The person approaching was none other than Watanabe Hitomi.
The fifth-generation club president of the Supernatural Club at Tokun High School, and a senior who had just graduated not long ago—someone the three of them admired most during their school years.
Hearing the shouts, Watanabe Hitomi stopped and turned around.
Seeing that it was Kazama Yin and the others, a faint smile appeared on her usually somewhat aloof face.
“Ah, it’s you guys.”
Watanabe Hitomi walked over, her light red eyes scanning their somewhat disheveled appearances.
“How did you end up like this? Did Teacher Yuanteng catch you for special training again?”
“Senior Watanabe!”
The three juniors immediately stood at attention, like new soldiers meeting an officer.
“Hehe… we made a small mistake.” Kazama Yin scratched his head sheepishly.
“Why are you here, Senior? Didn’t you already graduate?” Hanyu Suoluo asked curiously.
“I came back to pick up some things.”
Watanabe Hitomi tightened her grip on the storage box in her arms, a flicker of nostalgia in her eyes.
“There were some old materials left in the Supernatural Club that I forgot to take before. And… I also came to say goodbye to Teacher Yuanteng.”
“Goodbye?”
Kagegaya Tsubaki keenly caught the word. “Are you going somewhere, Senior? Not going to university?”
“I still need to go to university—probably correspondence courses or night school.”
Watanabe Hitomi lifted her head and looked into the distance—toward the center of Tokyo, the heart of power.
“I’m planning to start working.”
“Where will you work?”
“The People’s Coalition Party.”
Watanabe Hitomi’s voice was calm and firm. “Senior Dao Tian… she’s now the secretary to Mr. Xiyuan Si, the leader of the People’s Coalition Party. They’re short on help over there.”
“Caihua is too swamped alone, so I have to go help her.”
“Politics… feels so far away,” Kagegaya Tsubaki muttered.
“It’s not far away, Tsubaki.”
Watanabe Hitomi reached out and gently patted Kagegaya Tsubaki’s head, just like she used to in the club.
“Before, we fought with superpowers to protect the peace right in front of us.”
“But now, if we really want to change this world, to make sure tragedies like the old government’s never happen again, relying on fists alone isn’t enough.”
“We need to struggle and change within the rules.” A light called “idealism” flickered in Watanabe Hitomi’s eyes.
“Senior Imai chose education, Senior Onishi chose documentation, and Caihua chose politics… Each of us is continuing the path of the Supernatural Club in our own way.”
She looked at the three still somewhat immature juniors before her.
“And you three—for now, just enjoy your youth and get stronger.”
“We’ll pave the way for you first.”
With that, Watanabe Hitomi glanced at the watch on her wrist.
“It’s getting late. I need to go. Caihua is waiting for me.”
She waved at the three, turned, and walked toward the school gate.
The setting sun stretched her shadow long. That back no longer looked like a high school student’s… but rather a corporate drone.
The Supernatural Club… it turns humans into demons!
“Senior… she’s so cool.”
Kagegaya Tsubaki clasped her hands over her heart, her face full of admiration.
“Yeah.” Kazama Yin clenched his fist.
“We have to work harder too. We can’t always let the seniors protect us.”
Hanyu Suoluo looked at the war footage still rolling on the news screen, then at Watanabe Hitomi’s retreating figure, and finally at his companions beside him.
“Let’s go. Time to head home.”
“Tomorrow… we still have special training.”
“Ah—don’t remind me of that!!”
The boy’s wail rang out again at the school gate, accompanied by a girl’s teasing and a helpless laugh, gradually blending into the spring evening breeze of Tokyo.
Hanyu Suoluo first said goodbye to the other two. Unlike his companions, who lived in subsidized communities, he still had both parents at home.
His house was in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
Somehow, he felt someone had been following him all the way.
Unlike Shitamachi, which was filled with post-war reconstruction and a mixed crowd, this place still maintained the dignity and tranquility of the old era.
When Hanyu Suoluo walked out of the subway station, the night wind carried a few early cherry blossom petals onto his shoulder.
High-end apartments lined the street, their lights bright. Security robots glided along the clean roads, their blue warning lights flashing.
Everything seemed safe and peaceful.
But Hanyu Suoluo stopped. The prickling sensation of being watched hadn’t faded as he entered the “rich district”—instead, it had become more brazen.
It was as if some hungry beast had locked onto his throat.
“Come out.”
Hanyu Suoluo turned and walked into a nearby dark alley under construction. His fingers had already slipped into the side pocket of his backpack.
“Since you’ve been tailing me this whole way, why keep hiding?”
In response, a strange laugh cackled back.
“Hehehe… kids these days, got such sharp senses, huh?”
The shadows at the alley’s entrance writhed. From that darkness, as sticky as asphalt, three weirdly shaped “people” emerged.
On the left, one with limbs so disproportionate they hung like a gibbon’s, the joints stitched with obvious scars, its skin a stiff, dead gray.
On the right, one with no jaw, its mouth sealed shut by thick metal staples, making a gurgling sound from its throat, and holding a rusty fire axe.
And in the middle, one that looked almost normal—except for a huge bulge on its stomach, with a “mouth” that opened and closed, dripping green saliva.
Hanyu Suoluo’s heart sank. These guys didn’t look like normal humans at all.
“Come with us quietly.”
“Dream on!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Hanyu Suoluo fired the dozens of steel nails he had already readied.
Swish, swish, swish—
Silvery streaks wove a net in the darkness, aimed directly at the trio’s vitals.
“Pathetic tricks!”
The long-armed monster screeched, its absurdly long arms flailing like rubber with incredible speed.
With a clatter of metallic clinks, it deflected all the nails.
At the same time, the stapled-mouth monster had already charged forward; the fire axe came crashing down with a howling wind.
Hanyu Suoluo gritted his teeth, forming an invisible psychic wall in front of him.
Boom!
A tremendous force hit. The psychic wall instantly cracked all over, and Hanyu Suoluo was blasted backward, slamming hard into the construction barrier.
‘The barrier I form with psychokinesis is still way too weak compared to Kagegaya Tsubaki’s.’
“Cough…”
“It’s over, kid.”
The big-bellied man sauntered over, the mouth on his stomach opening wide, spewing a cloud of green poisonous mist that stank.
“One drop of my digestive fluid, and it’ll melt that pretty face of yours.”
The poisonous mist sealed all escape routes. The long-armed monster and the stapled-mouth monster flanked him from both sides.
The cold breath of death instantly enveloped Hanyu Suoluo.
In that extreme fear and pressure, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his brain.
It felt as if a lock deep inside his mind snapped open with a click.
Countless shards of buried memories surged forth like a flood bursting a dam.
“Doctor, this child’s ability is too dangerous.”
“A dual-core cicada molt body… this is a once-in-a-million talent.”
“But his second core is too dangerous, and the cost is too great.”
“Then seal it.”
“Suoluo, remember, you are just a psychokinetic ability user… Forget it. Forget that demon that will eat away your lifespan…”
Meanwhile, in the post-war resettlement area, Sugamo.
The night here was much dimmer than in Shirokanedai. Streetlights flickered on and off, and the air reeked of the sewers.
“I told you that pineapple bun was terrible. Kazama, your taste is awful.”
“No way! Miss Meko said it was good!”
Kazama Yin and Kagegaya Tsubaki walked home side by side, each carrying discounted bento boxes from the convenience store.
“But come to think of it, is Suoluo gonna be okay going home alone?”
Kazama Yin looked back with some concern. “With his personality, if he runs into bad guys, he’ll probably try to reason with them first.”
“He’s a rich kid living in Minato Ward. The security there is ten thousand times better than here.”
Kagegaya Tsubaki kicked a small stone on the road. Suddenly, she stopped.
“Huh?”
Kazama Yin halted too, his hand instinctively resting on his sword hilt.
A thick smell of blood drifted in the air ahead.
And not the stale kind—it was fresh, warm, and heavy.
“It’s right ahead… at the entrance of our apartment building!”
Both of them turned pale and sprinted.
When they rounded the corner and reached the slightly rundown apartment building, the sight before them made them gasp.
“This… this is…”
Four or five corpses lay scattered on the ground.
Their deaths were brutal, yet clean. Some had their throats neatly cut, some had half a fountain pen stuck in their hearts, and others looked like their cervical vertebrae had been shattered by a heavy blow.
“Someone attacked the complex? But… they’ve already been dealt with?”
Kazama Yin warily scanned his surroundings, half-drawing his katana. “Who is it?”
“Over there!”
Kagegaya Tsubaki pointed toward the shadows under the apartment building.
A woman stood there, dressed in a black OL business suit, wearing round-rimmed glasses, with immaculate straight black hair.
She held a handkerchief and was methodically wiping a blood-dripping… paper knife?
Hearing their approach, she turned and pushed up her glasses.
The lenses reflected the light, making it impossible to read her expression—only her utterly blank face was visible.
“Um…”
Kazama Yin froze, his sword awkwardly suspended in midair.
That face looked really familiar.
Super familiar.
But… what was her name?
“You are…”
Kagegaya Tsubaki scratched her head too. “Have I seen you somewhere before? You feel like…”
The woman paused slightly, and a vein seemed to pop on her forehead.
“All dealt with.”
Her voice was as plain and brisk as her appearance—no ups or downs.
“These pieces of trash tried to sneak into the community. They’ve been cleaned up.”
She clicked the now-clean paper knife back, tucked it into her suit pocket, and turned to leave.
“Wait! Who are you, ma’am?”
The woman stopped, turned her head with a helpless sigh.
She faced the two kids, who looked earnest but utterly confused, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
“I am…”
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but swallowed it back.
“Never mind.”
She waved a hand, her back looking a little desolate and lonely.
There was once a girl who, even though I had been her class president for so long, still couldn’t remember my name.
The woman clicked her high heels and disappeared into the night, leaving only a figure that hid its merits and retired into obscurity.
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