"All this wreckage—Su Yu, you brat, are you trying to renovate? And who's that girl? What, are you two putting on a full-on martial arts show—huh?"
Bimiko was still cursing up a storm.
Before her words even finished, that white-haired girl shot forward like a cannonball.
Su Yu didn't even have time to grab her.
Kiana rushed up to Bimiko and—without caring about the heavy smell of alcohol on her, without thinking about anything—threw herself into her arms.
Her hands clamped around Bimiko's waist, strength so fierce it was like she wanted to fuse into the other woman's body.
"Huh?"
Bimiko stumbled back two steps from the impact. The whiskey in her hand nearly spilled. She was completely stunned.
"No—wait—what is this? What's going on?"
The girl in her arms was trembling.
Trembling so violently Bimiko could feel it clearly.
Then a heart-rending sob burst out.
"Teacher Himeko… Teacher Himeko…"
Kiana buried her face against Bimiko's chest. Tears instantly soaked into the expensive silk robe.
She cried like a child who'd been lost for a long, long time and had finally found her way home—every bit of toughness, every mask, every defense collapsing in that single moment.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
"I miss you… I miss you so much…"
"Waaah…"
Bimiko sobered up on the spot.
Holding her bottle, she stared helplessly at the girl crying her heart out in her arms—then glanced at Su Yu standing not far away, a fresh streak of blood still on his face.
What the hell does this mean?!
"This…" she mouthed at Su Yu. "Did you dump her? Or did you do something to her?"
Su Yu gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
He pointed at Kiana, then at Bimiko, pressed his palms together, and made a pleading gesture—please, just play along.
Bimiko frowned.
She had a nasty temper and hated trouble most of all.
But…
She looked down at the girl in her arms.
That white hair was a mess. The clothes on her were clearly old and ill-fitting.
The crying was too miserable—so miserable it made even someone who'd never raised a kid feel their heart cramp.
And… what had she called her? Teacher Himeko?
Weird as hell.
Ugh, damn it…
She didn't know what was going on, but Bimiko could tell this girl was suffering—deeply.
That desperate, clinging dependence dissolved all the insults she'd been about to spit out.
"...Sigh."
Bimiko set the whiskey bottle down on the shoe cabinet beside her.
She hesitated, then slowly raised a hand and gently placed it on Kiana's shaking shoulder.
"Alright, alright…"
Without realizing it, her voice softened, clumsy but soothing.
"I don't know what you're apologizing for… but, uh… don't cry."
Feeling the warmth on her shoulder, Kiana clung even tighter.
She grabbed Bimiko's robe like if she loosened her grip even a little, the person in front of her would turn to ash and vanish into flames—just like in that nightmare.
"This kid's grip is insane! Loosen up, loosen up—are you trying to strangle me to death?!"
Bimiko felt like her waist was about to snap. She smacked Kiana's back hard, but Kiana couldn't hear anything anymore.
Kiana buried her face in the hollow of Bimiko's shoulder, shoulders shaking violently.
Tears soaked through the shirt beneath.
But she didn't care.
Right now, she only wanted to hold onto this warm body and cry until she had nothing left.
Her sobs gradually weakened, leaving only broken, uneven sniffles.
Bimiko guided her down onto the sofa, awkwardly patting her back, like she was calming a frightened kitten.
Then she raised her head. The drunken haze in her golden eyes had mostly cleared—replaced by a sharp, interrogator's stare.
"Alright, Su Yu." She lifted a brow. "What did you do that's so outrageously unforgivable to make a pretty girl end up like this…?"
Her gaze dropped to the bruising on the back of Kiana's hand and the obviously ill-fitting old clothes, and her eyes instantly turned dangerous.
"Sh—" Bimiko sucked in a cold breath. "Don't tell me you're a domestic abuser?!"
"Wrongfully accused!" Su Yu pointed at the bloody cut on his cheek from the glass shard, wearing a helpless grin. "Sis Bimiko, you gotta have evidence when you talk! You've known me this long—do you really think I'm capable of chopping a solid wooden dining table in half with one slap?"
He pointed at the pile of still-shocking splintered wood on the floor.
Bimiko froze for a second.
She looked at the table that had died a gruesome death, then looked at Su Yu's skinny arms and legs.
Yeah. The kid usually looked energetic enough, but there was no way he had that "rip up a willow tree" kind of freak strength.
So who did it?
This girl?
Bimiko's brain took a sharp turn, and the plot of a xianxia melodrama she'd binged last night instantly surfaced.
"Wait… don't tell me…"
She lowered her voice, gossip mode activated, and pointed at Kiana's eye-catching white hair.
"This is some old romantic debt you left behind? Like an 'hidden clan divine maiden' or a 'junior sister who descended the mountain to train'? And now she's come to take revenge?"
"…"
Su Yu rolled his eyes. "Watch fewer trashy dramas, sis. That imagination of yours is wasted if you're not writing novels."
Bimiko clicked her tongue and tried to stand.
But Kiana didn't let go.
"I need the bathroom," Bimiko said. "Human beings have urgent needs. You wouldn't want to force me to die, would you?"
The word "die" seemed to jab Kiana's nerves. She shuddered. Her grip loosened a little—still not releasing.
"I'm right here," Bimiko said, doing her best to sound gentle. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"
"…Mm."
After getting Kiana's response, Bimiko carefully eased the girl back so she could lean into the sofa.
"Alright. Looks like this is a real mess of a story." She stood up and roughly raked a hand through her chaotic red hair.
"You two handle your couple problems yourselves. I'm borrowing your bathroom—if I hold it any longer, I'm calling the cops! And if you haven't sorted things out by the time I'm back, next month's rent goes up two hundred!"
With that, she stomped off in her slippers, charging toward the bathroom.
Bang. The door shut.
The living room fell quiet again.
Kiana shrank into the corner of the sofa, still clutching the tissue Bimiko had handed her earlier.
Her eyes were swollen red. The tears had stopped, but the sorrow still lingered in her brows.
"Feeling a little calmer now?" Su Yu asked cautiously.
In Kiana's hollow gaze, a faint bit of light finally returned—thin, but better than nothing.
"…Mm."
-------
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