"I... misunderstood Haruko?"
Ichiko's eyes widened as she stared intently at the content on the bulletin board, feeling a tightness in her chest.
Kai, standing by, didn't hold back her words, adding, "Please don't say it so lightly. You completely didn't trust your Haruko, did you?"
Kai turned sideways and stood in front of Ichiko, meeting her gaze.
"Even though Haruko is already dead, you've blamed yourself, constantly talking about regret. I'm not very clear on the specifics, but when you were chatting with me, you also felt that a lot of it was your own fault, right?"
"If that's the case, why are you still unwilling to face such a mistake?"
Ichiko looked up and met Kai's gaze, "I didn't!"
"Then in the past half month, have you done anything?"
Kai showed no intention of comforting her, instead questioning, "That person named Sento wasn't killed by you, right? You didn't help Haruko get revenge, nor did you go explain to her brother or parents, and you didn't dare tell her parents that Haruko is dead, right?"
"You stayed in Haruko's house for half a month, not stepping out, thinking that crying a few times meant regret and salvation."
"Just because she liked you, you could brazenly enjoy her love without giving anything in return!"
Ichiko took a step back, feeling estranged from the friend who was lecturing her like this.
Her lips trembled, "I didn't brazenly enjoy it. I was also trying to find ways to think about curing Haruko's yandere tendencies, okay? Don't say I didn't do anything!"
"But wasn't it still for yourself?"
Kai's short sentence made Ichiko's still trembling hand suddenly stiffen.
"Have you thought about what Haruko wanted?"
"Have you done anything for her?"
"Pretending to like her, deceiving her, coaxing her, don't say that curing her yandere tendencies was for her own good. Wasn't it just so you could get a better Haruko?"
"Even after Haruko died!"
Kai's voice suddenly rose, "Yuna and Hiro are being hunted by the Yamato Family, just because Yuna killed Sento in your place and drew their fire for you!"
"Inari is still handling the aftermath of Haruko's death!"
"Shin is investigating that Murasaki and Lin Fangya, and also sent people to her hometown to take care of Haruko's parents, busy to the point his head is about to explode."
"And what about you? Not only did you do nothing, you weren't even willing to go to the Hospital to take another look at Haruko!"
"What, just because Haruko liked you, loved you, you could be so reckless?"
"Even blaming the dead Haruko, saying things like, 'Ah, actually it's all Haruko's fault, if she wasn't a yandere, it wouldn't have been like this'?'"
Each sentence was like a sharp knife piercing into Ichiko's heart.
Her shoulders were trembling, and her fists were slightly clenched.
Kai glanced at her and sneered, "What, are you angry?"
"I didn't!" Ichiko shouted loudly at Kai, "I never blamed Haruko! And curing her yandere tendencies wasn't for myself! Kai, you don't understand yandere, and you've never been liked by a yandere."
"You have no idea..."
"Slap—!"
Halfway through Ichiko's words, she saw Kai raise a hand and slap her hard across the face.
The crisp sound echoed through the campus path, and the few other students passing by couldn't help but be startled.
Kai's strength wasn't very great; for Ichiko, it didn't even count as pain.
In her ear, her friend's disappointed voice came again, "Even now, you're still saying these things."
"When Haruko was alive, you treated her affection as a game."
"When Haruko died, you felt regret, thinking you should have accepted her confession so she wouldn't die, and then if she were alive, you could continue to enjoy her love as before, but you never thought about what you should give in return."
"From beginning to end, you believed that Haruko liked you, that she was yours, so even after she died, you didn't think about how dazzling and rare her devotion truly was."
"That's why you don't know how to cherish."
"After all, even if she's dead, she'll only like you and won't like anyone else, right?"
Kai bent down and picked up the things Ichiko had dropped on the ground.
And put them in her arms, "Someone who is pretending to sleep will never be woken up."
Has no one ever tried to wake you up?
Inari, Shin, Dr. Kaito, and the other two Doctors, even Yuri and the sleep-loving Haruko, they've all tried to wake you up, right?
But why do you keep sleeping?
Is it that you don't dare face it, or that you just want to immerse yourself in that kind of dream?
Kai took out her phone, glanced at the time, and said indifferently, "You don't care, but there are plenty of people who do."
"I'm very disappointed in you, Ichiko."
The familiar yet brief voice made Ichiko suddenly look up, but in her line of sight, Kai had already walked away.
"Why was it... Haruko's voice?"
The last sentence left behind was a huge blow to Ichiko, shattering her fragile shell and piercing her heart.
Greatly shocked, she didn't even stop to think why Kai, who was just an online friend, would know so many things.
She just stood there motionless, holding the large pile of things.
Recalling the past, what part of what Kai said was wrong?
Even if Haruko's methods were extreme, she just wanted to keep her by her side.
Attacking Sister Long and the Teacher was also just because her Ichiko was bullied; it was for her.
Even at the end, she was willing to die herself to block that bullet for her.
"And what was the return for such a sacrifice?"
Ichiko murmured at the corner of her lips, as if asking herself, and also as if repeating Kai's question.
In her line of sight, a petite figure slowly walked out from behind a tree to the side.
The girl who walked out seemed to sway weakly, her lower lip bitten tightly.
Ichiko's pupils constricted again, and as she stumbled back two steps, she tripped and fell to the ground.
The person who came was Emi!
In her mind, she suddenly recalled what Kai had just said.
—You don't care about Haruko, but there are plenty of people who do.
And isn't the person before her exactly like that?
From the last time she chatted with Emi, Ichiko could already feel that this child before her truly regarded Haruko as her only one.
So when she asked where Haruko had gone, Ichiko chose to hide the truth.
She didn't want that news to destroy this girl.
But now...
The lie has been exposed.
She didn't know when Emi started listening, or how long she had been here.
Fear and avoidance began to intertwine in her heart.
It seemed to be constantly shouting, telling this little girl not to come over.
But with every step Emi took, it was as if she was saying, this is the consequence of your own actions.
The empty-eyed Emi slowly walked up to Ichiko, her expression numb as she spoke.
"Ichiko Jie Jie, Elder chichi... she's already dead?"
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