Asada Shino once had a few good girlfriends at school with whom she could talk about anything.
However, after the news spread that she had once killed someone, her girlfriends gradually distanced themselves from her.
They even started to give her the silent treatment, just like everyone else.
Because of this incident, Asada Shino had now closed off her heart, unwilling to trust anyone.
As long as she didn't open up and didn't have too much contact with people, she wouldn't experience a huge psychological disparity.
Without a heart, she wouldn't get hurt.
But humans are social animals; how could one stay at home forever and not face others?
Financial hardship forced Asada Shino to work part-time, stubbornly surviving in a corner of the world.
Yet, despite living so diligently, she was still bullied.
That night, she was even almost robbed of the hard-earned wages from her part-time job.
And even in the store, she was the one being bullied.
Humans are so complex.
Sometimes, they could simply ignore things, but when faced with someone weaker or of lower status, they would want to oppress them to satisfy their own negligible sense of superiority.
"Asada, I'm so tired right now. You're so late, how about you do all these tasks for me? I can treat you to a pineapple bun afterward."
A long-haired male store clerk in the shop imperiously ordered Asada Shino around.
His shifty eyes occasionally landed on Asada's cute face, and Shiina Mahiru, who was even more dazzling than Asada, like a young lady experiencing life, was his primary target for scrutiny.
Facing the "senior" who had started working at the store before her, Asada Shino, despite her unwillingness to do other people's work.
But, adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble, she silently put down the rag in her hand and walked over to help another male colleague, who seemed hesitant to speak, move things.
Seeing Asada Shino, who looked like a punching bag, Kurata, the senior, smugly smiled.
Shiina Mahiru saw Asada Shino silently doing someone else's work and couldn't help but walk over to stop her.
"Don't do it, Asada. Our job is just to be cashiers and organize shelves; it doesn't include transporting items for storage."
Saying that, Shiina Mahiru looked at Kurata with a cold face and said in a deep voice, "You should do your own work. What kind of man bullies a girl?"
Upon hearing this, Asada Shino hadn't said anything yet, but the long-haired man, Kurata, with a face full of superiority, quickly interjected:
"Hey, hey, Miss Shiina, I'm only asking her for help for her own good! Don't get the wrong idea!"
"Huh? For Asada's good? What nonsense are you talking about?"
Shiina Mahiru's eyes widened, finding this senior completely unreasonable.
Pushing his own work onto a girl was clearly bullying her, and he still had the nerve to say it was for Asada Shino's good?
How could he be so shameless?
Kurata, however, looked at the stiff Asada Shino with a smug expression and brazenly revealed Asada's secret.
"Miss Shiina, I asked her for help because I wanted her to atone! You don't know, do you? This Asada is a murderer! She personally strangled a living person!"
As he finished speaking, Asada Shino closed her eyes. She knew it would come to this.
Knowing this reason, even the kind Shiina would distance herself from her, right?
This world had no place for a murderer like her.
Even her mother and the teachers at school looked at her with fear. Who would be willing to accept someone who had taken another's life?
Hearing Kurata's words, Shiina Mahiru's eyes widened, somewhat disbelieving.
She had always been an honor student, so anything about murder naturally had nothing to do with her.
However, even if Asada Shino had killed someone, that wasn't a reason for her to take over Kurata's work!
Why should she atone by doing his work?
"How about it, Miss Shiina? Now that you know this, don't keep stopping her. This is all for Asada's good."
Kurata spoke righteously, mockingly staring at Asada Shino, while slyly eyeing Shiina Mahiru's lovely face.
He considered himself quite handsome and thought that by pulling Shiina Mahiru to his side, they could bully Asada, the outcast, together, and he could then get closer to Shiina.
His little plan was clanging loudly.
"Asada is a murderer, Miss Shiina. Do you really want to stand up for someone like that? Aren't you afraid she might hurt you or someone close to you someday?"
Looking at the senior's disgusting gaze, Shiina Mahiru's eyes turned cold, and she was about to retort.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from beside her.
"Then are you aware that the person Asada accidentally killed was a bank robber with several lives on his hands?"
Shiina Mahiru and Asada Shino instinctively turned to look at the person who had walked in, their eyes widening.
"Lin!"
"Mu-kun! Why are you here?"
"Eh, you know him?" As they spoke, the two girls looked at each other in unison, both a little surprised.
Lin Mu walked over with a smile, raised his hand to stroke Shiina Mahiru's hair, and then spoke:
"You have the nerve to say that; you didn't even tell me you were working part-time. Do you know how long I waited at your door? I rang the doorbell until it almost broke, and you still didn't answer me."
"If I hadn't run into Aoyama coming back, and she told me you were working here, I'd still be in the dark."
Shiina Mahiru's face turned red, and she lowered her head, letting him stroke her hair.
Hearing him say he almost broke her doorbell, she couldn't help but puff out her cheeks.
This guy must be planning something bad again; otherwise, why would he come to ring her doorbell?
What a big bad guy.
Lin Mu stroked Mahiru's hair, then looked at Asada Shino, whose expression was a little downcast, with gentle eyes.
"Oh, Asada, we meet again. But why do we always see you being bullied?"
Asada Shino blushed and lowered her head, completely afraid to look him in the eyes.
"Hey, hey, who are you? I didn't bully Asada; I just asked her to help move something. I'm a senior here. We're both store clerks, so what's wrong with asking a junior to run an errand?"
Kurata was furious to see the beautiful girl he had fallen in love with at first sight willingly letting a pretty boy stroke her head.
Now, hearing such words, he immediately couldn't help but jump out to interrupt.
Shiina Mahiru, however, looked at Kurata with disdain and said coldly, "Senior? You're just a part-timer too. Why make it hard for other part-timers?"
Moreover, hearing Lin Mu's words made her realize that there was another side to Asada Shino's killing of someone.
This also meant that her intuition was correct.
Asada was actually a good girl, not the vicious murderer Kurata claimed her to be.
Being mocked by Shiina Mahiru, Kurata became somewhat enraged.
"What about me? You brat, you don't know how to respect your seniors at all... Ah!"
He hadn't finished speaking when Lin Mu slapped him.
To the astonishment of the others, Kurata seemed to be hit by a tremendous force, flying up and spinning twice in the air before falling to the ground.
Kurata painfully got up, opening his mouth to spit out two teeth.
Lin Mu sneered, "Who gave you permission to yell at my Mahiru? What if you scared her?"
The male clerk next to Kurata trembled, internally complaining wildly.
Who's scarier than you?
Hitting someone without a word.
Hiss, Senior Kurata even spit out two teeth; that looks painful.
"You, a senior? You're just someone who started working part-time a little earlier than others. Where do you get your sense of superiority from?"
"And you're slandering another girl by calling her a murderer. How can you be so shameless?"
Lin Mu sneered, grabbing the screaming Kurata by the scruff of his neck, then turned to Asada Shino and Shiina Mahiru, who were covering their mouths in surprise, and smiled gently, saying:
"Sorry, did I scare you two? I really hate people like this, so I couldn't help but hit him. Don't worry, leave everything to me; nothing will happen. I'll give him a good lesson. You two continue your work."
"Also, Asada, don't do work that isn't yours. It's not easy for you to work so hard."
After saying that, he dragged Kurata, like a dead dog, and quickly left the store.