The next morning.

When Mio Ito pushed open the bedroom door and walked out of it, the woman's room was closed, presumably still sleeping.

This is to be expected, since ten years ago, the only man in the family, Mio Ito's father, the woman's husband died in the line of duty, the woman has hardly gotten up early.

- The man's name is Hiromi Ito.

He died ten years ago as a police officer.

Mio Ito didn't know how he died, but when she came home one day, she saw several men in black suits sitting in front of the desk with their heads bowed, and women who could still play the role of a gentle mother at that time sat behind the desk with a confused expression.

Seeing Mio Ito come back, the woman seemed to grasp a life-saving straw, and hurriedly said to her:

"Hey...... They say Hongshi 'xunzhi', what does this word mean? Polish? Domicile? What the hell is ......"

The woman's face is full of confusion and panic that she wants to escape from reality.

Mio Ito suddenly stopped taking out the slippers from the shoe cabinet, and looked at the black suits in amazement:

"Daddy...... Killed? ”

The man in the black suit has a solemn eyebrow, and his eyes look at his nose and nose.

For a moment, Mio Ito felt as if the air she was breathing was coming from the ground, with the heat of sulfur and lava, and her trachea seemed to be burned, and she instantly became suffocated.

Other memories of that day have faded.

I just remember that from that day on, this home slowly deformed like a swollen tumor.

A woman with only a high school education lives the life of a housewife after marriage and has almost no ability to work.

When Hiromi Ito died, she took the not-so-meagre but by no means generous pension left behind by her husband's death, and took a turn at the crossroads of her life, attracted by the churchmen who came to her door, joined a strange religion, and lived a life that became more and more decadent, like a gradually crumbling sandcastle.

Sell the original house and give the pension and most of the money from the sale to the head of the church in order to obtain "happiness in the afterlife".

Allowing himself to be manipulated by others, drinking, gluttony, indulging in cigarettes and other things that numb the nerves, the face and body that were originally beautiful are also decaying day by day.

As for Mio Ito herself, the birthmark on her face is like an innate brand.

Even in childhood, when you greet people with a straight face, you will only see a frowning face, or a line of sight that seems to be lit.

As they got older and their academic abilities gradually improved, the students did not become more polite.

On the contrary, more and more bullying is happening around me.

Punches, kicks, cigarette burns, dipping heads in buckets, cutting marks on arms with knives......

Ugly birthmarks are like dividing the line between friend and foe, and from the end of elementary school, to junior high school, to high school, Mio Ito will always be the most vulnerable person in the class to be bullied.

Pitch-black malice poured down from overhead, enveloping her firmly.

Only on rare occasions will there be a little kindness coming from the outside world - like the child named Manami Mizuhara.

…… And the manager of that bookstore, perhaps?

Mio Ito thought back to these things and washed up silently.

In order to prevent further damage to the portrait, she hid the frame under her quilt.

Gently push the door open, close the door again, and with the familiar "crunch" sound, Mio Ito walked down the iron staircase step by step, walking in the direction of Shizudai Gakuen.

Although there are still a lot of scars on his body, and there are still blood marks on his forehead that were rubbed out last night, but, unexpectedly, those places are no longer painful at all.

And—Mio Ito touched her chest, and the warmth that faintly came through the pendant seemed to carry the fresh breath of life, so that even in such a cold, she didn't feel trembling.

This strange warmth reminded Mio Ito of the person who gave her this pendant.

“…… Everything is a dream in the blink of an eye, even life and death are our illusions. ”

The words that the man said last night are still fresh in my ears, and there may be some truth worth figuring out about the emptiness in it, but for Mio Ito, the most important thing is ......

“…… Did he see through what I was thinking? ”

Mio Ito thought silently with her head bowed in the morning breeze.

The question that Xiya may have seen through his deepest psychology slowly fermented in his chest, and perhaps being in an environment of bullying would seem very pitiful to others - but for Mio Ito, that was not the most important thing.

Because there is something older and stronger in her heart.

That was her experience when she was still in the lower grades of elementary school.

At that time, the rabbit that the class had raised together was found dead in the cage.

Moreover, the death is still very miserable.

Seeing this scene the next day, the most beautiful female student in the class cried in fright, and the boys were all dumbfounded.

The only people in the class who know where rabbits inhabit and can seize the opportunity to do so are the classmates.

As a result, Mio Ito, who usually barely interacts with other classmates and has a terrifying birthmark on her face, was unanimously pointed out as the murderer by her classmates.

The teacher also acquiesced to this judgment - perhaps she already thought that this girl who sat in the back of the classroom every day with an ugly face was an eyesore.

As for the woman who was still a gentle mother at the time, she just apologized, agreed with the teacher's judgment, and even promised to transfer Mio Ito. She also subconsciously thinks that Mio Ito is the "shame" she was born with, although because of her husband, she will be a good mother, but long before Hiromi Ito died, she will project a strange gaze at Mio Ito from time to time.

Only Hiromi Ito, Hiromi Ito came to the school with Mio Ito, and said loudly to the teachers and classmates:

"I believe that my daughter will not do such a thing, and I believe that my child has the right moral values and will never harm the weak life. And your bad feelings, the bad feelings that arise about a student's appearance, seem to me to be the most wrong thing - why can't you judge it with facts? I, Hiromi Ito, as a police officer, will do my best to investigate this incident until the real murderer is found and my daughter's suspicion is cleared. ”

At that time, the figure of the man who swore to fight for his daughter was firmly cut into Mio Ito's heart like a wedge. The man's back was as straight as a benchmark, and he stood right in front of Mio Ito's vision like a straight clock tower.

And just seven days later, Hiromi Ito successfully caught the murderer who really killed the rabbit through various evidence identification and on-site investigation.

The evidence is conclusive, the child was cold-eyed by his classmates, transferred to another school and left the class, on the other hand, perhaps in the guilt of the "wronged", Mio Ito was also close to his classmates for the first time, but these intimacy could not last long, and soon returned to the cold state at the beginning.

But - whether the classmates are close or cold, Mio Ito doesn't mind.

The only thing that shook her was the man who rushed into the classroom, stood above the podium, spoke generously to the stunned teachers and classmates, and trusted him unconditionally.

Hiromi Ito.

Only him......

The body, immersed in memories, suddenly fell to the ground.

Mio Ito lay on her back on the ground, her eyes wide open, and she saw a familiar figure looking down on her condescendingly.

- It's the blond-haired bad guy.

She had a cigarette between her fingers, frowning dissatisfiedly, her high boots stomping on Mio Ito's chest, and the little girls around her laughed and surrounded the place.

"Why are you alone, the presumptuous woman with glasses last night?"

She glanced around, because she didn't see the person she wanted to see, and her face was slightly clouded.

Retracting his gaze and looking at Mio Ito again, the blonde spat and "snorted" from his nose.

“…… Tsk, it doesn't matter, you can have fun anyway. That's it for now. ”

I already had a glimpse of what would happen next.

Mio Ito didn't say a word and waited calmly.

Then, the fist rained down.