[You asked about the circumstances of Ibuki Yuko's death, and Ichinose Shiori told you that the girl drowned in the river in front of a nearby subway station before dawn today.]
Memory scenes appear.
In March, the temperature has risen a lot compared to the winter vacation, but it is still not warm, especially at night.
Minami Yuki took two steps back, let Ichinose Shiori enter the room, and poured her a cup of hot tea.
It was dark outside the window and it was already nine o'clock in the evening. Nan Youxi was glad that Chishou Kazumi did not stay overnight, otherwise the topic would have to be about her.
Ichinose Shiori took a sip of the steaming tea. She looked tired, her back was no longer as straight as before, and she sat crookedly on the carpet.
She added: "I don't know if it was suicide or an accident. She went out shopping yesterday afternoon and then disappeared. I sent people to look for her nearby but couldn't find her. I then sent people to look for her near this apartment building and only at daybreak did they find her hat floating on the water and fish out her body."
Minami Yuuki sat down next to Ichinose Shiori. He was very familiar with the river the girl was talking about. In another month, the cherry blossoms on the riverbank would bloom.
He thought of Ibuki Yuko, the doll-like girl floating in the river between two rows of cherry trees. What kind of expressions will tourists who go to see the cherry blossoms next month make when they see the cherry blossom petals floating on the river
He looked at Ichinose Shiori: "You have tried your best."
"No need to comfort me." Ichinose Shiori tightly grasped the water cup in her hand, staring at the light and shadow at the bottom of the cup. Her palms and eyes seemed to be struggling with something, revealing a sense of anxiety.
Nan Youxi gradually realized that the girl's expression was not because of Ibuki Yuko's drowning.
"It's my fault. It was my interference that harmed her. I'm sorry to you too." Shiori Ichinose put down the water cup abruptly, she turned her head and looked at Minami Yuki.
The moment their eyes met, she dodged, her heart was shaken greatly.
She lowered her head and looked at the artificial pattern of the laminate flooring. The pattern, a crude imitation of natural wood grain, was too regular. Her eyes passed over the patterns and the confusion in her heart was slightly suppressed.
Nan Youxi said at the right time: "What's the point of saying such things? I can't do better than you when it comes to Ibuki Yuko."
"No, you can do better than me." Ichinose Shiori said firmly.
Nan Youxi was very surprised, wondering where the girl came to such a conclusion.
Under his gaze, Shiori Ichinose revealed the torment she was experiencing:
"I had a feeling last year. Two years ago, I shouldn't have acted so rashly. I thought I was helping Ibuki-senpai, but that might not be the case. No, it's definitely not the case!"
She looked up at Nan Youxi: "Nan Jun, do you remember two years ago, I arrogantly asked you not to threaten Ibuki Yuko again."
"Remember." Nan Youxi wanted to say something witty, but before she said it, she thought of the river that would reflect the cherry trees, and gave a normal answer instead.
"You asked me why I came to you. I told you, I can't remember the exact words, but I found the weirdness of your relationship through observation, and deduced that you were coercing Ibuki-senpai. I have already verified it with Ibuki-senpai and obtained her consent."
Ichinose Shiori spoke quickly and her words were a little messy, and as she spoke, the confusion on her face deepened.
Minami Yuxi frowned. When Ichinose was halfway through his words, he had a vague guess.
Ichinose Shiori's next words confirmed his guess.
"Ibuki-senpai didn't acquiesce. I asked her three times, one week apart, from mild to severe, from hints to direct statements. Each time, Ibuki-senpai shook her head in denial. The last time, I asked the homeroom teacher to call her to the office during class. I asked her directly if she was threatened by you. She shook her head before I finished speaking and told me to leave her alone."
Ichinose Shiori continued, "At the time, I thought that your coercion frightened her so much that she resisted my intervention. So I turned around and questioned you. I was afraid that you would not admit it, so I lied to you and said that Ibuki-senpai had acquiesced."
"That's the fact." Nan Youxi said.
"External facts are not the inner truth!" Shiori Ichinose let go of the teacup, placed her palms on her knees, clenched them, and tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes.
She lowered her head and wiped away the tears on her face: "At that time, I thought that I was a person who upholds justice, a knight who rescued Senior Sister Ibuki, but was I really prepared to help Senior Sister Ibuki? Maybe I was just satisfying my childish, twisted, and ridiculous desire to enforce justice!"
Nan Youxi didn't say anything. He stood up and opened the window beside the bed. The cool evening breeze failed to dispel the heat in the room, and he could clearly feel the burning sensation in his body.
He sat back at the low table. Ichinose Shiori sobbed for a while and then spoke again.
"Even after I questioned you that time, you told me that you were helping Ibuki-senpai, I still stubbornly maintained my righteous stance. I felt that your approach was wrong and that I could help her better. You later told me that I had unknowingly chosen the same approach as you, and I felt ashamed, but I stubbornly felt that even if I chose the same approach as you, I could do better than you!"
"You really did a better job than I did."
"I didn't! Because it was wrong from the beginning!"
Ichinose Shiori's voice became louder and louder. She raised her neck, not as if she was talking to Minami Yuki, but as if she was confessing to the victim. She knelt on the floor and stated her crimes.
"Recently, I have clearly sensed the problem. Would Ibuki-senpai, who doesn't care about anything and accepts everything, really help you conceal the crime just because of your coercion? She told me that time not to interfere in her and your affairs. That was the only time I heard a clear refusal from her!"
"That's just your guess."
"Please don't run away! Even I can muster up the courage to sit in front of you and confess to you, please also correct your attitude and face Ibuki-senpai's feelings!"
The two fell into a long silence. The evening breeze blew the curtains and the lights cast distorted shadows on the windows.
Ichinose Shiori's deep voice suddenly rang out: "She wanted to be coerced by you, she hoped to be coerced by you, you should have continued and lived happily together one day, it was me who ruined everything, Ibuki-senpai's death is my responsibility. From that river, you can clearly see your apartment, she came to see you!"
After saying that, she fell to the ground and burst into tears.
Sorry for being late, this chapter took a while to write. I recommend this book carefully - "I heard that I will be a world-destroying demon in my next life", a pseudonym of an old author, absolutely wonderful!
Introduction: Lin Buga is just an ordinary disciple of Changchun Sect who is at the fourth level of Qi Refining. He has no power or influence and his aptitude is mediocre.
He was content with what he had, thinking that he would spend his whole life planting magical herbs in his own sect, find a good girl who liked him, and live an ordinary life.
Unexpectedly, a cold and beautiful girl descended from the sky and asked him if he knew a demon.
"Girl, why are you looking for that devil?"
"That devil will destroy my sect and all living beings in his next life. I and the Dao Protector League will reverse the long river of time and return to six thousand years ago to avoid his divine machine. I swear that he will never have another life!"
Lin Buhua thought this was a serious matter, so he tried his best to help the other party.
It turns out... this devil was me in my previous life?!
(End of this chapter)