I Raised the Fallen Lop-Eared Rabbit into a Yandere 23p2

Chapter 23: Repression p2

The moment Adele put down her umbrella, the light rain turned heavy.

She closed the classroom door, walked quickly to the bookshelf, and picked up the picture book that Lina had kicked away.

The dim light outlined Adele’s slightly pale profile. Her long, curled eyelashes cast two pools of shadow, but they couldn’t cover the complex emotions churning in her eyes.

The passage of time had made the cover of the picture book yellow and withered, but the content inside was still vivid and exciting.

Human preferences in certain aspects are always so consistent, able to transcend race, and even time, to resonate.

Adele flipped through it, page by page, finally stopping on the “teacher and student” one.

Her thoughts were like the out-of-control rain outside, getting messier and worse.

The vivid depiction on the page was now like a resounding slap, sending her head spinning.

She gripped the edge of the picture book, her knuckles cracking. A pair of snow-white wolf ears popped out with a “poof.”

A little white wolf with angel wings appeared before her, full of righteous indignation.

Another little white wolf with devil horns also quietly perched on her shoulder. As its eyes shifted, a wicked intent grew.

“How wonderful. The rabbit you like also likes you. This is a mutual attraction.” The devil wolf was the first to speak, its whisper full of temptation. “Don’t say you haven’t felt her closeness and affection for you.”

Adele’s body was rigid. The devil’s temptation continued:

“Admit it. You just desire her. You’ve had impulses for her more than once, haven’t you? There’s nothing wrong with that. What’s wrong with liking someone? So what if she’s your student? Are you going to kill an existing feeling for the sake of a vague identity? That’s too cruel.”

“Absurd!”

The angel wolf took a step closer and said, word by word, “She’s just a poor girl in distress! How could she not develop a dependence, a closeness, when she’s suddenly cared for? Even if it wasn’t you! She would still get close! A teenage girl, a bewildered child who isn’t even sure of her own sexual orientation, developing a strong emotional projection toward a mature woman who can protect and support her—isn’t that inevitable!?”

“That’s not love at all!”

Adele’s expression was pained.

That’s right.

That’s right.

She murmured to the air, “Lina, you’re still young. You’ll meet many more, better people in the future…”

At that time, you’ll discover that I, standing in the vast sea of people, am actually very ordinary. It’s your filter that has given me a special glow. You’re just using me as a lifeline. My life experience is far richer than yours. If I use my experience to lure you into loving me, it would be too out of line… I can’t do that.

I can’t…

The angel wolf pressed its advantage, saying, “As her teacher, as her older sister, not giving her the correct guidance and even thinking of responding to her feelings is despicable and shameless! You’re taking advantage of her trust and dependence on you, taking advantage of her when she’s at her most vulnerable and helpless! You’re just a scumbag!”

The devil wolf sneered and flew in front of the angel wolf. “Taking advantage is still getting in! Is the care she gave the rabbit fake? Of all the things she’s done, which one wasn’t for the rabbit’s good?”

A dangerous glow flickered in the devil’s eyes. Its tempting words grew even more penetrating. It drifted in front of Adele and said, “She just fell in love with you. Otherwise, why would she be jealous? She wants to possess you. The look in her eyes when she looks at you is not innocent! She has already bravely sent you a signal. Stop looking for those high-sounding reasons! The real coward is you!”

Lightning struck from the sky. Adele swayed in the blinding white light. With heavenly punishment above, she felt she should be hanging in the confessional, not struggling here.

The devil wolf clung to her face. “Your current repression and self-deception are the cruelest delay for her! Are you really willing to push her back into that abyss of despair? Do you think that after you reject her, she will still have the courage to fall in love with someone else?! Are you willing to see her be all alone from now on? Adele, or should I say—”

“Are you willing to let those rabbit ears wrap around someone else’s hand? Are you willing? Tell me! Are you willing!”

Are you willing!

Adele’s eyes widened. She turned pale under the repeated questioning.

I can’t…

She can’t.

The rabbit’s fur was too warm. Once she had experienced it, she couldn’t bear to let it go.

The devil’s words tempted her to imagine, to imagine Lina becoming someone else’s girlfriend, to imagine the little rabbit ball no longer being close to her…

No!

The heavy rain pounded on the roof. Adele’s brow furrowed tightly. Every heartbeat brought a strong, dull pain.

“This is crazy!”

The angel wolf’s voice suddenly rose. She pulled the devil wolf down and cursed, “Don’t tempt her! In the end, the one who will bear the consequences is her, not you!”

The angel’s wings brushed against the devil’s horns. A hole was immediately burned in the snow-white wings.

The devil wolf looked at the wound on her wings. The corners of its eyes, which had been smiling, were instantly tinged with gloom. Its breath was like a snake’s hiss. “Where there is desire, there must be suffering. Am I tempting her? She’s bringing this upon herself! And tell me, what consequences will she have to bear!”

The injured wings gradually dimmed. The angel wolf landed on the bookshelf. “A teacher-student relationship! A same-sex relationship! Once these feelings are brought out into the open, how do you expect them to face this world! Gossip can kill! Was the rabbit really born a homosexual? If she had the chance to live a normal life, but was led astray because she didn’t get timely guidance, when she matures in the future and looks back on this relationship, will there be nothing left but resentment for being misled!”

The devil wolf flew in front of her and grabbed her by the collar. “How is being a homosexual going astray! How is liking the same sex not being a normal person!”

“Whether it’s normal or not is not up to us! It’s what this society thinks! What’s the use of yelling at me!” The wings, which had completely lost their light, folded together. The angel took off the halo from its head. “You have to admit, following the crowd is just easier!”

The devil wolf pushed her down, got on top of her, and squeezed her neck. “I’m telling you, whoever has power has the right to speak! As long as the rabbit can achieve what society defines as success, no one can say a word! Even if there are other voices, they’ll have to keep it to themselves!”

The angel, being choked, could only let out a gasp. “I’ve said… everything I needed to say… from now on, no matter what happens… it’s all her own doing! No one else is to blame…”

It’s all her own doing!

The devil wolf’s expression was ferocious as it continued to tempt Adele.

“What I said is right. Come on.”

“Adele, come on.”

“Getting closer to me is getting closer to happiness.”

Come on—

Adele hesitated for a few moments, but in the end, she took a step toward the devil.

A crack suddenly appeared in the floor. She stepped into it, fell continuously, and then hit her head on a stone wall, bleeding profusely.

At the same time, the horns on the devil wolf’s head also snapped off. Blood gushed out, staining half of its face red.

“Ah—”

Adele woke up abruptly. She had unknowingly knelt on the floor. The picture book in her hand had been torn in half. She clutched her chest, drenched in sweat.

As if from the void, two feathers fell from the sky, one white, one black.

What choice should she make?

She was not afraid of the world’s judgment, but she also knew that words were like knives. She didn’t want to interfere in Lina’s stage of self-discovery.

If the little rabbit was ostracized by society, slandered by rumors because of her, did she have enough ability to protect her?

One shouldn’t be too selfish.

Adele reached out for the white feather, but her mind was filled with the devil’s words.

To personally sever this relationship—she really couldn’t bear to do it.

She couldn’t do it.

The hand that had reached out hung suspended in the air.

Adele couldn’t make a choice. She didn’t even know how to face Lina next.

Like before?

Staying together ambiguously was just indulging the rabbit’s fall, tantamount to hinting at her to take a further step.

Distance herself from Lina?

Adele instantly rejected this answer.

The little rabbit was naturally sensitive. If she distanced herself now, all her previous efforts would probably go down the drain.

A person who already lacked love was the least able to handle being pushed and pulled.

Adele’s entire body curled up. Her forehead was almost touching the cold floor, as if her spine had been crushed by a thousand-pound weight.

She squeezed her eyes shut, a pained whimper escaping from her throat. Her body stiffened for a moment, then began to tremble violently like a sieve.

Since transmigrating into the book, her repressed emotions had accumulated to the extreme. Her spirit finally collapsed.

Tears burst forth like a dam, pattering down. A pair of wolf ears drooped limply. The white fur lost its luster, lying limply on top of her head.

Adele didn’t wail, just sobbed softly. In this cold classroom, she tore off her disguise, no longer the reliable “teacher,” but just a helpless little white wolf.

*

It wasn’t until the latter half of the night that Adele quietly returned to the room.

She had already composed herself. The redness at the corners of her eyes was hidden in the darkness. She had once again hidden her vulnerability tightly.

The dry wood in the fireplace was almost burned out. The faint light illuminated the small, arched silhouette on the bed.

Lina was curled up in the bed curtains, motionless.

Adele stared at her back.

Should we sleep in separate beds?

After a moment, she still stepped forward and, as before, slipped into the quilt.

Forget it. Lina will let her imagination run wild.

Adele hadn’t even reached out to hug Lina when the little rabbit rolled into her arms on her own.

“Not asleep yet?”

Adele hugged her in response. The person in her arms trembled. What came before her voice were tears.

Scalding tears soaked the fabric. Adele was burned by them and propped herself up in surprise.

“Lina?!”

“I won’t look at that kind of book again. I was wrong. Teacher, please don’t hate me, okay? I really won’t look at it again! I’m so scared by myself…”

Lina was already a master at winning sympathy and pity.

“You didn’t do anything wrong!”

Adele was indeed scared. All her worries and conflicts were thrown to the back of her mind. She was so scared she held Lina tightly and lied, “I really did just go to check on the medicinal soup.”

“I’ll be very, very good.” Lina said aggrievedly, “Please don’t throw me away, please… Father doesn’t love me, and Mother passed away early. I have nothing left. I only have you, only you…”

She woodenly squeezed out two tears, her voice a pleading cry, but the hand gripping Adele’s was exceptionally strong.

Don’t run.

Teacher, don’t run.

Don’t force me to come and get you. I can’t control myself every moment. If you drive me crazy, you’ll be the one to suffer…

Let’s never leave each other.

Okay?