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

The beam of light emitted by Yuuki En was cut in half.

Something that shouldn't exist as a physical entity was sliced ​​in two by Nishio Ryū's wand, as if cutting through a stream of water.

The roaring, frenzied energy left two deep dents in the ground in front of Nishio Reki, stretching into the distance, but the spot where Nishio Reki stood remained unharmed.

"Yuan! Listen to me! I am the Nishio Reki you know!"

Clang——

Sparks flew again from the wand that Nishio Reki had used to cleave the light.

Yuki Yuki, wielding the rune sword, had already reached Nishio Reki and swung Kuroba Reisei's wand at him.

Two katanas appeared out of thin air on the ground where Nishio Reki stood, their fangs like those of venomous snakes, and thrust towards Nishio Reki's ribs.

After her battle with Kuroba Reisei, Yuuki Yuuki gained a deeper understanding of her wand.

Just as her wand is called the God of a Thousand Faces, Yuuki Yuuki doesn't necessarily have to fight in the same way all the time.

Unpredictable moves may not be less effective than divine liberation.

Nishio Reki shook his wand, using the flowing black magic emanating from it to shred the replica wand that Yuuki En had used for the sneak attack.

Using unpredictable techniques doesn't necessarily preclude the use of divine liberation.

The shrine maiden's outfit reappeared, and a drill formed from red threads pierced straight towards Nishio Reki's body.

Nishio Reki gritted his teeth, handed over his wand, and it collided with Yuuki Enishi's rapidly spinning drill.

Yuuki Yukino couldn't hear what Nishio Reki said at that moment.

But she sensed the magical power that surged from Nishio Reki for a fleeting moment.

And there were those ancient, beastly roars.

To defend against his final blow, Nishio Reki used his God Release for a brief moment.

But that should be all.

Yuuki Yui didn't believe she had the ability to defeat her opponent; time travelers were considered to be overpowered in various worldviews.

She was just venting, letting out her anger in a willful way.

Back in the café, she had neither the ability to fight nor the standing to blame Baqi.

But now it's different; she can vent her frustrations on the other person to her heart's content.

She knew that no matter what she did, the past could not be changed.

There was a girl named Nishio Reki who, on that night, may have fallen forever in a pool of blood.

“Xiao Yuan…” Nishio Reki’s hand, which had borne the brunt of the impact and was still trembling, gripped her wand and plunged it deep into the floor tile. He leaned on the wand to support himself.

"Don't call me Yuuki!" Yuuki took several deep breaths and deactivated her transformation.

"I really am the Nishio Reki you know, the real Nishio Reki!" Nishio Reki also deactivated his transformation and looked at Yuuki Yuuki with urgent, pleading eyes, completely lacking the mystery he had when he was hiding his identity.

"Then tell me, who was it that I saw lying downstairs at my house?" Yuuki Yu's tone grew colder.

“She is also Nishio Reki…” Nishio Reki’s expression dimmed, as if he wanted to explain something, but in the end, he could only utter a pale sentence.

"Don't you think you owe me an explanation?!"

Yuuki Yukino took a few steps closer. Despite being clearly weaker than her opponent in terms of magical girl combat power, she now possessed an unshakeable oppressive force, causing Nishio Reki to retreat as well.

"When the time comes... I..."

"Are you going to talk about time travelers and time travelers again, spouting those riddles that nobody wants to hear?"

"I didn't... I... I didn't expect you to come looking for me. Originally, someone was supposed to sacrifice themselves last night, so you shouldn't have expected to come looking for me. I... I didn't know it would be like this. But you have to believe me, I didn't hurt anyone. I am the one who yelled at you and threw a towel in your face, Nishio Reki. I am who I am, Yui."

Nishio Reki looked as aggrieved as a child, his lips twitching slightly as if he were about to cry at any moment.

Despite her anger, Yuuki Yuki's complex expression made him feel that there was something else going on that he didn't know.

"Then tell me, what happened to the person who collapsed downstairs at my house that day?"

Nishio Reki shrank back and shook his head.

"I can't say..."

Yuuki Yukino knew in her heart that violence and fighting were not the means to solve the problem.

She suppressed the urge to punch him again and calmly continued to ask.

"Then what are all those mustard seeds in your room?"

“I can’t say either…” Nishio Reki shook his head even more.

"You can't say this, you can't say that, what can you possibly say?!"

Yuuki Yukino couldn't hold back any longer and raised her fist through gritted teeth.

Then it was put back down.

"How many more things are you going to hide from me? How long are you going to keep hiding from me?"

"I didn't mean to hide from Xiaoyuan..."

Nishio Koyomi muttered.

"I understand! Tomorrow! I'll go to school tomorrow!"

"Huh?" Yuuki Yuki never expected Nishio Reki to suddenly say something like that.

"Although there are many things I can't say yet, starting tomorrow! I will never hide from Xiaoyuan again!"

Chapter Two: Break Time

"In short, starting tomorrow, I will no longer avoid Xiaoyuan."

Nishio Reki made a solemn vow in front of Yuuki Yuuki.

Although Yuuki Yukino didn't believe a single word Nishio Reki said.

Yuuki Yuuki had no idea how Nishio Reki, the protagonist of the original work, became a magical girl or how she gained the power to travel through time.

She didn't think Nishio Reki would be so kind as to tell her that.

In fact, Yuuki Yuki asked all of them, but Nishio Reki's answers were mostly just statements like "I can't say," "It's a secret," and "It's not the right time yet."

Having learned the identity of the mysterious person, Yuuki Yukino should have been pleasantly surprised by this significant development.

It was only because the other party was a historical figure that Yuuki Yukino felt extremely awkward.

If the other party were someone like Ono-san or Onishi-san whom Yuuki Yuuki didn't know, Yuuki Yuuki definitely wouldn't have this attitude.

The unease that arose from past encounters with the mysterious person suddenly became reasonable after learning her true identity.

Since he came into contact with Nishio Reki, nothing good has ever happened.

I still don't know what tricks Nishio Reki played to put this damned black demon mark on my body. Who knows what kind of conspiracy she has up her sleeve.

Having found the mysterious person but unable to get any answers, there was no point in leaving Yuuki Yuki there.

So Yuuki Yukino turned around and left Nishio Reki and her room with one door removed, and went back on her own, leaving the black-haired girl shivering in the cold wind, clinging to a security door.

Yuuki Yukina originally thought that Nishio Reki's statement that he wouldn't hide from her was just empty talk.

The next day, Nishio Reki actually came to school.

She followed the homeroom teacher into the classroom openly and honestly, bowed to the students, glanced quickly at Yuuki Yuuki, and then walked to the seat that Yuuki Yuuki had missed earlier.

Next was the class teacher's speech.

After the homeroom teacher repeated countless times how important the final year of school was, and earnestly advised the students from various angles to decide on their future plans—whether to pursue further education or enter the workforce—it was time for the first class.

Yuki wasn't really in the mood to listen to the lesson; she couldn't help but keep glancing in Nishio Reki's direction.

This feeling is like when you're clueless and inexperienced in middle school and you always sneak peeks at the girl you like in class.

Yes, even though the gender has changed, Yuuki Yuuki's preference for girls remains the same.

In short, this first class was incredibly difficult.

When get out of class is over, I definitely have to drag her out and get to the bottom of this.

When get out of class ended, Yuuki Yukina discovered that she wasn't the only one who wanted to ask Nishio Reki a good question.

The students who had been holding back all morning because they were concerned about Nishio Reki immediately surrounded his seat as soon as the bell rang, bombarding him with questions.

"Nishio, I heard you were sick? How are you recovering? Is there anything we can help you with?"

"That's right, if you don't understand anything in your homework, just ask us."

"You seem to have lost weight. It must be tough recovering from illness."

“We even visited you at your home, but we found that no one was there. What happened?”

"Yes, they all say you're dead..."

"What nonsense are you talking about! Why did you suddenly decide to braid your hair today? It looks so cute!"

"There was a little accident before, so I couldn't go to school for a while, but it's okay now."

As Nishio Reki spoke, his penetrating gaze swept through the crowd and glanced in the direction of Yuuki Yukino.

"Because some people wanted to go back to school, and I also wanted to come back as soon as possible, I went back to school immediately."

The gaze that Nishio Reki deliberately cast towards Yuuki Yukina went completely unnoticed by Yuuki Yukina.

At this moment, Yuuki Yuki was sitting sideways, with her legs crossed, her fist propping up her cheek, and she was whispering to Inuyama Tomoe, who had turned around from the table in front of her.

Nishio Reki was surrounded by his long-lost classmates, and Yuuki Yuuki definitely couldn't get a turn in.

It would be too suspicious to take Nishio Reki out for a private questioning at this point.

Besides, even if she dragged Nishio Reki out, Nishio Reki wouldn't be able to give himself a satisfactory answer.

Moreover, Inuyama Tomoe, who had also endured the entire class and wanted to know what Yuuki Yuki had said that morning when she was interrupted, turned around as soon as class ended and continued the topic from the morning.

While glancing at Nishio Reki, who was surrounded by the crowd, Yuuki Yukino quietly recounted yesterday's events to Inuyama Tomoe.

During the narration, she also had to insert some details about her past relationship with Nishio Reki. Although Yuuki Yuuki had not personally experienced these events and was just reciting game background information, Tomoe still listened with great interest.

"Xiaoyuan is saying that your childhood sweetheart is the mysterious person who caused us to become like this."

Baqi pressed her ear almost completely against Yuuki Yuuki's lips, lowering her voice even further as if afraid others would hear that the two of them were talking about magical girls.