The rain grew heavier, veiling the streets outside the residential building in a misty blur.
Kiana clutched the wound on her arm, running aimlessly down the wet, cold long street.
Her stamina was draining fast; the hunger in her abdomen was accompanied by waves of stinging pain from her injury.
The astonishment in that man's eyes earlier had given her an illusion.
That she had finally returned to the real world.
She walked into a 24-hour convenience store illuminated by incandescent lights.
The air conditioning inside was blasting strong, blowing against her soaked jacket, making her shiver.
Kiana walked to the counter, staring at the rice balls and bread on the shelves, her throat unconsciously gulping.
"Um... please give me one of these."
She pointed at the tuna rice ball, her voice a bit hoarse.
The clerk stocking the shelves didn't react at all.
Thinking the other party hadn't heard her, Kiana raised her voice slightly: "Hello, I want to buy this rice ball."
The clerk straightened up, looking directly through her body at the curtain of rain outside, then lowered his head to continue arranging the gum on the shelf.
Kiana reached out, trying to slap the counter to make a sound.
But her palm hitting the wooden surface only produced an extremely faint muffled thud, as if there were a thick layer of cotton in between. She tried to pull the clerk's sleeve, but her hand went right through.
The fear of being abandoned by the world surged up in her heart once again.
She retracted her hand in self-mockery. It turned out that the man from before was just a hallucination, or perhaps she had really turned into a ghost.
Earlier, Kiana had tried to interact with people on the street, only to discover that no matter what actions she took, she received no response.
She didn't know if she had really become a wandering ghost, which was why she couldn't contact these people.
But the pain on her body and the feeling of hunger were incredibly real.
Could it be that even after death, one needs to eat and can still get injured?
Just as she was about to turn around and leave, plunging back into that cold darkness, the automatic door of the convenience store opened with a "Ding Dong."
Su Yu, holding a black long-handled umbrella, rushed in panting.
The bottoms of his pants were soaked. His gaze circled the store once, finally locking firmly onto the slender figure standing by the shelf.
"Finally found you." Su Yu didn't bother to wipe the rain off his face, staring straight at Kiana.
Kiana froze.
As Su Yu approached her, getting within one meter of her, she felt a solidified barrier in the air shatter.
At the same time, footsteps came from behind the counter.
The shift-change clerk, who had been busy in the back warehouse, walked out.
"Welcome, what can I get for you?"
The voice was cool and peaceful.
Kiana subconsciously looked back.
The moment she saw the other person's face clearly, her pupils contracted sharply. The anger that instantly ignited in her originally dim eyes was violent.
Fu Hua.
Although the other party was wearing a regular convenience store apron, a pair of black-rimmed glasses, and had her long hair simply tied behind her head, looking like just an ordinary university student.
But that face, that undisturbed demeanor... it was exactly the same as the monitor in her memory who had personally pushed her into the abyss...
The executor of the so-called "Plan"!
"Fu... Hua..."
Kiana's teeth were chattering.
The pain of betrayal, the anger of being deceived, and the despair of losing Teacher Himeko surged up like a landslide.
Ignoring the injury on her arm, she took a sudden step forward. Her right hand instinctively tried to gather Honkai energy, though there was no reaction at all.
Even though she was so weak she could barely stand, she still stared dead at the girl in front of her, like a violent little beast.
"Why are you here? Why do you still appear in front of me!"
She questioned harshly, her voice distorted by agitation.
"Answer me! Why did you betray me back then!"
Fu Hua, who was just preparing to change shifts, was obviously startled. She pushed her glasses in bewilderment, looking at this girl covered in blood and full of hostility towards her, and asked in confusion: "Miss, do we know each other?"
This "stranger" attitude completely ignited the last of Kiana's reason.
"You traitor!!"
Kiana made a move to rush across the counter.
Just then, a warm, large palm tightly gripped her wrist.
It was Su Yu.
"Calm down, she isn't the person you're looking for."
Su Yu pulled the girl back a step forcefully.
He felt Kiana's body trembling violently.
He knew clearly.
If Kiana made a move here, the order of this world would be completely broken, and she would completely lose her place to stay.
"Senior Su Yu?"
Seeing Su Yu's appearance clearly, the confusion in Fu Hua's eyes grew.
"Is she.... your friend?"
Fu Hua was a junior student a few years below him, and also a resident of Golden Courtyard. She often worked part-time at various places to earn money for tuition.
It just so happened that one of the convenience stores she worked at wasn't far from his home.
So Su Yu would often go there and say hello to her.
"The situation is a bit complicated. Anyway, A-Hua, please keep this a secret."
Su Yu showed Fu Hua a smile filled with apology.
"Let me go!" Kiana struggled, her eyes staring dead at Fu Hua, that hatred almost congealing into substance.
"Look around, Kiana!" Su Yu drank low in her ear, "There is no Schicksal here, no Honkai. She is just a working student. Look carefully at her eyes!"
Kiana froze.
Fu Hua stood behind the counter, her eyes holding only bewilderment at the sudden situation and a faint vigilance.
That was the expression of an ordinary person, without the indifference of someone who has lived for thousands of years.
Su Yu stood between the two, smiling apologetically at Fu Hua: "Sorry about that, A-Hua. She's been under a lot of mental stress lately and recognized the wrong person."
"Um... trouble you to get her two rice balls, and a bottle of warm milk."
Fu Hua nodded, a hint of inquiry in her eyes, but seeing Su Yu's apologetic smile, she still sighed.
"If you encounter any trouble... if it's not convenient to tell me, telling Senior Kevin is also okay."
Saying this, she quickly packed a few rice balls and the warm milk into a bag.
After Su Yu transferred the payment, he looked at Kiana behind him, who looked like she was in a daze. He sighed.
"A-Hua." Su Yu said, "Is there a medical kit in the store? Could you trouble you to help clean her wound?"
"Don't let her touch me." Kiana's voice sounded beside Su Yu, seemingly carrying a trace of pleading. "Please.... I'm sorry...."
"But...."
"I can do it myself...."
"Alright."
Fu Hua handed the medical kit to Su Yu and led the two to the staff lounge behind the convenience store.
As the door closed, Su Yu's voice came from outside: "I'll be right outside. Just call out if you need anything."
Kiana hugged the medical kit. Not far away, dry clothes were placed on a chair—Fu Hua's change of clothes. She instinctively had an impulse to refuse, but when she saw the concern in Fu Hua's eyes...
She ultimately didn't open her mouth.
"What on earth is going on..... She is clearly Fu Hua, clearly the Class Monitor, that liar who betrayed me...."
Kiana hugged the medical kit, her back sliding down the cabinet to sit on the floor.
Like a deflated ball, colors of confusion and pain appeared on her face.
"But she.... she is clearly just an ordinary person.... why is it like this?"