The Gemini Princess wants me to confess my feelings!

Kirihara Akira stared at her, but she couldn't be bothered to look at Kirihara Akira.

"That's not the first time, is it? There are both new and old grudges." Kirihara Akatsuki stood up and walked to her side. "But you won't even offer an explanation, let alone an apology?"

"So you're here to interrogate me. That puts my mind at ease." Mori Kiyoha's lips curled into a seductive smile. "I'm curious, what methods are you planning to use against me?"

"I'm curious too," Kirihara Akatsuki said strangely, "You just caused such a commotion, why didn't your mother send someone to keep an eye on you? Isn't she afraid you might do something drastic again?"

"That's just the kind of woman she is," Mori Kiyoha said calmly. "She doesn't think I'll die, or she doesn't care whether I live or die."

She adopted this posture to tell me that she didn't care; that I could die, but living was better.

"How twisted," Kirihara Akatsuki commented, then suddenly propped herself up by bracing herself against the armrests. "But I'm not interested in your family affairs. Let's talk about our conflict."

"Your mother forbids anyone from coming near here, including servants and bodyguards. Tonight, this solitary confinement room is the loneliest, most neglected corner of the Mori family. If I wanted revenge on you, now is the perfect time. What methods do you think I would use?"

The further he went, the more imposing he became, while the mockery in Mori Kiyoha's eyes grew ever stronger.

Kirihara Akira looked down at her, almost touching her.

Kirihara Akira glanced at her... her body was tense and trembling slightly, proving that she was not as calm as her expression suggested.

Alertness, tension, unease, and a hint of pain that was so well concealed that it was almost imperceptible.

He grabbed the girl's hand, and she jerked like a cat in shock, instinctively trying to pull her hand away.

Startled, she remained silent, her gaze towards Kirihara Akira growing even colder.

Then, as if by magic, Kirihara Akira pulled out... a black bag from her free hand behind her back?

Kirihara Akira forcibly turned her palm over and saw a wound running across the tiger's mouth in her palm.

The wound wasn't deep, but she had been covering it for a while, and she had clearly been pressing on it.

He bent down slightly, opened the bag, placed the iodine solution on the ground, took out the disinfectant cotton, and finally tore open the bandage packaging—he actually began to treat Sen Qingye's wound like this. As he treated it, he frowned and said sarcastically, "Did your family doctor spend so much time examining you, only looking at your pretty face to see if you were injured? He didn't even notice such an obvious wound on your hand."

The pain from the iodine touching the wound almost made her cry out, but after a few breaths, she finally managed to hold it in.

She whispered, "Are you out of your mind?"

Kirihara Akira didn't bother listening to her nonsense and asked herself, "What happened today has nothing to do with what you did?"

Mori Kiyoha didn't answer; her eyes flickered, which already spoke volumes.

"If that's the case, then you've already suffered enough," Kirihara Akira said. "I'm not so kind as to expect you to turn against me and I'll repay evil with kindness."

Despite the pain, Mori Kiyoha asked, "So what are you doing now?"

"I don't get along with you, but I have a good relationship with your sister," Kirihara Akira said.

Mori Kiyoha chuckled coldly twice: "That certainly fits her meddlesome nature... hmm—"

She was only halfway through her sentence when Kirihara Akira irritated her wound, serving as a small lesson.

Kirihara Akira said, "You can't possibly hate her too, can you?"

After a moment of silence, which made Kirihara Akira think that she was dismissive and wouldn't say a word, she actually spoke up: "I respect her, but I don't like some of the books she reads."

Kirihara Akatsuki asked curiously, "What book?"

"I don't remember the title of the book, but I do remember that when she described the contents, she said they were beautiful futilities, as if life itself had to be a futility to be beautiful," Mori Kiyoha said.

"I guess reading too many books like this has fostered that indecisive and cowardly nature, which I don't like."

Kirihara Akira couldn't help but chuckle and said, "That's why she said you were cursed by the library, that you fell asleep as soon as you went in."

Ignoring his sarcasm, Mori Kiyoha continued, "In this house, weakness has no place."

As they spoke, Kirihara Akira finished bandaging her wound, stood up, and said, "If you don't want a scar, it's best to have that doctor come and treat it again. Bandaging is only for emergency use."

Mori Kiyoha remained silent, turning her hand over to examine the bandages wrapped around it.

"So you're not even willing to make up a reason for me?" Kirihara Akira said.

"Making excuses is a tactic used by the pitiful," said Mori Kiyoha. "Excuses can't turn black into white."

Kirihara Akira was somewhat moved, accurately grasping the meaning behind her words. It could be interpreted as Mori Kiyoha habitually using other methods more powerful than excuses; conversely, it could also be interpreted as her knowing whether her actions were black or white.

"Let me rephrase my question," Kirihara Akatsuki said, hands in her pockets, "Will there be attacks like today in the future?"

"Yes." Mori Kiyoha's answer was incredibly crisp.

"Will subsequent attacks be of the same intensity as today?"

"It will be a bit higher."

Both fell silent, realizing how awkward their conversation was. A bully and a victim, far from being friends, were peacefully coexisting, even discussing future bullying scenarios.

Kirihara Akira realized this and laughed at himself. He said, "Then there's no problem. A piece of trash who's only slightly better than trash isn't really a threat."

Having said that, he turned and walked away.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Mori Kiyoha was about to let it go, but when he reached the door, she suddenly couldn't help but say, "You're really awkward."

Kirihara Akira turned around, pointed to her nose, and looked stunned: "You... you said I'm awkward?"

Mori Kiyoha sneered, "You went through all this trouble just for this one easy way out?"

Kirihara Akira said, "That's right."

Connecting this to the "mono no aware" she just mentioned, Kirihara Akira added, "You might think it's a kind of cowardice, but if you've been discussing reading with your sister recently, you've probably heard her mention a book called 'The Survival of Friends.' The book is quite complex and has many arguments, but it has a very concise and clear subtitle."

"What?"

"It's called: the evolutionary power of being kind to others." Kirihara Akira said, "When a person chooses a path, it's destined that they will encounter certain kinds of enemies along the way; this is unavoidable. But not only enemies, people also need to learn to find friends along the way. Those who think they are going against the whole world will not have a good ending."

After speaking, Kirihara Akira paused, realizing that his remarks might have been too didactic. He spread his hands and said, "I was referring to the viewpoints in the book."

My parents have found me a group of ruthless and vicious enemies. If I continue to face enemies everywhere I look, I'm afraid I won't see the sun rise the next day.

Surprisingly, Mori Kiyoha didn't refute it; he simply gave him a look that meant he was really going to see the guest out.

Kirihara Akira didn't hesitate and left decisively.

......

Mori Kiyoha turned off the lights in the room, trying to let the pure darkness bring peace to the room. However, the Mori family's house was located in a good position, and the moonlight and starlight shone down generously, disturbing the tranquility.

Mori Kiyoha drew the curtains, thought for a moment, then opened them again, repeating the action of opening and closing them repeatedly until a small gap remained, and then lay down.

She looked at her bandaged hand, and after a long while, placed it on her nascent chest.

She didn't know why, but she always felt that the heartbeat she felt in this hand was different from usual.

Kirihara Akira was right; she knew it.

What he didn't know was that in this house, canaries were not allowed to have enemies or friends.