Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

Soon, noon approached. Saori Tsuruyo carefully held the last grave incense stick and left the auditorium.

The moment she stepped outside, the grave incense flickered, but it was just a flicker, and then it returned to its normal state.

"The sun is so bright… I can barely open my eyes."

Saori Tsuruyo didn't dare to raise her hand to shield her eyes. Both of her hands were holding the grave incense, and a thermometer was strapped to her leg.

On the playground not far away, a child with greyish-black skin… no, it had already turned into a baby. Its eyes were screwed shut by the intense sunlight.

It could only stumble around blindly, like a headless fly, with no discernible pattern to its movements.

Saori Tsuruyo quickened her pace, not daring to linger outside, afraid that something unexpected would happen.

When she arrived at the infirmary door, she discovered a very obvious abnormality.

The door was open. There were several crimson handprints on the window. Judging from their size, they seemed to be the handprints of a woman.

"I can't go through the door. I have to climb in through the window."

Saori Tsuruyo found the window, opened it, and carefully climbed inside.

As soon as she entered the room, a strong stench of decay hit her.

"It seems like I stepped on something… something soft."

Saori Tsuruyo looked down and saw the headless corpse of a woman. Judging from her clothes, she was one of the trainees who had left.

Saori Tsuruyo looked left and right. There were a total of six headless female corpses in the room.

They were the six people who had left that morning.

"How did they get here? Didn't Big brother say that we absolutely shouldn't go to the infirmary?"

"No, they shouldn't have come here on their own. Based on their behavior this morning, all of them just wanted to leave this ghostly place as soon as possible. They wouldn't get anything by coming to the infirmary. There was no need."

"It was a ghost who led them here… but that isn't the key."

"Big brother had escaped the infirmary before. So it's possible to infer that there were ghosts here, and quite a few of them at that, and they were very dangerous."

"They all died here…"

Saori Tsuruyo glanced at the grave incense in her hand. It wasn't shaking at all, which meant that there were no bizarre entities around her.

That was strange… why did the notebook insist that she had to bring the grave incense?

"I understand now. They were led into the infirmary by a ghost, so that ghost is outside of the auditorium, not in the infirmary. The ghosts inside the infirmary were probably released a long time ago…"

"This is bad news."

Saori Tsuruyo felt a bit of a headache coming on. Nothing would have happened if they didn't trigger anything. Why did they have to mess things up at such a critical time?

This was no longer an issue of whether or not they listened to him. It was completely ruining Li Mo's efforts.

"I can only figure this out later. I just have to survive, and everything will still have a chance."

Saori Tsuruyo began to focus on finding the ash-covered paper that the notebook mentioned. Finally, she discovered it next to a corner of the table. It was only the size of half a palm, a blackened piece of paper surrounded by scattered ashes.

A strand of pure white hair lay flat on it, looking particularly strange amidst the ashes.

"Isn't this hair a bit too long? It's as tall as I am… no, it's even taller than I am."

Saori Tsuruyo squatted down. Just as she was about to reach out and pick up the hair, the grave incense in her other hand shook violently and burned at a terrifying speed. If it kept burning at this speed, it would be completely extinguished in less than three minutes.

"I have to leave!"

Saori Tsuruyo didn't hesitate. She put the hair in her bag and quickly climbed back out of the window without any delay.

She judged that a ghost was approaching the infirmary, and the zero-degree temperature on the thermometer also seemed to confirm this.

However, the source of the bizarre aura seemed to come only from that strand of pure white hair.

After she placed the hair in her bag, away from the grave incense, the grave incense returned to normal and no longer burned intensely.

"Phew… that was close. Were there many ghosts outside just now? I didn't dare to look. Leaving quickly was the best option in that kind of situation. I wasn't sure if the grave incense would still be effective if the ghost got close…"

Saori Tsuruyo was panting, her chest rising and falling dramatically.

It was such a simple task, just retrieving something and coming back, but it felt like she had brushed with death.

This world had gone crazy, and she was going crazy with it.

The clock showed that it was currently 12:50. It was almost time for the awakening at 1:00 stated in the notebook's prediction, as Saori Tsuruyo hadn't put the hair on Shigure Kira's head immediately after getting it back.

She had examined it repeatedly, but she hadn't found anything strange about it, no matter how she looked at it.

"Should I do as the notebook says and make Shigure Kira wake up exactly at 1:00 PM?"

Saori Tsuruyo pondered, but then a thought flashed through her mind: what if Shigure Kira lost the chance to wake up if she missed this time?

She had no choice. She had to complete the burial, so she couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

She could only trust the notebook.

Saori Tsuruyo straightened the pure white strand of hair and gently placed it on Shigure Kira's head.

Soon, a strange change happened. The pure white hair seemed to have come alive, burrowing into the hair follicles on top of Shigure Kira's head like a threadworm, becoming one with the countless other strands of hair.

"An ahoge? It's…it's kind of cute. Shigure Kira probably won't blame me, right…"

Saori Tsuruyo scratched her head. Shigure Kira's style seemed to have become strange.

There was a pure white ahoge on her head of sky-blue hair.

It looked cute, but it was a dangerous change, subtly growing stronger.

When the pure white hair became a part of Shigure Kira's hair, subtle changes occurred in her body.

The hole in her neck quickly healed, just like with the bizarre entities.

But unlike the bizarre entities, her skin was still healthy. Her face was even more rosy and smooth, as attractive as if she had just taken a bath.

The notebook didn't lie. Shigure Kira's condition was indeed very good.

"Ugh… Did I die? Is this… the auditorium?" Shigure Kira's consciousness was hazy. She slowly opened her eyes and glanced at her surroundings. She didn't immediately notice that there was someone next to her.

Because some were dead, and some had left, only Saori Tsuruyo was standing behind her.

"Captain Shigure Kira, you're not dead. I used some…uh, bizarre methods to revive you. I hope you can forgive me. Because I need you now. Big brother also needs you."

"Many things have happened while you were unconscious. Now, besides you and me, everyone else is already dead."

Saori Tsuruyo said dejectedly, lowering her eyes.

"Where's he?" Shigure Kira asked.

"Big brother is also dead."

"…"

Shigure Kira opened her mouth, her pupils clearly trembling.

"Is that so… he also died. It's all my fault. If I had been more careful during the watch…"

Seeing Shigure Kira's dejection, Saori Tsuruyo didn't disturb her. After a few minutes, she stated her purpose:

"Before Big brother died, he told me about the process and details of the final ritual. As long as we follow the process step-by-step, then we'll be able to complete the burial safely. I can't do this by myself, so I borrowed Big brother's notebook and used it to revive you."

"…" Shigure Kira was silent for a moment. She frowned slightly and suddenly had a hint of displeasure on her face, "Can you stop calling him Big brother? It's annoying."

"Huh?"

Saori Tsuruyo thought that Shigure Kira would have asked her what the notebook was, or about what happened while she was unconscious, or about how Big brother died.

She had never expected Shigure Kira to say such a thing?

She wasn't allowed to call Li Mo, Big brother? But that was just Saori Tsuruyo's habit. And it didn't seem to be the main point, did it?

Shigure Kira suddenly realized that her words were somewhat abrupt. She was also taken aback.

What am I saying? How she addresses that gloomy guy has nothing to do with me?

I still haven't fully recovered?

Or…is there something wrong with my consciousness?

"Sorry, I might not be completely lucid yet, since I just woke up. Saori, can you try calling him that again? I have a theory that I want to verify. Is that okay?"

"Of course. It's necessary to be fully prepared before we leave, especially our mental state," Saori Tsuruyo nodded and then said calmly, "Big brother needs Captain Shigure Kira and I to complete the last burial ritual."

After saying that, Saori Tsuruyo looked at Shigure Kira.

Shigure Kira was staring at her fiercely with a hostile expression.

Her gaze seemed to carry great malice. Saori Tsuruyo felt a chill run down her spine just looking at her.

"How do you feel?" Saori Tsuruyo subconsciously took a step back and asked softly.

"…"

Shigure Kira shook her head and answered, somewhat embarrassed, "You should just use 'he' to refer to him. It seems like there's something wrong with me. Whenever you call him Big brother, I just…"

"Want to kill you."