NOVEL WEB Chapter 53: Yo, Are You Feeling Guilty?
The next day, the sun was shining brightly, scattering warm rays onto the street, adding a touch of gentle color to this pale world.
On the main street, Shu, holding an axe in his hand, quietly walked up to a car parked askew by the side of the road. He peered inside through the glass.
Hmm, a family of four, all present and accounted for.
Shu narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the people inside the car.
A man and a woman were in the driver and passenger seats respectively. Although their faces were rotten beyond recognition, Shu could still make out the woman based on her long hair.
Their clothes were a little dirty, but there wasn't any blood on them. Looking at the backseat, two zombies, one big and one small, were crawling around in a twisted, dark manner while screeching.
They also seemed to be two girls, probably sisters who were about five years apart in age.
Unlike the front seats, the two in the back were incredibly disheveled. The younger sister had blood stains on her face and collar, but other than the blood, she was still somewhat presentable. On the other hand, the older sister was covered in blood. Her clothes were torn and messy.
Shu subconsciously glanced at the older sister's torn collar. Sure enough, he saw a pale expanse of… ribs?
Zombies are truly magical creatures. They can still move even with a chunk of flesh missing.
"Shu." Kiana's curious voice came from beside him, drawing away Shu's attention. In the instant Shu raised his head, Kiana took the opportunity to squeeze past him, pushing him aside to peer curiously through the glass herself. "Let me see!"
Shu looked at Kiana speechlessly, his lips twitching, "What do you think I could see?"
"Tch, I thought there'd be something good to look at." Kiana straightened up, disappointed, after watching for a while. "I thought you'd be looking at car stuff or boob stuff…"
"Cough cough!!" Shu coughed abruptly twice, then looked at Kiana in shock. He also stole a glance at Mei not far away, then lowered his voice, "What are you thinking?! Why do you know about…"
"Why can't I know?" Kiana frowned, then raised an eyebrow, a sly smile suddenly appearing on her face. "Oh~ you're shy?"
Shu's face flushed red, but he still straightened his back and looked Kiana in the eyes, "You shouldn't say it out loud in public, you know? What would people think of you if they heard?"
Kiana was silent for a moment, then looked around, before silently turning her gaze back to Shu. Though she didn't say anything, Shu could already read "Are there any strangers around here? Is this the first time you've met me?" on Kiana's face.
Shu: "…" So, I'm not considered a stranger anymore?
Seeing Shu's speechless expression, Kiana suddenly laughed, and patted Shu on the shoulder. "Okay, I know what you're thinking. You want to say 'Oh, you should be a bit more reserved as a girl, you should act like a girl,' right?"
"I've heard those words so many times already. You're not the first one to say that." Kiana waved her hand nonchalantly. "Compared to those people, what you say sounds much better."
Shu was silent. My words sound better?
Kiana seemed to have opened a floodgate of words. She simply pulled Shu over, and the two squatted together by the car, using its shadow to stay out of the sun.
"Actually, I've listened to everything you guys have said. I understand what you mean." Kiana picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it far away. "But I really don't want to be like that. It's too tiring. I wasn't originally like that, so why do I have to learn to act that way?"
"You can't just go against them for the sake of it, though?" Shu retorted. He had a strange feeling that Kiana was the type of rebellious person…
"How is that possible!" Clearly, Kiana wasn't. She looked at Shu with a strange expression. "Isn't that just being rebellious? I don't want them to say that I'm an immature little girl anymore! I'm already an adult who can support myself!"
Kiana straightened her back proudly. Shu's peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a very average-looking Shenzhou woman walking by. He stiffly turned back and echoed her words, "You're right, you're not small anymore."
"Hmph." Kiana smugly rubbed her nose. "So, I just act the way I want. If I like someone, I'll put on a show and not let them see anything they dislike. But if they're strangers, I won't put on an act. I am who I am, why should I try to please them?"
"But your social life…" Shu thought of another problem. Would Kiana's social life suffer if she only stayed in her comfort zone?
But quickly, Shu rejected the idea.
This isn't Shenzhou, where even Hawking has to stand up to toast. Kiana is capable, she doesn't need to rely on connections, and she's a social butterfly anyway. She wouldn't have any trouble talking to people.
"I have Mei! Mei is so good to me!"
Okay… there's also that relationship… Her "aunt" isn't simple, either, and her "aunt's" grandpa is a… heavyweight.
Shu suddenly felt like he and Kiana had lost their common language.
"Actually, these problems don't really bother me as much as they do Mei and the others," Kiana suddenly changed the topic, shifting the focus to other people.
"Mei?" Shu was a little puzzled, but then the story Mei had told him "once" surfaced in his mind, making him understand. "Is it the pressure from Mei's family?"
Kiana nodded vigorously several times, then leaned close to Shu's ear, and whispered, "Let me tell you, I already heard about Mei's name when I first transferred to Chiba Academy."
You had your eyes on her from that time?
Shu was shocked. So, it was premeditated?!
Kiana didn't notice that Shu was misunderstanding her. She continued, "Back then, everyone called Mei 'The Lightning Queen'. People were saying things like, 'Oh, so what if she's the Lightning Queen? She looks so cold, it feels like her gaze could kill me,' and stuff like that."
Shu glanced at Mei not far away, a question mark slowly appearing above his head.
"It's weird, right? Right?!" Kiana read the confusion on Shu's face and felt like she had found common ground. "Mei is not like that at all!"
Shu nodded, but a scene of a horned, otherworldly woman opening her arms and yelling "Answer me! Elysia!" in the Elysian Realm slowly surfaced in his mind.
"Yeah, she's not like that," Shu lowered his head, feeling a sense of guilt for the first time.