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One hundred and fifty blades plus one more.

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The maximum is still 40,000 words in 10 chapters. Let's go!

Chapter Four: Plot Preview: A Familiar Face Returns (Part 2)

Karuizawa Kei noticed that every detail, every word, and every action of hers was being watched, whether among boys or girls. She tried hard to create an innate, noble protective coloration for herself, but perhaps she was not born with that so-called "queen" temperament. In her daily interactions at school, she also tried her best to maintain a style of not offending anyone.

"I feel like Hui is being too cautious with those people. It's completely unnecessary. If you just give guys a little bit of kindness, they'll stick to you like glue."

A girl once gave Karuizawa Kei this advice.

The reason is that a month after the start of the school year, many boys finally mustered up the courage to forget Karuizawa Kei's "boyfriend". Yes, in the increasingly outrageous rumors, Kitagawa Ryo's status has been upgraded from "childhood friend" to "boyfriend", and judging from the situation, it is estimated that in a while it will become a "fiancé with an engagement" or something similar.

These slightly bolder boys began to get restless and approach Karuizawa Kei. It wasn't necessarily that they wanted to pursue her, but rather that they wanted to show off in front of the girls. The students who had just entered junior high school didn't have that many thoughts yet. Since Karuizawa Kei was the center of attention among the girls in the class, then making a good impression on Karuizawa Kei was equivalent to standing out in front of all the girls in the class. With this simple and straightforward idea, the boys began to take action.

Karuizawa Kei started getting talked to frequently by them, whether about daily life or class notes. Karuizawa Kei was somewhat tired of dealing with these questions. She really couldn't understand why there were people in her class who wanted to ask her about their studies. If she really had the ability to teach, her grades wouldn't be hovering around the middle level.

"Ah...yes, it's a bit annoying."

Karuizawa Kei leaned on her desk and complained softly.

"That's right, Megumi should be more aloof. Besides, compared to Kitagawa-kun, none of them can compare."

"It seems so."

Karuizawa Megumi listlessly fiddled with her nails, her slender, pale fingers lightly tapping the table:

"Hmm... let's do it this way."

It was only at this moment that Karuizawa Kei realized that the protective layer of "Kitagawa Ryo" she had built for herself had indeed helped her erect a wall around her heart, but it had also hindered normal interpersonal interactions. The relationship she described between herself and "Kitagawa Ryo" had already determined that Karuizawa Kei was not qualified to accept the kindness from boys, which was tantamount to denying everything she had said.

Since you and "Kitagawa-kun" are so close, and he's even planning to transfer back from abroad for you, how can you show such close relationships with other boys?

Having figured this out, Karuizawa Kei began to adopt a more diplomatic approach. When boys tried to talk to her again, regardless of their intentions or whether they simply wanted to be friends, she would respond with indifference. Karuizawa Kei had become increasingly adept at controlling her facial expressions, squinting, raising her eyebrows, and clicking her tongue. Before long, rumors began to circulate among most of the boys that Karuizawa Kei had a terrible temper, relied on having a boyfriend, and was arrogant and haughty.

Having lost her prestige among the boys, Karuizawa Kei could only be more careful in maintaining her status among the girls.

“Hui, a girl from the next class deliberately bumped into me in the cafeteria at lunchtime, and she didn’t apologize.”

During lunch break one day, a girl suddenly ran up to Karuizawa Kei, panting, and complained indignantly:

"It's Ruotian from the next class. She looks down on people because her boyfriend is an older student. She just knocked me down, spilling all my meal on the ground. She didn't even apologize. When I asked her to buy me a new meal, she just walked away as if she didn't hear me."

Although the girl group may have its own minor conflicts and disagreements, when faced with a rare opportunity to unite against a common external threat, they all showed a great deal of empathy and friendship.

"I've heard that Ruotian from the next class has a terrible temper, and I don't know how her boyfriend was willing to date her."

"Yeah, I heard her boyfriend recently became the vice captain of the school basketball team. When I saw her in the hallway the other day, his eyes were practically popping out of his head."

"It's only because she has a boyfriend who protects her, otherwise she would have been ostracized by all the girls in the class long ago."

Everyone was talking at once, their mouths moving faster than the next, but their feet seemed rooted to the spot.

Obviously, it's easiest to verbally condemn or support someone, but if they were to actually confront them, they would have to wait for someone to speak up.

So everyone turned their attention to Karuizawa Kei, including the girl who had come to complain at the beginning. She was practically asking Karuizawa Kei to take charge of things for her, and she was standing to the side, about to burst into tears.

"Then, how about we go to the cafeteria together and find Wakata... Wakata-san and ask her?"

Karuizawa felt their gazes were somewhat piercing. Only after she finished speaking did those nail-like stares leave her. A feeling of utter exhaustion welled up from the bottom of Karuizawa's heart. Since she had already decided to be a tiger, she couldn't be weak in this matter. The ones who eat grass are rabbits, not tigers.

As if given some kind of instruction, the girls in the class immediately surrounded Karuizawa Kei and the girl who had been bullied, and the group stormed into the cafeteria.

Perhaps it was a coincidence of timing, but just as they arrived at the cafeteria entrance, they ran into Wakata, who had finished her meal and was walking alone towards the courtyard next door, seemingly planning to take a post-meal stroll.

"Hey, wasn't it you who knocked down Yuko from our class just now?"

A dozen or so girls immediately surrounded the other person. The time was a particularly delicate moment, right at the end of the lunch break. If it were any earlier, there would probably be many students eating lunch boxes in the courtyard, and if it were any later, it would be filled with students coming and going to class.

Seeing that there were only a few people around, and that they were outnumbered by more than a dozen, the girls suddenly felt the power of teamwork. They dragged and pulled Wakata to a more secluded grove of trees and pinned her under a large tree.

"Yuko, is that her?"

Jiangpu Huimei, who was at the front, pulled the other person's hair and turned around to ask.

"Yes, it's...it's this person who bumped into me and didn't apologize."

Yuko still seemed somewhat timid, and stammered as she spoke.

Upon hearing such a clear answer, Emi Jiangpu revealed a happy, even tyrannical, smile.

"Wakata, is it? Do you think you can do whatever you want at school just because you have a good boyfriend?"

Wakata seemed to only just realize what was happening. Tall and with medium-length hair, she was also a key member of the track and field team. Without hesitation, she slapped away Emi's hand, straightened her clothes, and frowned as she said:

"She accidentally bumped into me while walking, why should I apologize first?"

"I haven't done anything wrong. Class is about to start, so get out of here right now."

The other party's self-righteous attitude undoubtedly added fuel to the already tense situation. Yuko lowered her head and pouted, looking like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. A girl next to her, seemingly unable to bear Wakata's behavior, rushed out and shoved her hard.

"What are you pretending for? Apologize to Yuko right now!"

Karuizawa Kei knew this girl. She seemed to have also joined the track and field club, but unlike Wakata, she was just an ordinary member. Perhaps she had accumulated a considerable amount of dissatisfaction with Wakata during their daily club activities. Karuizawa Kei could even see a hint of pleasure in the other girl's eyes.

By placing personal grudges within the context of the goals and actions of an entire group, one can openly and recklessly carry out attacks and retaliations.

Karuizawa Megumi felt a chill run down her spine for no apparent reason.

"That's right, apologize to Yuko right now!"

"Why don't you call him your boyfriend now? Hurry up and call him more often while you still have the chance, otherwise you'll have to go to which high school to look for him after he graduates next year."

"She started dating an upperclassman two years her senior just one month after starting school, tsk tsk."

With this person leading the way, the remaining girls seemed to loosen up all at once. They were like walls moving forward, compressing Wakata's space for movement smaller and smaller, to the point that in the end, all Wakata could see and hear was inexplicable insults and curses, which had even deviated from the incident itself.

"Okay, I'll apologize, alright?"

Wakata seemed to realize that the situation was not right, and after saying something perfunctorily, he tried to push through the wall of people and walk out.

"Is this what you call an apology?"

"Can you stop giving me that sour look?"

"I'm thinking of giving you a good lesson."

Karuizawa Kei felt somewhat lost in this noisy little world. When Wakata apologized, she inexplicably thought of herself. She almost screamed at Wakata, wanting to tell him that apologizing was useless and could even be seen as a sign of giving in.

"...That...is it?"

Karuizawa Kei tried hard to chime in, feeling that if things continued to develop this way, it would soon escalate into school bullying.

"Hui, should we teach her a lesson?"

Emi Eura cast a somewhat amused glance at Karuizawa Kei, whose knees were already trembling slightly. Unfortunately, the girls around her were still engrossed in showing their cool side for their friends and hardly noticed Karuizawa Kei's wavering heart.

"—!"

Following Emi Jiangpu's words, everyone seemed to suddenly remember Karuizawa Kei. After all, in the past few minutes, Karuizawa Kei, who was ostensibly their "core," had been almost completely silent, and all eyes, including Wakata's, were suddenly focused on Karuizawa Kei like spotlights.

"benefit?"

Emi called out to Karuizawa Kei again, like a loyal servant obeying her master's orders, quietly waiting for Karuizawa Kei's next move.

"——————?"

Karuizawa Kei managed to regain her composure, and within moments, a fine layer of sweat had appeared on her forehead.

"Karuizawa? It's you. I've heard about that legendary figure from the next class."

Wakada emphasized the word "legend," as if he had found the real culprit, and said with a mixture of annoyance and regret:

"So it was you who was backing these people up. Tsk, I didn't think you were that kind of person."

"What do you mean? You were the one who made the mistake first. No matter what Hui does, I can't stand people like you bullying classmates."

Before Wakata could finish speaking, the girl from the track and field club preemptively denied it.

Emi Eura, also looking furious because of Karuizawa Megumi, grabbed Wakata by the hair and forcefully pressed her against the tree, then slapped her across the face with her left hand.

Neither side expected Emi Jiangpu to suddenly make a move, so much so that the loud slap echoed in the quiet air for quite a while before dissipating.

"Listen up, don't mess with anyone in our class again. I was just going to teach you a lesson, but you even dared to insult Hui."

Emi Jiangpu exaggeratedly shoved the lines into Wakata's ears, and seeing his incredulous look, gestured behind her with her chin, saying:

"Yuko, why don't you give it a try too?"

"I...I don't need to. Hitting someone feels like going too far."

Yuko replied softly, seemingly surprised that things had escalated to this point.

"It's alright. She should have apologized to you anyway, and there's no one else here."

Emi Emi delivered a ruthless knee strike to Wakata's side, then, gripping his collar, extended another invitation to Yuko:

"If the person involved is unwilling, wouldn't it seem like we, as their friends, have gone too far?"

She was certain that the other person wouldn't refuse again. With someone as timid as her, as long as she used the excuse of "you're my friend, I did this for you," even if it was just because she was worried about upsetting her, Yuko wouldn't refuse again.

Yuko did not refuse again, but hesitantly stepped forward and gave Wakata a light, painless slap, with her eyes closed.

"It's okay, just try harder."

Emi Jiangpu seemed unsatisfied. She reached out and slapped Wakata hard across the face as if to demonstrate. Yuko had no choice but to use a little force as well, and felt a slight stinging sensation in her palm.

If it hadn't happened right before her eyes, Karuizawa Kei would have found it hard to imagine that the usually timid Yuko would slap Wakata, who looked tough, from the next class. But now, this somewhat surreal fact was repeatedly assaulting her mind. She could even see two other girls who couldn't resist stepping forward, eager to try it themselves, including the girl who was in the same track and field club as Wakata.

It wasn't until the class bell rang ten minutes later that Jiangpu Huimei, feeling refreshed, gave up the violence—or rather, the violence perpetrated by her and four or five other girls.

"Hui, how are you?"

When Emi returned, she patted Megumi Karuizawa on the shoulder, her tone filled with genuine satisfaction at having completed her mission.

Karuizawa Kei suddenly remembered something important: if Emi Eura was a student in the same elementary school as her, then the other person might also know about her experience of being bullied before the fifth grade. Her teeth chattered in panic.

"It's okay. Apart from the first few slaps, you can't see anything wrong with her face. Talking to the teachers and parents won't help."

Emi Emi turned to comfort her companion, who had been somewhat worried afterward:

What if her boyfriend comes looking for her?

Emi tilted her head, looking at Megumi Karuizawa with a half-smile, like a hunter eyeing its prey:

"Isn't there also Hui? Right?"

Chapter 5: Plot Preview: A Familiar Face Returns (The End)

The transformation from bully to victim often takes only one night. Karuizawa Kei tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep. The moonlight was beautiful that night, so she opened the window and let the moonlight seep into her room like water, gradually engulfing her.

It was already 1:30 a.m., and Karuizawa Megumi, still unable to sleep, had thoughts that were growing wildly in her mind like sprouting fungi under the vast moonlight. All sorts of chaotic ideas filled her mind, so she simply turned on the room light.

But after a while, Karuizawa Kei felt that leaving the light on at night might be seen by her parents who got up to use the bathroom, so she turned off the pale light and turned on the orange bedside lamp. Wrapped in the blanket, she tossed and turned in bed by the moonlight, like a fish swimming in a rippling lake.

Another thirty minutes passed, and Karuizawa Kei must have been exhausted. She closed her eyes and forced herself to sleep, but once her vision went dark, the scenes from the daytime haunted her like a nightmare. The more she tried to forget, the clearer the memories became. She gasped for breath and resignedly opened her tired eyes again.

Karuizawa Kei immediately spotted the photo frame on the desk, which contained a picture of her and Kitagawa Ryo at their graduation ceremony. Their black and white uniforms looked eerie in the dark night, but Karuizawa Kei didn't seem to care as she picked up the frame and reached out to touch the two people in the photo.

Her fingers traced the outlines of their uniforms, as if she could touch the textures of the clothes through the medium of the photograph. Seemingly finding a sense of peace, she placed the photo frame on the bedside table closer to her and finally closed her eyes slowly.

From that day on, Karuizawa Kei began to dread the start of each day. Every morning when she had to go to school filled her with trepidation. It was as if time in the world had been slowed down by a magic spell after that day, making each day feel incredibly empty and unfamiliar. She sat in the classroom, still surrounded by girls during breaks, but no matter what gossip, trends, or romances, all kinds of conversations and news could fill the emptiness in Karuizawa Kei's heart. She knew she was still concerned about what had happened before.

"Wakata... classmate, you haven't bothered you again since then, have you?"

Five days after the bullying incident, Karuizawa Kei finally found the opportunity to ask this question.

"Oh, Wakata, I heard she broke up with her boyfriend."

A girl who knew the situation replied in a melodious tone: