Even if you're a corrupted magical girl, you still have to try to redeem yourself.

"I'm here to be your teammate, not to date you. Why are you mocking me too?" Yuuki Yukino thought angrily.

Tsk, why did she have to learn to be a little devil?

She wants to pursue a teammate-oriented path, not a romantic one. Won't she go astray if she continues down this path?

No, if I really want to follow the teammate route...

Yuuki Yukino suppressed her displeasure and began to think about her next move.

"He's spacing out again. Do all the small fry become weird? Poor thing, I wonder what strange things he's thinking about. Pfft."

Seeing that Yuuki Yuki still didn't react, Helica increased the intensity.

Ugh, so annoying! I really want to argue with her! I can't come up with anything like this!

If it weren't for my intention to clear my name, or if it weren't for my intention to improve my relationship with her...

Thinking about it carefully, Helica's words seemed to make sense; her mind was indeed full of wild thoughts.

Fortunately, she was facing Helica now. If it were Mizuno Yu, she might not have been able to get away with that lie a second time.

Over the past two days, she has kept a low profile when interacting with others, always suppressing her own emotions to accommodate them, for fear of doing something inappropriate that might arouse suspicion from those around her.

Her previous conversation with Mizuno Yu was already full of holes, and today, even the less perceptive Helica sensed something was amiss. If this continues...

She always deliberately suppressed herself and deliberately cooperated with others; it seems she didn't need to do such things.

She knew very well that everything she had done so far was a deliberate act to clear her name.

She wants to get Nishio Reki's script and follow Nishio Reki's path.

Not only about historical events, but even about herself, she is constantly playing the role of "Yuki Yuki".

This is inherently unrealistic; any feelings or bonds formed by imitating others are ultimately just imitations.

No matter how closely a counterfeit item resembles the real thing, it can never truly become the real thing.

She must become a true Yuuki Yuuki before she is qualified to build bonds and talk about redemption.

Therefore, let's continue to use Yuuki Yukino's identity for a while longer.

Pshaw, pshaw, pshaw! What do you mean by "borrowing"? This is me! Yuuki Yukino is the cutest!

"Heh, I'm speechless. Useless guy, utterly useless." Helica continued to add fuel to the fire, trying to provoke Yuuki Yukino.

By the way, we need to deal with this noisy guy first.

Thinking of this, Yuuki Yukino casually knocked down the red carpet that was standing to the side, and the tilted carpet rolled up accurately and precisely, hitting Helica on the head.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I accidentally dropped my finger while I was spacing out. I was really careless today."

Helica, who had been hit, crouched down, clutching her head with both hands, her eyes glistening with pain: "You did this on purpose!"

"Oh, how could that be? Herika and I didn't have any conflict." Yuuki Yui spread her hands innocently.

"How could there be no conflict? You're just angry! Because I..." Herika sniffled, groggily getting up and rubbing her head.

"Hmm? What?" Yuuki Yukina's cheerful tone rose slightly, and she curled her lips into a subtle, meaningful smile.

"I said bad things about you!" Helica was completely defeated by the invisible pressure emanating from Yuuki Yuuki: "You, have you become even more malicious than yesterday?"

Chapter Twenty-Seven is progressing smoothly.

After thinking it through a bit, although the ultimate goal of clearing her name was definitely not changed, following her heart made Yuuki Yuuki feel much more at ease.

"You must have become malicious. You weren't like this yesterday. Such a sudden change is so strange, really so strange."

Herlica stared intently at Yuuki Yuki, as if she were watching some rare animal, without moving an inch.

Yuuki Yui didn't seem to mind the other person staring at her intently; she squinted her eyes slightly and smiled happily.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't flustered at all, but Yuuki Yuki had a premonition—no, she was almost certain—that panicking would only backfire, and the same applied to tolerating Helica the brat's behavior.

Yuuki Yui thought for a moment, then lifted her cheek and put on a kind smile: "What do you mean? Isn't Tenrai-kun completely different from yesterday?"

Speaking of changing, Helica couldn't wait to show her sissy side again: "Hmph, trash..."

Before Helica could even utter her typical brat-like statement, Yuuki Yuuki interrupted her directly: "Don't say things like that to me, okay? I still don't like brats."

Herika must have done her homework to learn it so well in just one day. Unfortunately, the little devil wasn't her type.

However, Helica did provide Yuuki with a lot of help. If it weren't for her last few words, Yuuki wouldn't have found the next step so easily, and Yuuki's feelings were also very complicated.

"You bastard! You don't like it and you still tell me..." Helica gritted her teeth, withdrawing her ambiguous and irritating expression, and became as fierce as she had been during their argument in the cafeteria on the first day.

No matter how much Helica imitates the little devil, she can't completely change her attributes overnight. Her original awkward personality will definitely still be there. To deal with this kind of tsundere variant, it's better to tease her directly than to provoke her: "Tianlei, are you saying all this to me because you want me to like you?"

"What...what are you saying! Who would like someone with salad dressing on their face?!" Helica stammered, pointing at Yuuki Yuki. She was about to say something more aggressive, but she couldn't say anything coherent for a long time. So she simply flung her hand over Yuuki Yuki and ran out of the storage room.

It seems that I bumped into a girl wearing glasses when I escaped.

Helica's behavior was too natural; it didn't seem like she had noticed anything and was deliberately hiding it. Now it's almost certain that Helica hadn't discovered anything.

So, does this mean we can go back and report?

"Wait, salad dressing?" Yuuki Yui was self-satisfied for a while before remembering Helica's last words when she ran out. She bent her finger and wiped it on her lips. The sticky feeling and sweet taste confirmed what Helica had said.

Sigh, I thought I could get my revenge, but now my image has been severely damaged.

But it's not bad either.

After Yuuki Yuki reported her midday itinerary to Inuyama Tomoe, Tomoe finally returned to her outgoing self.

"That's good! Haha, you scared me to death! I thought she... cough cough, anyway, it's good that she's alright!"

When she was with Baqi, Yuuki Yuuki never seemed to pay attention to the other's feelings and always acted according to her own ideas.

After all, there's not much information to refer to since the characters don't exist in the original work. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. If Tomoe wasn't so consistent inside and out, Yuuki Eri might have suffered more.

Nothing much happened today. The classmates I spoke with were all within the normal range of conversation, and I didn't feel like anyone was paying special attention to me.

Finding the hidden enemy is not something that can be done overnight; she has prepared for a long-term battle.

Just like yesterday, after seeing Tomoe off into the car, Yuuki went straight to the archery club.

I informed Mizuno Yu beforehand about today's visit, so I won't see the same scene as yesterday when I open the door.

It's a bit of a shame to think that way, because I believe very few people would refuse a beautiful girl's humiliating play.

Yuuki Yui quietly closed the door, stood in the corner, and watched intently as Mizuno Yu conducted the archery club's daily training.

Mizuno Yuu, who was kneeling on the floor, slowly rose, picked up the bow in front of her, held it vertically above her head, and skillfully and gracefully nocked an arrow.

The bow in her hand bent into a taut arc, and the training arrow on the bowstring remained parallel to the ground as it was drawn back. As her center of gravity lowered, she aimed at the target standing in the distance. With the sound of the bowstring being released, a round hole appeared in the center of the target paper.

"call……"

Yuuki Yu and Mizuno Yu both let out a long sigh of relief. Just watching this series of actions made Yuuki Yu feel like she was about to stop breathing.

She had seen similar content in animation, but seeing it in person was a completely different experience.

“Yuki-kun, you’ve changed a lot since yesterday.” Mizuno Yu placed the bow in her hand flat on the floor in front of her and turned to kneel down in front of Yuki Yuki.

"Is that so? What has changed?" Yuuki Yui secretly admired Mizuno Yu's keen perception and wondered how the other had noticed it.

“You seem more relaxed, which is a good thing. Archery also strives for the same state. I feel that Yuuki-kun has become more real today.” Kneeling, Mizuno Yuu looked straight ahead. Although her gaze was not directed at Yuuki Yuu’s face, Yuuki Yuu felt as if the other party could see through everything in her heart.

"Maybe it's because I've figured out some things that have been bothering me for a long time? Hehe." Receiving such high praise, Yuuki Yuki smiled with a hint of pride as she shared her joy at making the change with Mizuno Yu.

“It’s something to celebrate. If you’re like this, I’d be perfectly happy to entrust this to you.” Mizuno Yu lowered her head slightly.

Unlike Helica, Mizuno Yuu didn't immediately understand, and Yuuki Yuuki failed to grasp her meaning: "Mizuno-san, what are you talking about?"

"Yuki-kun knows about my special training, right? Come train with me! Yuki-kun is definitely fine now!" Mizuno Yu crawled a few steps on her knees to Yuki Yuki's side, grabbed Yuki Yuki's hands, and looked up with her flushed face, panting heavily.

"Ah, well, this..." Yuuki Yui instinctively took a few steps back, but her heels hit the wall behind her. Mizuno Yu was still pressing closer, her chest heaving violently, revealing an expectant smile that no one else could see, and she kept panting excitedly.

"I guess I'll just forget about it!" Yuuki Yui forcefully shook off Mizuno Yu's hand, and this time it was her turn to run away.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the escape attempt failed. As soon as Yuuki Yuki opened the sliding door, she bumped into a girl standing at the door.

This girl looks somewhat familiar?

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Hot Drinks and Gymnastics Uniforms

"it hurts."

The girl who bumped into Yuuki Yukino fell to the ground with a thud. Her black glasses bounced a few times on the ground and rolled to the side. The girl frantically touched her face with both hands, as if she was looking for her glasses.

But it was obvious that the glasses that had fallen to the side couldn't be found on her face. The girl let out a soft cry, rolled over, and knelt on the ground, starting to grope around nearby.

This scene seems somewhat familiar. Have you seen it somewhere before?

This girl, it seems she bumped into Helica around noon too?

Yuuki Yui carefully examined the girl in front of her. She had short, ear-length, milk tea-colored hair and was wearing the same uniform as Yuuki Yui, so she was definitely a student from the same school. She was very ordinary in both appearance and figure, the kind of girl who would be unrecognizable in a crowd.

The "ordinary" of the girls is relative. In this world full of beautiful girls, the average appearance of the characters is raised to a very high level.

The other party is definitely not a character who appeared in the original work; Yuuki Yukino is certain of this.

The girl, who was groping around in the corridor, quickly found the glasses in the corner of the wall. She sat down on the spot, wiped the lenses with her skirt, and then put the glasses on the bridge of her nose with both hands.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Yuuki-kun... I didn't mean to bump into you..."

"It's alright, I'm partly responsible too. Are you alright, classmate?" Yuuki Yu reached out her hand to the fallen girl to help her up, but the girl didn't touch the outstretched hand at all. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed her schoolbag, and disappeared down the corridor.

"How strange," Yuuki Yui muttered to herself, patting the dust off her skirt.

“Indeed, he’s a strange child,” Mizuno Yu agreed.

You still have the nerve to say that you're the strangest one?

Despite her inner grumbling, Yuuki Yui's smile never faded as she bid farewell to Mizuno Yu: "Alright, I'm going back now. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

In the days that followed, Yuuki Yuuki's school life was nothing out of the ordinary.

The storage room during lunch break.

"Tianlei, why are you eating lunch alone in the storage room?"

"Mind your own business! Aren't you just one person too? You're a nobody! A nobody!"

The archery activity room after school.

"Mizuno-kun, you were just as cool during training today."