In the dimly lit alley, the only light came from the intermittent flicker of a dilapidated streetlamp.
High-pitched, pleasant laughter echoed through the narrow space.
Pinned against the damp wall, a girl in a prestigious private school uniform—her silhouette remarkably curvaceous—struggled under the weight of a blonde girl in a messy high school sweater with her hair tied into two chaotic buns.
At a glance, the scene might have looked like a bizarre scuffle between students. However, the blonde girl wasn't using a wrestling technique; her fingers were clamped like iron around the black-haired girl's throat. In her other hand, she gripped a jagged dagger, the cold tip of the blade tracing slow, rhythmic circles near her victim's cheek.
Momo Yaoyorozu gritted her teeth, her body trembling with a mix of adrenaline and terror. She tried to break free, but her wrists had been wrenched and injured during the initial ambush. Now, she was pinned, her throat constricted so tightly she couldn't even scream for help.
Am I really going to die here?
"Hey, my name is Himiko Toga! What's yours, little sister? You're so pretty... I think I'd like to become you~" With a sickly, wide-eyed smile, the blonde girl lowered her face until she was inches from Momo's profile.
The dagger began to press down.
The next second, Toga's expression shifted. Her pupils dilated, and she suddenly sprang away from Momo, retreating two steps into the shadows.
A gasping Momo was stunned by the sudden release. She followed Toga's fixated gaze toward the entrance of the alley.
A tall, slender figure stood there, framed by the moonlight. He stood with a cocky, tilted posture, one hand pointing toward them as a low sneer vibrated in the air.
"Yaoyorozu, what kind of twisted game are you playing at this hour?"
"Wu... Wu Xuan!?"
Momo stared in absolute disbelief.
Toga's delicate face flushed with a sudden, frantic blush. She inhaled deeply, her voice trembling with a disturbing kind of delight. "That scent... I know that familiar scent! Big brother!"
She leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with madness. "Hey, I don't know why, but I feel like we're exactly the same. I really, really want to kill you. I want to see you bleed and watch you lie on the ground dead... is that okay?"
Most people would have fled in horror at such a request. Instead, Wu Xuan crossed his arms, looking genuinely intrigued. He tilted his head back as if welcoming the challenge. "Is that so? Go ahead and try."
"Really?! Oh, I'm so happy!"
Toga squealed like a schoolgirl receiving a confession from her first love. She charged at Wu Xuan, her dagger held in a practiced, lethal grip. In less than three seconds, the blade was inches from his heart.
Voom!
To Momo, the scene was a blur. One moment Toga was lunging; the next, Wu Xuan's hand was clamped firmly around the blonde girl's neck.
Because of the thirty-centimeter height difference, he lifted her clean off the ground, slamming her back against the brick wall.
"You must be from the League of Villains," Wu Xuan whispered, his voice cold and devoid of mercy. "But this level of play... it isn't nearly enough to make [The World] evolve."
He began to tighten his grip. The intense suffocation caused the dagger to slip from Toga's palm and clatter onto the pavement.
"Cough... ha... wow! That's amazing!" Toga's face was turning purple, yet her expression remained one of pure, distorted joy. "Big brother... you're nothing like the people I've killed before!"
As she uttered the last word, she whipped a second dagger from behind her back, stabbing viciously at the arm holding her throat.
CRACK!
The blade shattered into a dozen pieces before it could even touch his skin. Momo, watching from the ground, gasped. The Stand... it's even faster than it was during the exam!
"I knew it! You are special!" Toga's eyes were wild. Even with her voice strained by the chokehold, the madness in her eyes didn't dim. "I think I've fallen for you, big brother. So... can I kill you now?"
She wasn't joking. She genuinely meant every word—especially the part about falling for him.
"You're an interesting one," Wu Xuan laughed suddenly. He loosened his grip and flung her toward the alley's exit with a casual toss.
"Huh? Big brother, aren't you going to finish me?" Toga looked at him, genuinely puzzled. She wasn't relieved to be alive; she was confused by the lack of violence.
"What would I gain by killing someone like you right now?" Wu Xuan replied, looking bored.
"Hehe, big brother is so strange! But next time, I'll try my absolute best to kill you!" Toga waved a hand cheerfully before melting into the darkness of the city streets.
"Wu-kun... why...?" Momo struggled to her feet, clutching her bruised wrists. She wanted to demand why he'd let a dangerous criminal go.
The sound of heavy, disciplined footsteps echoed from the street. Within seconds, a dozen police officers swarmed the alley, led by Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi.
Wu Xuan leaned in close to Momo, his voice a low, barely audible murmur. "Because I don't give the police free credit for my work."