Yang Mo could not accept the reality of the bad news Yang Xia had delivered.
With a strained smile, she spoke into the phone to confirm once more. “I must have misheard you just now. Sister, can you repeat what you just said?”
“I… I can’t go to the aquarium anymore…”
Yang Xia’s answer remained the same.
Qian Ling could hear the guilt in her low tone, but if guilt were enough to fix things, there would be no need for police in this world.
Clearly, Yang Mo felt the same way.
“We already agreed on it! Why is it like this again?”
She condemned Yang Xia; in truth, this was not the first time Yang Xia had flaked on her.
“How should I put this…” Yang Xia sighed on the other end of the line before starting to explain her reason for not coming. “I was called in for a meeting with my homeroom teacher today. They said my recent test scores have dropped significantly, so I was saddled with a ton of extra homework, and so…”
Qian Ling understood the importance of academics, but she could not sit still. She leaned in toward the receiver Yang Mo was holding to join the conversation.
“It’s definitely because you’ve been playing too many games. Come on, tell us, what big title just came out on PC recently?”
“Why do you sound like a stubborn parent? Don’t go blaming a drop in grades entirely on games!” Yang Xia’s voice regained its confidence the moment she heard Qian Ling speaking.
“Then what’s the real reason?”
“…It’s because of you!”
“Huh? Because of me?”
Even though Yang Xia could not see her, Qian Ling could not help but point an index finger at her own face.
“Yeah! It’s because I’ve been worrying about your business. Recently, Yang Mo and I have been running ourselves ragged for you. You even ran to my school to disturb my studies. Isn’t that why my grades dropped?”
Qian Ling felt this was a completely baseless accusation.
‘If we’re talking about worrying, Yang Mo is the one who put in way more effort!’
Thinking this, she retorted toward the phone, “If you aren’t blaming games, you’re blaming me, right? Maybe you should reflect on whether your own ability to handle pressure is just too weak.”
“Qian Ling, you brat…!”
Seeing the two of them grow increasingly heated, Yang Mo, who had been silent for a while, suddenly exploded.
“Stop arguing! Qian Ling, Sister, just stop. What’s the point of arguing now anyway?”
Her eyes dimmed, and her voice was filled with sadness and disappointment.
Yang Xia’s attitude softened instantly. Once again, she told her, “Yang Mo… I’m really sorry.”
Yang Mo did not respond and simply hung up the phone.
She collapsed weakly onto the sofa. After brewing for a moment, she screamed at the ceiling, “Sister, you flake!”
The sound, saturated with anger and frustration, startled a flurry of fluttering noises from outside the window. There was a tree right next to Yang Mo’s window; it was likely that some actual pigeons had been frightened away by her.
Qian Ling was also startled by the sudden loud outburst, but it was not incomprehensible. They had gone to so much trouble to convince Yang Xia, only for the promise to go up in smoke.
It was even more so for Qian Ling.
‘What did I go through all that trouble sneaking into the school for?’
She could not help but feel a bit dejected as she sat down beside Yang Mo in a slumped posture. “What do we do now?” she asked.
Yang Mo replied, “We’ll go together! If she’s not coming, she’s not coming! We’re going to have a great time and take so many photos that she’ll regret this for the rest of her life!”
Not only was she speaking through gritted teeth, but she also vigorously waved her arms as she spoke.
“I suppose so…”
Qian Ling let out a sigh. ‘It’s the only way now.’
She stood up, patted her skirt, and said to Yang Mo, “Since we’re going to have fun, we need to do what needs to be done before we set off.”
Yang Mo, still lying on the sofa, did not speak. Instead, she looked at her with a dazed expression.
One look and Qian Ling knew she had forgotten.
“It’s time to change the medicine on your knee. Let’s get it over with before dinner.”
“But I don’t think it’s serious anymore. Can I skip it?”
“No. You have to follow the doctor’s orders.”
After saying that, Qian Ling left no room for refusal. She reached out a hand to Yang Mo, signaling for her to take it quickly.
Yang Mo made a series of “wuwu” whimpering sounds before eventually grabbing Qian Ling’s hand and slowly climbing up.
—
On the way back from the clinic, Yang Mo kept looking down at the fresh gauze on her knee.
She lamented gloomily, “It would have been better if I could use an adhesive bandage. I have a few with really cute patterns. Gauze is going to ruin my image in the photos.”
“Instead of that… you should worry about whether the wound will leave a scar. Although I doubt it will this time, it’s hard to say if it gets more serious.”
Upon hearing Qian Ling’s words, Yang Mo’s brain immediately stalled. She stood frozen in place like an idiot. It seemed she had never worried about such things before.
Following that, she began to scan the ground before her with meticulous detail, looking for anything that might trip her.
Qian Ling looked back and said flatly, “Sorry… I shouldn’t have scared you. Just try not to be so reckless from now on.”
“Are you going to lecture me after being mean? Qian Ling!”
Yang Mo raised a fist as if in protest, jogging to catch up with Qian Ling.
That night, before the lights were turned off to sleep, Yang Mo’s eyes were still blinking at the ceiling, looking overly energetic.
Qian Ling, still sitting nearby, saw this and said, “Careful, or you’ll be too excited to sleep.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Half of Yang Mo’s face was hidden under the covers, but Qian Ling could still feel that she was smiling as she said it.
Qian Ling took one last look at her phone before lying down. The screen showed the weather forecast.
Tomorrow’s weather — Sunny.
Humidity — Low.
‘Good.’
She shouted the word in her heart, then pressed the light switch and tucked herself into the covers.
That night, for the first time in a while, she had a nightmare. However, rather than a nightmare, it was more like a memory from the past surfacing from some corner of her mind.
This memory came from episode three of Magical Girl Viru.
‘Occasionally, there are times like this…’
Yang Mo lamented in an alleyway.
With a trace of sadness, she looked up and reached her hand out toward the gray, overcast sky, as if to catch the rain falling from above.
Although she had finally arrived at the aquarium she had long looked forward to, the sister who should have been by her side—the only sister she was willing to call family—had not shown up.
On the way back from the aquarium, an ill-timed rain began to fall.
Yang Mo had no umbrella and could only hurry through the rain with her arms over her head.
Perhaps because her thoughts were too cluttered along the way, she failed to notice a figure quietly approaching through the rain.
“Yang Mo! Look at the path to your left!”
*Tap, tap.*
The sound of footsteps stepping into puddles.
“Quickly… notice it!”
*Tap, tap, tap.*
The sound grew closer and more hurried.
“Notice it!”
*Tap.*
It was too late.
No matter how she shouted, it was all in vain.
Before Yang Mo could react, the silver-haired, red-eyed doll had already appeared at her side.
In the next instant, all that remained before her eyes was Yang Mo lying in the rain and blood, and her own hands, stained red.
‘Ah… It was me—Zero. I’m the one who killed Yang Mo.’
In a flash, pain, sadness, and despair were tangled into a mess by this shocking reality.
The doll slumped to the ground and slowly closed her eyes in the rain.
That was the entirety of Qian Ling’s nightmare.