That was Yukino Yukinoshita.
The girl with long black hair grabbed Rui Tachibana's arm.
The blue-haired girl froze, unable to understand why Yukino Yukinoshita would stop her.
Could it be that Yukino Yukinoshita was the kind of girl who'd watch someone die without lifting a finger?
There was nothing wrong with doing that — everyone put their own life first, and Rui Tachibana couldn't really blame her for it. But she felt that she herself could actually help that blonde woman.
There was still time. If she moved fast enough, both she and the blonde woman could escape danger.
"Student Yukinoshita, just give me a moment," Rui Tachibana said at once. "I'll be right back. Don't worry."
At that,
Yukino Yukinoshita only felt that this girl's kindness—
the fact that she still wanted to reach out and help in a situation like this—was more than enough to reveal her true nature.
It was exactly the kind of kindness Yukino admired in a girl.
And precisely because of that,
she couldn't let a girl like Rui Tachibana get hurt here.
"You said you'd protect me," Yukino Yukinoshita said.
That single line stopped Rui Tachibana cold, plunging her into stunned silence.
She had indeed said that. But was it really fair to use that reason now, to keep her from saving someone?
Rui's impression of Yukino plummeted.
She felt the feelings in her heart toward Yukino shift entirely.
Some of the goodwill she'd held vanished, changed into something else.
"Please, don't worry, I'll—"
"Student Tachibana, you can't go."
This time Yukino Yukinoshita seized Rui Tachibana's wrist, gripping it hard, giving her no chance at all to pull away.
"It's dangerous."
"I know it's dangerous."
"I mean that woman is dangerous too."
"Huh?!"
Rui Tachibana blinked, her mind blank for a moment, unable to process it.
But she didn't immediately deny what Yukino Yukinoshita had said either — somehow, Yukino's words felt like they might actually be true.
Seeing this, Yukino Yukinoshita explained, "Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence, how that woman appeared?"
"But she wasn't far—"
"Think about the distance she appeared at. That voice came out of nowhere."
That was true.
Rui Tachibana thought it over and realized it really was strange.
"Then..."
"She might be connected to the Strange. Don't let your guard down. Be careful."
"But if she's human, then we—"
"We need to protect ourselves first. What matters most is that I trust my own judgment."
In that moment,
Yukino Yukinoshita was utterly certain, placing complete faith in her own reasoning.
Rui Tachibana hesitated. She felt she should trust Yukino's judgment too.
"Then I..."
She struggled with herself.
"Save me... please save me..."
The blonde woman still reached out a hand, trying to seek help.
But her will outpaced her strength — she struggled to rise, staggering, and the black shadow behind her drew ever closer.
The danger, the pressure, grew more intense by the second.
Rui Tachibana gritted her teeth, a war raging inside her — her instinct for kindness urged her to help, but reason told her to trust Yukino Yukinoshita, to believe that blonde woman was a monster, something Strange.
She stood frozen where she was, not knowing what to do.
"Student Yukinoshita, maybe we should—"
"If she's really human, do you think she'd act like that in the face of danger?"
This had to be something Strange. There had to be something wrong here.
But why the other side would put on such a performance, Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't figure out either. She couldn't make sense of the reason.
It could simply charge straight at them. So why go through all this trouble instead? It was as if they were currently standing somewhere safe, somewhere it couldn't approach directly — so it had to lure them out of that safe zone instead.
Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze swept around, but she couldn't spot anything here that looked like it could actually offer protection.
Think. Think faster.
Right now Yukino Yukinoshita was racking her brain, searching for any possibility she might be missing.
What was making the Strange act this way?
Rui Tachibana looked at the blonde woman not far off, who seemed to grow more terrified and trembling because of the shadow behind her, her whole body writhing and dragging across the ground, letting out pleading cries for help now and then.
That pitiful, pleading look struck at Rui Tachibana's heart, again and again.
"Hah..."
"Hah..."
Rui Tachibana drew deep breath after deep breath, trying to hold back the compassion welling up inside her.
Can't go.
Can't go — that's a monster, that's something Strange, not a person.
In this moment,
all she could do was hypnotize herself this way, to make it a little easier to bear.
Otherwise,
watching someone collapse right in front of her, able to do something yet doing nothing — for a kind-hearted girl, that would be a devastating blow.
Rui Tachibana clenched her jaw and finally looked away, choosing to ignore that presence entirely.
And the blonde woman, as if sensing something, shifted her pleading gaze to Yukino Yukinoshita instead.
"Help... help me..."
She reached out her hand once more.
She placed her plea on Yukino Yukinoshita this time.
Unlike Rui Tachibana, the girl with long black hair didn't look away. She stared straight at her, her gaze calm, even carrying a glint of cold light like deep winter frost.
To say her heart wasn't shaken at all would be a lie — Yukino Yukinoshita really was a gentle, kind girl at her core. Otherwise she'd never have founded the Service Club.
But,
she was also more rational than most.
And right now, having concluded that this blonde woman was somehow bound up with the Strange, there was no way she would step forward to help.
In an environment this dangerous,
the only thing to do was protect yourself first. Only once your own safety was assured, if there was strength to spare, could you think about helping others.
If there wasn't, then there was no need to even consider it.
Now, faced with this blonde woman, what Yukino Yukinoshita had to do was stay calm, and give her absolutely no further reaction.
And so,
the blonde woman seemed to sense Yukino Yukinoshita's resolve as well,
while Rui Tachibana had already looked away.
She realized both girls had made their decision — neither would reach out to help.
"..."
"I hate you both..."
She let out a voice full of loathing, a curse, as if it meant to devour everything whole.
The black shadow finally drew close, closer still.
The blonde woman no longer struggled to flee. All that remained in her eyes was hatred and fury, fixed unblinkingly on Yukino and Rui Tachibana.
The shadow arrived.
Contact followed.
That pitch-black shadow enveloped the blonde woman's body.
Zzzzt...
A sound like electric current crackling, or like water boiling and roiling,
the blonde woman's body shook and convulsed, and the body that had lain on the ground rose up stiffly, in a posture that defied every law of nature.
The next instant,
those red eyes burst with a devouring gaze, the blonde woman's head twisting and turning with a series of cracking sounds.
Faced with this sight,
both Yukino Yukinoshita and Rui Tachibana felt their hearts freeze despite themselves.
Danger. Danger. Extreme danger.
There might even be death waiting.
The shadow of death fell over the two of them.
Once again, without meaning to, the two girls pressed close together.
Rui Tachibana looked at Yukino Yukinoshita standing in front of her, and suddenly remembered her promise. She took a step forward, putting herself between Yukino and the threat.
"Student Yukinoshita, run first when the moment comes. I'll... buy you time."
Rui Tachibana said this.
She didn't know whether the blonde woman had been something Strange from the start, or had only just turned into one.
And in fact, if she had gone to help just moments ago, the blonde woman might have been saved — though of course, it could have been a trap too.
But no matter what, things had already reached this point. She wasn't going to keep dwelling on it.
What she wanted now was simple: Yukino Yukinoshita must not come to harm.
That was her promise to Lin Ye. It was also a promise to herself.
Rui Tachibana was a girl who kept every promise she made.
She could get hurt. Yukino couldn't.
Even if something had to happen, then let it happen to her first, before it ever touched Yukino Yukinoshita.
"No need," Yukino Yukinoshita refused.
She was moved by Rui Tachibana's concern, by her firm resolve to protect her — her heart couldn't help but quicken.
If Rui's earlier words might have been mere performance, an attempt to win favor, then this act now had revealed her true feelings beyond doubt.
No one merely putting on a show could ever go this far.
This girl really was gentle, kind, and genuinely cared for others.
But that a girl like this would fall for Lin Ye — would even be willing to spend the night with him — said something about just how deep her feelings for him ran.
It was honestly... hard to imagine.
She sometimes wondered where on earth Lin Ye got that kind of charm from. But then she remembered she herself had already fallen for him completely, so who was she to question a girl like Rui Tachibana falling too.
Even Mai Sakurajima had fallen for him.
Thinking back to what Lin Ye had done for Mai Sakurajima, Yukino Yukinoshita found herself letting it all go, at least for now.
That jerk had a charm all his own, one that made girls fall for him, fall hard, unable to bear leaving him. That, at least, was a kind of skill.
"Zzzzzt..."
"Grrrr..."
The blonde woman's blood-red eyes fixed on the two of them, her steps stumbling as she advanced, step by step.
Under the streetlight, her shadow stretched long, unnaturally long.
Thump, thump, thump...
The strange sound of dragged flesh scraping the ground continued, grating on both girls' nerves.
Faced with this hideous, grotesque sight, Yukino Yukinoshita and Rui Tachibana felt icy fear welling up inside them without end, their bodies trembling visibly.
They wanted to run. They wanted to get far away.
But,
reason held them back.
Yukino Yukinoshita felt that, right now, staying put was better than fleeing.
"Student Yukinoshita, I... we... maybe we should... run!"
Rui Tachibana pointed in the direction Lin Ye had gone. "Let's go find Lin-kun. You go first, I'll follow right behind."
As long as she stayed behind Yukino Yukinoshita, Yukino would definitely be safer than her.
She'd already made peace with that.
Yukino Yukinoshita followed the direction of her finger and looked — it was a road cloaked in pitch darkness, without a single trace of light.
Rui Tachibana looked too and realized the same. "Wait, how did — there was light there just a moment ago..."
Compared to that darkened side, the streetlights on the other two sides stood out clearly.
Warm, soft light — the kind that warmed the heart, that put people at ease.
Just that one glance was enough to make Rui Tachibana lean toward running for the lit direction.
Yukino Yukinoshita felt the exact same pull.
People were creatures drawn to light by nature, always yearning for brighter places.
Between a place with light and a place without, of course people would gravitate toward the light.
And the blonde monster kept staggering closer, step by step.
The streetlight flickered and crackled, the flashing growing more erratic, and this time the blackout lasted even longer.
This made both girls' hearts tremble.
What to do, what to do—
that monster was coming.
Rui Tachibana's heart had leapt into her throat; she was trembling all over now.
Run. Run now.
It's too dangerous here.
They had to reach somewhere safe. They had to get away from that blonde monster.
Rui Tachibana instinctively took a step back, trying to put distance between them.
Yukino Yukinoshita wasn't faring much better.
A faint gloom and confusion lingered in the mind of the girl with long black hair.
What to do,
what should they do,
which way should they run?
Normally, the sensible choice would be to run toward where Lin Ye had gone. But right now, that direction was pitch black — running that way would only be more dangerous. Yes, surely it would only be more dangerous!
But what about the other direction?
Lin Ye wasn't over there.
Thud, thud, thud...
Each footstep landed like a hammer blow on both their hearts.
Neither of them knew what to do anymore.
"Yu— Yukino... which way should we run?"
The key thing was, the blonde monster wasn't rushing at full speed — it was staggering forward, step by step.
That gave Rui Tachibana a sense of pressure, yes, but also the feeling that she still had plenty of room to think.
But the distance was closing.
That much was certain.
If they stayed put any longer, the monster would surely close in on them, and whatever happened after that would be nothing good.
"Why is it moving so slowly?" Yukino Yukinoshita voiced the doubt in her mind.
Why so slow?
Normally, shouldn't something like this move fast?
Why did this monster look so sluggish?
The pressure it exerted was intense, yet it couldn't seem to translate that into an effective strike, the kind that would throw people into blind panic in an instant.
That was strange. It didn't match the image of how a monstrous Strange should attack.
"I don't know. Maybe... maybe it just can't move fast! It's not like it's giving us... time to run, right?"
As she spoke,
Rui Tachibana's voice had begun to tremble slightly.
By this point she was just saying whatever came to mind, without worrying whether it made sense or matched reality.
Of course, Rui Tachibana didn't really believe the monster would be that considerate.
But the way it had been shambling along slowly just now really did look exactly like that.
And at that moment,
Rui Tachibana's words landed like a stone dropped into a lake, sending ripples spreading outward.
Giving them time to run.
Yes — giving them time to run.
Why would it do that?
Wasn't it so that they would think their way toward fleeing somewhere?
And under pressure, where would they choose to flee?
A single, most likely possibility surfaced in Rui Tachibana's mind.
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