Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

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Further to the side, there is a large residential area.

"Where am I?" Ai Yin blinked. "How did we end up in a place like this?"

"I don't know, but it's a small city near the reed plains." Li Xi sighed. "Let's find out where to catch the tram."

The satellite cities surrounding the reed plains all look like this; you can't really tell anything about them at night.

"That makes sense."

"I'll go ask for directions, or maybe you also have something to buy."

"I'm a little hungry, let's buy something to eat first," Ai Yin said. "Where are Deng Deng and Su Shi Shi?"

“I don’t really care,” the lamp said. “...Anything is fine.”

"Let's take a look together, although there probably isn't anything particularly good in convenience stores." Ai Yin took her hand, then turned her gaze to Su Shi, "Su Shi, is there anything you want?"

"I'll wait for you outside." Su Shi said helplessly, clutching her arm and gazing at the end of the road.

She had a feeling that she didn't know what she had done that day.

Very baffling.

A perfectly ordinary witch extermination was disrupted by a random intruder. They were then led into another barrier by the intruder. They should have followed the trail to find out what the intruder was up to—which is exactly what Riki and Aine would have done, given their personalities—but Riki actually dissuaded them, and they ended up walking out of there inexplicably.

In the end, it was all for nothing.

It wasn't entirely a wasted effort; Lixi's friend gave them a Seed of Sorrow as compensation, so they still had some gains today.

But there's a certain unpleasant feeling about it.

Su Shi couldn't explain it.

However, seeing the other three fooling around in the convenience store, she felt relieved. It was good that everyone was alright; this little team could continue like this, which wasn't so bad.

When Su Shi saw her reflection in the glass, her memory instantly returned to more than ten days ago.

It was around the beginning of June, I think.

At that time, she was devastated by the truth Xiangzi told her. She took leave from work and stayed at home, unwilling to go anywhere or to fight the witch in order to obtain the necessary seeds of lamentation.

Even though the Soul Gem was almost overflowing, she thought, "So be it, let it be. Anyway, I have no value in living."

Just when she thought she should just stay home and rot, someone rang the doorbell.

When she opened the door, she found Xiangzi standing outside.

The Tale of Reincarnation: Bonds - Chapter 673 A Place to Stay

Xiangzi was outside the door.

Are you dreaming?

Su Shi closed the door, rubbed her eyes, and then opened the door again.

With blue hair and a slight height below him, he exuded aristocratic elegance in every gesture, and the captivating charm in his eyes could easily enchant anyone...

I'm not dreaming, it really is Xiangzi.

But...why?

Having said such cruel things, told me such a cruel reality, and then so cruelly tried to sever ties with me, why does she still appear in front of me now?

“Xiao Xiang…” Su Shi opened her mouth, uttering a hoarse voice like that of someone who had struggled in the desert for days, “Why… are you here…?”

to be frank.

When Su Shi saw Xiangzi, her first reaction was anger.

She had tried so hard but couldn't win Xiangzi back, so why did Xiangzi suddenly come to her door? She didn't want to see Xiangzi anymore, didn't want to see the person who had hurt her appear in front of her.

Thinking that way was too selfish, so she forced herself to stay alert and didn't show the disgust that emanated from the depths of her heart.

However, words of rejection and sarcasm were brewing within her, and she planned to immediately shut Xiangzi out no matter what he wanted to say to her.

"I'm sorry." Xiangzi suddenly bent down and said solemnly, "I'm very sorry for what I did to you before."

"Eh?"

Su Shi looked at Xiangzi and stammered.

"Xiao Xiang...you..."

"Why...why are you still..."

"...I was acting a bit strange at the time. I took the medication and became very extreme," Xiangzi said, head down. "I'm sorry for saying bad things to you."

"...Take medicine?"

"Yes, I was very mentally unstable at the time and needed to take medication to balance it out," Xiangzi said in a low voice. "After taking the medication, I would become excited. I'm not trying to make excuses, but if I hadn't taken the medication at the time, I probably wouldn't have even had the strength to step out of the house. I did it to come find you... I didn't expect it to turn out like that."

Su Shi was stunned.

Although she had fantasized that Xiangzi would seek reconciliation with her, when the fantasy became reality, the emotional turmoil she felt far exceeded her expectations. The sarcasm and rejection she had been holding back suddenly turned into a jumbled mess, like a ball of yarn that had been played with by a cat. The words that came out were also fragmented and could not form complete sentences.

What should she do?

Su Shi was so anxious she wanted to jump up and down, but on the surface she still looked lifeless.

"Come in first." Su Shi turned and walked through the door, leaving the door open for Xiangzi.

Xiangzi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Indeed, this is the fastest way." She muttered to herself as she entered Su Shi's house.

Xiangzi changed into slippers, sat on the sofa in the living room, and quietly waited for Su Shi to boil water and brew black tea.

A few minutes later, Su Shi brought up two cups of Earl Grey tea and placed one of them in front of Xiangzi.

"Is what you just told me true?"

"Yes." Xiangzi nodded. "It's true."

"So...those words were just said in anger? What, 'I only think about myself' and such?"

"..." Xiangzi scratched his face, and finally told the truth, "It wasn't all said in anger."

Su Shi's face visibly darkened.

"Me?" Xiangzi picked up his teacup and took a sip. "I've been through a lot lately, both good and bad."

She put down her teacup and continued speaking.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal to do it for yourself,” Xiangzi added. “Who doesn’t live for themselves? Altruistic behavior actually promotes the conditions for the continuation of the species. In order to ‘reward’ themselves, the brain has evolved the function of secreting substances that make people happy when performing altruistic behavior, satisfying their emotional needs, which is also a kind of selfish behavior. Aren’t people selfish? So your thoughts are perfectly normal.”

Su Shi was stunned by her words and nodded blankly.

She suspected that Xiangzi was deliberately making it so complicated, but she had no evidence and didn't know if what Xiangzi said had any scientific basis. In any case, it had the effect of bluffing.

She admitted that she was impressed by Xiangzi's "everything is under control" demeanor. This was the same Xiangzi who had led them before, and all that familiar feeling came back.

Su Shi raised her head and glanced at Xiangzi.

Unlike himself, who looked messy and disheveled after not taking care of himself for several days, Xiangzi looked radiant and particularly dazzling.

Even when apologizing sincerely, there's still a hint of arrogance, a deep-seated reluctance to bow down.

Perhaps this is the real Xiangzi.

Arrogant to the point of being annoying, yet impossible to look away from.

Su Shi tugged at the hair at her temple and gently bit her lower lip.

Is that all you wanted to say?

"Probably," Xiangzi said, "more or less."

"So do you think Crychic can come back?" Su Shi said. "If you think selfishness isn't shameful, I want Crychic back, okay?"

"Do you think you still need Crychic?" Xiangzi suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Su Shi frowned. "I just want a place to stay, what's wrong with that?"

“But you already have a place to call home,” Xiangzi said. “Haven’t you noticed how many messages that pink-haired girl you hate has sent you these past few days? I know you’ve blocked her. Take out your phone and unblock her from your blacklist.”

"See how much they care about you."

"......"

Su Shi took out her phone and removed the group chat from the blacklist again. In an instant, the notification box was filled with 999+ red dots.

"What exactly is she trying to do?" Su Shi raised an eyebrow. "She's clearly just a newbie trying to curry favor with someone powerful."

"The newbie you're talking about who's trying to latch onto someone's coattails actually risked his life to protect the lamp a while back."

"what?"

“She almost lost her life; if it weren’t for the senior members of the community center who saved her,” Xiangzi said.

Su Shi turned her head to the side.

"so what."

“I’ve told Ai Yin your address.” Xiangzi stood up, left a Seed of Lamentation on the table, and turned to walk towards the door. “Use the Seed of Lamentation quickly. Your Soul Gem is in danger. I have other things to do. Excuse me.”

The implication was that they should have a proper chat later, and he wouldn't get involved.

"Eh?"

Su Shi only realized what had happened after Xiangzi had put on his shoes, left his house, and disappeared without a trace.

How did she know where her home was?

"Xiao Xiang, wait!"

Su Shi, wearing slippers, stumbled to the door, only to find not Xiangzi, but a silly face.

Pink-haired girl stood at her door, leaning on her knees, panting, and said:

"I've finally found you—"

"Su Shishi!"

Two pink-haired faces overlapped, and Su Shi realized that she was not actually at home, but had been abandoned in some unknown suburb.

Aiyin held out the oat yogurt she had just bought from the convenience store to herself.

"Even though you didn't say what you wanted, I still bought some food to fill my stomach without permission," Ai Yin said with a silly grin.

But when I waved it in front of Su Shi, she didn't react at all.

It's not that he doesn't like it, is it?

Ai Yin felt uneasy and said in a low voice:

"...If you don't like it, I can take care of it for you."

Su Shi frowned, grabbed Ai Yin and handed her the oat yogurt.

"I didn't say I didn't want it."

The Tale of Reincarnation: Bonds - Chapter 674 The Used Wish

After leaving the convenience store, they took a few minutes to confirm their location, then found the nearest train station and took the train back to Shinjuku.

Finding a place to eat in Shinjuku isn't difficult, but the prices are a little bit expensive for a high school girl.

However, the rich lady who lives in a high-rise duplex said that this meal was on her behalf, and the pink-haired girl suggested without any hesitation, "How about we go eat all-you-can-eat barbecue?"

Then I got a flick on the forehead.

"Are you deliberately trying to extort money from me?"

"How could the young lady of Tsukimori possibly care about such a small amount of money?" The pink-haired girl covered her head. "My suggestion was perfectly reasonable!"

"How dare you say that?" Su Shi grabbed her face and pulled it to both sides. "I remember clearly that glass of Earl Grey you drank when we first met."

"Sniffly and petty—waaaaaah—!!! I'm so angry! Oh my god!"

"Push harder," Li Xi chimed in, adding fuel to the fire. "I've been annoyed with this guy for a long time."

"It feels really nice," Su Shi said. "Li Xi, do you want to try it? It's like a marshmallow."

"Oh? I'll give it a try."