After escaping from an unidentified pursuer, Yuki and Mizuo felt much more relaxed, even their breathing became lighter. After chatting with the friendly old lady at the snack shop for a while, Yuki and Mizuo finally left the shop. Before parting ways, the old lady gave them a bag of cookies to calm their nerves. Both Yuki and Mizuo didn't have many memories with grandparents. They stumbled upon this snack shop by chance, gradually becoming regular customers after getting to know it. To be honest, the snacks at this shop were not particularly tasty, and the variety was not as extensive as specialty snack stores or chains. However, the kind old lady ran the small shop in a very warm manner. Talking to her and chatting made Yuki and Mizuo completely relax, making them enjoy coming here to rest after school even more. The old lady ran the snack shop not for profit, but to keep the memories alive after her spouse passed away. Even though the business was slow, she didn't mind. She never even kept track of the accounts. As long as there was enough money to keep the shop running, and she could watch these scenes from her memories, she was content. A person's life is ultimately built on countless memories, whether they are good or bad. Just when Yuki and Mizuo thought it was safe and left the snack shop, a new figure appeared and followed them across the road. This time, Yuki and Mizuo didn't notice. Along the way, Mizuo kept trying to persuade Yuki and ate the cookies. Yuki firmly opposed it. Mizuo's argument was that when they got home, it would be dinner time and they couldn't eat them. Yuki's reason was that eating on the road was unsanitary, and walking required full attention without eating. In the midst of their back-and-forth argument, they walked into a small alley that they had to pass on the way home. This alley was not long, only about ten meters in length, extremely narrow, and could only accommodate two people walking side by side at most. This secluded alley connected two main roads with very few passersby. Just as Yuki and her friends reached the middle of the alley, someone came walking towards them from the other side of the alley. The lighting in the alley was poor, and they could vaguely see the elaborately dressed person with a cigarette in his mouth, clearly a thug. Yuki and Mizuo immediately heightened their alertness, clasping each other's hands tightly, and continued to move forward without showing fear. However, the thug stopped in the middle of the alley, blocking their path, clearly intending to not let Yuki and her friends pass. Yuki, realizing the situation, immediately turned around and intended to grab Mizuo and run, but unexpectedly there were two people coming from behind the alley, cutting off their retreat. "You're clever enough to shake off the people following you." (Thug A) The lead thug extinguished the cigarette in his mouth and stepped on it. "But you didn't expect that we have a second group of people as well." (Thug A)
"Would you like to play with us, little kids?" (Thug A)
The lead thug pulled out a pair of scissors from his pocket, while the other two thugs flanking them let out a sinister laugh together.
"What should we do…!!!" (Yuki)
Yuki Uesugi looked around, but there was no one around to help them. There was no chance of escaping forcefully either, the alley was just too narrow and the opponents had planned it well.
"What do you want from us." (Yuki)
Yuki Uesugi pretended to remain calm, opened her arms wide, shielding Mizuo behind her.
"Don't worry, little sister, we just think you two are so cute, we want to help you with a little makeover~" (Thug A)
While the lead thug said this, he kept opening and closing the scissors, making a "snip-snap" sound.
