blurry. In the not-so-bright sunlight, she grew dimmer. Her snow-white hair blended into the gloom of the stairwell, no longer visible.
It was as if.
As if she would never appear again.
For some reason, Li Wu suddenly had this thought.
He stood rooted to the spot. The thick clouds dispersed, and the sunlight was bright and glaring, making him unable to fully open his eyes.
The wind blew through the treetops, rustling.
It sounded incredibly like the prelude to the music Kiana had recommended to him that morning. Only, this time, there was no continuation.
When Li Wu snapped out of it, he realized it was just the sound of branches and leaves rubbing against each other, not a song. The rhythm was vastly different; they couldn't even be called similar.
"Li Wu, don't worry. Kiana won't use her family's power. Although my relationship with her isn't good, I understand better than anyone that she wouldn't act out of personal feelings in such matters. I should say... she has almost no selfish motives. In my memory, she has never done anything beyond her status, not even once." Raiden Mei walked up to Li Wu and took his hand.
Li Wu didn't resist. He just stood there quietly, staring blankly at the rooftop exit.
The nearby trees were lush and green, yet there were still a few withered leaves, completely out of place with their surroundings, ready to fall to the ground at any moment.
"Let's go back to the classroom first. We can't get hot food now, so I'll go buy you the most delicious bread from the convenience store, and the banana milk you always get. It shouldn't be sold out at this hour." Raiden Mei checked the time on her phone and spoke to Li Wu with concern.
Seeing Li Wu remain silent, Raiden Mei took the initiative to pull him downstairs.
They quickly navigated through the noisy and gossip-filled floors, arriving at the brightly lit playground.
Chiba Academy wasn't Shenzhou; there was no strict prohibition against "puppy love." Even if couples showed obvious affectionate behavior, most teachers would turn a blind eye, and some might even joke about it.
Especially at noon, under the huge banyan tree on the playground, one could always see young couples sitting together, sharing the bento in each other's lunchboxes.
You feed me, I feed you; some even engaged in zero-distance exchanges.
Halfway there, Li Wu suddenly stopped.
His gaze uncontrollably shifted to a pair sharing wired earphones to listen to music. The two sat on a bench. The boy was very ordinary, his hair a bit greasy and unstyled. The girl was the same, without exquisite makeup on her face.
They each had one earphone, the phone placed between them. Together, they watched the boys sweating on the basketball court ahead, chatting one after another about seemingly meaningless topics.
From the content of their conversation, Li Wu understood that they weren't a couple, just very good friends, and neighbors who helped each other out with many things.
Even though they looked more intimate than a couple, they ultimately didn't view each other as the opposite sex, and even openly talked about the people they liked at school.
The boy said he really liked a short girl with glasses in the next class. That kid would lower her head every time she saw someone, as if afraid to make eye contact, so she hid her gaze. She was extremely cute.
The girl said she met the captain of the baseball club after school. His robust body and the serious expression on his face while sweating profusely playing ball were very charming, but her confession was politely rejected.
The boy joked that the captain had no taste and couldn't appreciate her. "I'll go find you an even better one!"
Their expressions were very natural; there was absolutely no sign of any other emotion.
Li Wu stuffed his hand into his pocket, spacing out after feeling that familiar texture.
He didn't understand.
How can they openly talk about these things with the opposite sex? Worrying when the other worries, being happy when the other is happy...