Hurts… it hurts so much.
The sharp pain in her bleeding knee made the little girl wince, her body trembling in waves, as if even the slightest touch could cause the wound to gush more blood.
Her jet-black hair was a tangled mess, falling over half of her tiny face. Strands looked as if they'd been yanked violently from her scalp, leaving behind a burning sting that ached deep under the skin.
On her thin arms, fresh claw marks still bled, bright red and glistening, like cruel slashes that even time hadn't had the chance to heal.
The pain didn't just torment her body, it clawed deep into her fear.
She curled into herself instinctively, trying to shrink away amidst the vicious circle around her—
In the face of those cold stares and twisted smiles, she seemed so small, so heartbreakingly fragile...
"..."
"… Drip… drip…"
Tears silently streamed down her burning cheeks, each droplet hitting the cold ground with a soft, hollow sound—
Like the ticking of a clock, counting down the slow descent into despair.
Maybe… she wanted to cry out loud.
Maybe she wanted to scream until her lungs gave out, just to release the pain tightening around her chest.
But… in front of these people, fear had already crushed her voice.
All she could do was bow her head in silence, letting her tears fall, soaking her chin and the hem of her shirt—
Like her helplessness slowly draining the life out of her.
But even if she screamed at the top of her lungs…
Would anyone listen?
Would anyone… come to save her?
No one…
"..."
On the other side, a maiden was hastily taking each step,
Kyouno didn't even know why she suddenly felt drawn to this scene.
All she knew was that, by the time she realized it, her legs had already carried her here.
And when she finally got closer, and the scene before her came into clear view—
She froze.
Now, Kyouno could clearly see the group of children forming a half-circle.
A bunch of kids—boys and girls alike. Each one with porcelain skin and perfectly painted lips.
They wore strange, yet startlingly refined clothes.
The fabric wasn't silk or brocade like the kind Kyouno was used to, but it shimmered, smooth and flawless, as if woven from threads of heaven.
One girl wore a short skirt that barely reached her knees, the sheer fabric adorned with stylized floral patterns embroidered in glittering silver thread.
Another had shining earrings, rainbow-colored rubber bangles on her wrists, and fingernails painted red, green, and purple—sparkling like pearls.
Their hair was curled in all sorts of shapes, and some even dyed it in vivid blues and reds, unfamiliar, eye-catching.
The boys were even stranger. One had a shirt embroidered with a massive monster,
While another wore one covered in weird, twisting symbols that looked like oversized spell marks plastered arrogantly across his chest.
Even though all of them looked bizarre and foreign, the sleekness and meticulous detail of their outfits gave Kyouno the undeniable impression—they were of very high quality.
Kyouno's gaze shifted slightly, stopping on the small child curled up in the center of the tight circle, looking as if a light breeze could carry her away.
She had seen the girl from afar, but it wasn't until Kyouno got closer that she truly noticed the frailty etched into every inch of the girl's body. A thin, almost skeletal frame, as if her flesh was barely held together by skin.
Her hair was a tangled mess, covering half her face, and even from this close, Kyouno still couldn't clearly see the girl's expression.
The clothes she wore were just as foreign to Kyouno as the elaborate outfits of the children around her
But they came from an entirely different world.
There was no shine, no refinement, no embroidered flowers or silver thread. Just a piece of old, worn fabric, riddled with clumsy stitch marks. Upon closer inspection, threads had unraveled, fraying like a rotting net gnawed by rats.
Now, both the girl and her clothes were covered in a layer of filthy dust and sand.
Her shirt was disheveled, torn at one shoulder, revealing a thin arm covered in red, bloody scratch marks, brutal, malicious.
Her pant leg was ripped wide open, exposing a scraped knee with blood seeping through the fabric underneath.
Even though Kyouno had suffered far worse injuries in battles with monsters or from overtraining, she couldn't explain why, but seeing those wounds etched into that frail little body made her chest tighten painfully.
A strange ache spread through her, not in her flesh, but as if something were cutting deep into her very soul.
It was unfamiliar… yet eerily familiar.
Suddenly, from within the circle, a blonde-haired girl stepped forward.
Kyouno's eyes narrowed.
She immediately noticed that girl gaze—that arrogant, venomous stare full of contempt, disgust, and mocking amusement, like a cold blade twisting into the small girl's body.
The poor child must have sensed the approach. She slowly lifted her head—her expression filled with panic, still too confused to understand what was happening when—
"Smack!"
A sharp, jarring sound tore through the stifling air.
Kyouno froze.
The little girl hadn't even gotten a good look at the one approaching.
And Kyouno, too, had no time to react before it all happened.
By the time she came to her senses, all she saw was this:
One side of the girl's cheek now bore a red, burning handprint, trembling from the pain.
That girl… had just slapped her?!!
While the little girl was still in shock from the first slap, that girl, with scornful eyes and a voice sharp and sour like vinegar, spoke up:
"Hmph! Crying, are you?" Her voice rang out, harsh and venomous, like needles pricking into flesh.
"Filthy, pathetic trash like you always pull that fake crocodile tear stunt to hide your rotten nature, don't you?You think you can just cry your way out after stealing from me?!
Dream on!"
Her shrill shout sliced through the air like a second slap.
Behind her, the group of children immediately joined in, their voices high-pitched, mocking, laced with cruelty:
"That's right! You stole from our Himeko and still have the nerve to stand here sobbing?"
"Trash like you asking for forgiveness? Shameless!"
"Tch, someone like you daring to touch Himeko's things, are you begging to die?"
Each word, each stare was like a sharp blade cutting into the little girl's trembling heart. She lowered her head, her whole body shaking. When she finally spoke, her voice was so weak it was barely audible:
"I… I didn't… steal… I…"
"SMACK!"
Before she could finish, a second slap landed—this time harder, more vicious.
A bright red mark bloomed on the opposite cheek, mirroring the first. Her small face was now flushed, swollen from pain.
....