Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lacking Any Gentleness Toward the Fairer Sex...

In the kitchen, Udo Kashiwa was washing dishes when Tomie walked up behind him, carrying a glass of orange juice.

"That hurt, didn't it?"

Udo Kashiwa turned around and gave her an unimpressed look. That was a rhetorical question; not only had she stepped on his foot, but she had deliberately ground her heel into it.

"Stepping on your foot meant I was very angry. Greeting her was because I respect you."

"Uh..."

Udo Kashiwa looked back at Tomie.

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome~"

Puzzled, Udo Kashiwa turned away, wondering why Tomie had gone out of her way to explain herself. Given her personality, shouldn't she have just stormed home in a rage the moment she felt displeased?

Tomie didn't offer any further explanation. Instead, she went into the yard to find Kayako, who was crouched on the ground interacting with Xiao Hei, whispering something inaudible.

As Kayako crouched down, the ill-fitting nature of her clothes became glaringly obvious; her wrists and ankles were exposed, and her sleeves had practically become three-quarter length.

"Kayako."

"Yes!"

Hearing Tomie’s voice, Kayako jumped up from the ground, looking nervously at Tomie on the porch. Xiao Hei, startled by her sudden movement, looked over as well.

Tomie stared down at her with an expressionless face. Kayako, afraid to meet her gaze, kept her head buried, her fingers nervously clutching at her midsection.

Under that silent observation, Kayako’s anxiety grew. The way Tomie looked at her—as if she were some object being appraised by a group of delinquents—made cold sweat bead on her forehead.

*Is... is Tomie-san trying to chase me away?*

Recalling the intimate and natural way Tomie interacted with Udo Kashiwa, a bitter feeling welled up in Kayako's heart. She knew that Tomie, as his girlfriend, must be unhappy about her—a girl who had appeared out of nowhere—suddenly taking up space in Udo Kashiwa's home.

Kayako understood this. If she were dating Kashiwa-kun and he inexplicably brought another woman home, she would be angry too. But she probably wouldn't dare say anything; if she did and that caused Kashiwa-kun to leave her, where else would she have to go?

Besides... how could Kashiwa-kun ever take a liking to a gloomy, isolated girl like her?

At the thought, Kayako felt deeply saddened.

"To... Tomie-san, I’ll leave right away..."

"I have some clothes I don't wear much. If you don't mind them, take them and change."

"...Eh?"

After saying this, Tomie didn't wait for the surprised Kayako to react and headed straight for her own house.

Back in her bedroom, Tomie pulled open her wardrobe, grabbed a few sets of old clothes, and threw them onto the bed, staring at them in silence.

A long time later, Tomie stormed into Udo Kashiwa’s house. Seeing him clearing weeds in the yard with Kayako, she grabbed him by the collar, dragged him into the living room, shoved him onto the sofa, and proceeded to beat him with a throw pillow.

Then, without waiting for a bewildered Udo Kashiwa to speak, she brushed past Kayako, who was standing by the door looking worried, and stomped back to her own house.

"Kashiwa-kun... maybe I should... go somewhere else."

Watching the hesitant and timid Kayako, Udo Kashiwa waved his hand thoughtfully.

"It’s not your fault."

Seeing Udo Kashiwa go back to the yard to continue weeding, Kayako looked at him with a complex expression, then glanced toward the direction of Tomie’s house.

*If, if only Tomie-san hadn't come to find Kashiwa-kun, if only Tomie-san...*

Before the thought could fully form, Kayako dispelled it in horror.

*Kayako, how could you think such a thing...!*

In her own home, Tomie tossed the clothes she had prepared for Kayako onto the floor, threw herself onto the bed, and covered her eyes with her arm.

*What exactly am I?*

The question of what she truly was had haunted Tomie’s mind ever since her first resurrection.

At first, she had truly enjoyed the feeling of being adored. Men would obey her every word or gesture with just a soft sentence or a casual touch. However, she didn't know when it started—perhaps after dying so many times—but conventional pursuit no longer sparked any interest in her.

She had gradually grown fond of using words to influence others, tearing apart happy couples, and watching their lives fall into ruin after their wills were twisted by her. Only then could she find a sliver of joy for her numbing heart.

At the same time, Tomie discovered that her abilities were evolving with each death. From relying on being killed to divide, to infecting others, and eventually to being able to control her cells to escape and grow a new body whenever she felt danger.

She was special. She was one of a kind.

In her heart, Tomie acknowledged this, and to preserve her uniqueness, she had even engaged in ruthless, bottomless slaughter against her own clones.

As their memories merged, Tomie had wondered more than once if she was the original Tomie or just a newly grown clone. Haunted by this doubt, she had lost count of how many households she had drifted through or how many times she had awakened in a randomly dug grave, yet she still couldn't figure it out.

Not until she died in an accident, grew a new body, and was picked up by her grandmother.

Not until she saw that boy—the one who always looked shocked when he heard her name, who was always lost in thought, who treated her like a venomous snake, always hiding from her.

He had scolded her for demanding that her grandmother prepare all sorts of extravagant ingredients, and for selling off the family's property just to please her. For that, he had even slapped her.

Anger—an all-consuming, mindless rage—drove her to release her abilities without consequence, trying to force the young Udo Kashiwa to commit suicide. What she got in return was a brutal, repeated brawl.

"Heh... not exactly a gentleman, is he..."

Recalling their childhood fights, Tomie couldn't help but laugh. If she punched him, he would kick her back. Yet, when she was being bullied by classmates to get his attention while trying to maintain her youthful form, he would pin those kids down and teach them a lesson.

That was the first time in countless deaths that she had felt what it was like to be protected by someone purely, without any ulterior motive. It was then that Tomie realized that as long as she stayed by Udo Kashiwa’s side, the hellish whispers of evil in her mind would never surface.

Especially that time in Yamazaki Alley, when he had nearly died to save her, and she had voluntarily merged her cells and flesh into his body to save him. Fortunately, her initial fear that Udo Kashiwa would be corrupted by her did not come to pass.

From that moment on, Tomie was certain: she was herself.

But now, a new doubt arose: was she more human, or more monster?

Could she and Kashiwa have a future? Could they even have children...?