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

Nishio Reki closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his aura had transformed into the immense, oppressive aura that Tomoe had witnessed more than once when he was a mysterious figure.

"If I could, I'd really like to fight you. I haven't forgotten a thing you did to me." Baqi clasped her hands together, her knuckles cracking.

"But if I do that, Xiaoyuan will be angry. Besides, if we fight here, not only will your house be razed to the ground, but innocent people will also get hurt, right? So let's just forget about it."

Nishio Reki's gaze softened, and the oppressive force that filled the entire open space vanished instantly, making Baqi feel a sense of emptiness on her shoulders.

"Hey, Inuyama Tomoe, what brings you here?"

"No." Baqi pouted and gestured towards the apartment building in front of her. "Aren't you going to invite me in to talk?"

Five minutes later, in Nishio Reki's rented room.

"Wow! It's true! There are so many socially awkward girls wearing glasses! Just like Xiaoyuan said! Ah, I'm freezing, I'm totally frozen! It's really scary to look at them like this!"

Inuyama Tomoe ran into the living room with an air of familiarity, poking this and touching that with her fingers, and picking up Hayashi Mustard, who was piled up in the corner, to examine her closely as if she were playing with a life-sized doll.

Inuyama Tomoe's overly familiar manner annoyed Nishio Reki. She knew that on the night Yuuki Yuuki fell into prostitution, Inuyama Tomoe not only saw Yuuki Yuuki naked, but also lay on Yuuki Yuuki's sofa with the door open, playing on her phone all night.

Even if the dark magic pattern contributed to it, Inuyama Tomoe had only been corrupted for two days and had hardly used any magic, which shows that this was her true nature.

"Let's get straight to the point, Inuyama Tomoe." Nishio Reki sat down on the sofa and got straight to the point.

"You jerk! How come you're completely different when you're with Xiaoyuan than when you're with me? You always have that grumpy face! Even if I'm angry, it should be me who's angry with you, right? What do you mean by this?!"

Ba Qi said a few harsh words, then threw Lin Jiezi, whom she was holding, against the wall. Her stiff body was propped up at a very strange angle, which made Ba Qi's shoulders tremble and she shiver.

After carefully placing Lin Jiezi back in its normal position, Ba Qi sat at the very end of the sofa and crossed her legs.

"Forget it, there's no point in arguing with you, and I'm pretty annoyed with you anyway, so I'll just get straight to the point: why don't you join the school trip group?"

Nishio Reki's eyes moved, and her furrowed brows relaxed and furrowed again.

"why?"

"Because you didn't answer Xiaoyuan, I came to ask about your plans. You didn't plan not to go, did you? And you didn't join anyone else's group, did you? So why are you dawdling like this?" Baqi spread her palms, leaned back, and almost lay flat on the sofa.

Nishio Reki succinctly corrected his statement that Inuyama Tomoe had misunderstood: "Why is it you who should be the one to bring this up?"

“You didn’t seem to have this many questions before.” Baqi tilted her head, which was lying on the sofa, toward Nishio Reki.

Nishio Reki snorted heavily through his nose and ignored Baqi's words.

One provocative word is enough. Baqi's goal is to get Nishio Reki involved so that the relationship can be smoothed over, rather than making things unpleasant.

"Because Xiaoyuan's identity has been questioned."

"What did you say?" Nishio Reki was clearly shaken.

"That short, blond guy might be starting to suspect us. That day after school, he was blocking the classroom door..."

Helica recounted in detail how she stopped Yuuki at the classroom door and how she invited Yuuki to join her on the school trip.

Nishio listened carefully to Baqi's account. Baqi had exaggerated the events, making it seem as if the situation was extremely urgent and Yuuki Yuki was struggling internally, as if she were walking on a tightrope and would fall into an abyss at the slightest mistake.

From an outsider's perspective, Nishio Reki knew that Helica had feelings for Yuuki Yuuki, so it was easy for him to realize that this was just another sudden idea of ​​Helica's, simply wanting to spend her last school trip with Yuuki.

Moreover, Helica's personality doesn't seem like that of someone who would make such a test. If Helica wanted to make a test, she would definitely take a more direct approach, rather than using such a roundabout and unbecoming method.

Inuyama Tomoe is making a mountain out of a molehill.

However, Nishio Reki dared not be careless in the slightest. Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance that Helica had a sliver of doubt, the consequences would be unbearable for Yuuki Yukino, and even more so for himself.

"Xiaoyuan has already agreed?"

“That’s right, if we didn’t agree in that situation, it would definitely arouse suspicion.” When it came to serious matters, Inuyama Tomoe and Nishio Reki had no more interest in bickering.

This was a big problem for both of them.

She could understand Yuuki Yuuki's nervousness, but she couldn't understand why Yuuki Yuuki would agree to Helica's request so readily.

If they act together, the chances of the Black Magic Mark going undetected are extremely slim; living together would expose them far too much.

Even though Helica remained highly vigilant throughout, she did not intend to test Yuuki Yuki's intentions. However, her deliberate concealment of her body could easily arouse suspicion in Helica from nothing.

"Sigh." Nishio Reki sighed helplessly.

"Sigh." Infected by Nishio Reki, Tomoe also sighed.

After sighing, Baqi returned to her original purpose for the evening.

"So, you should join us."

"What's the point of me joining in? Am I supposed to stop Helica from going to the hot springs, or block her eyes the whole time she's in the hot springs and changing clothes?" Nishio Reki began to feel a throbbing pain in his temples.

"I don't know, and I don't know what use you would be if you joined. Although Xiaoyuan said this and that, I think what Xiaoyuan said is all theoretical. In reality, you can't help much." Baqi raised a point of view that was completely opposite to her previous request, as if she were picking a fight.

"Then why did you let me join?!" Nishio Reki seemed to be on fire, gripping the sofa cushions and straightening her back even more, the veins bulging on her forehead proving her new state of mind.

"I don't want you to join us at all. It would be best if I could have some alone time with Xiaoyuan." Ba Qi lazily stretched on the sofa, then sat up with a thud.

"But Xiaoyuan believes in you, even though she knows I don't like you, even though she knows you have nothing to do with this, Xiaoyuan still believes in you."

"Trust me." Nishio Reki repeated himself at first, his eyes glancing at Hayashi Mustard's body piled up under the sofa.

The bloodstains on it had completely dried, leaving only the hollow marks left by his wand piercing through.

The empty shell's eyes were still wide open, its unfocused pupils and cold expression revealing no trace of human characteristics.

Looking at Hayashi Mustard's body, Nishio Reki seemed to see Yuuki Yukino from that night.

Yuuki Yui believed in herself, but she failed to protect herself from the monster.

Yuuki Yukino will face the ultimate choice of either clearing her name or falling into complete darkness, and it's all her fault.

Yuuki Yukino's "belief" in herself is too heavy a burden.

But she couldn't show it; Nishio Reki's vulnerability was something she couldn't show to anyone.

She has to be the one who plans and strategizes, the one who might be doubted by others but is the most trustworthy in crucial moments.

Therefore, she had to swallow all her complaints and bravely face everything.

Even if she couldn't reciprocate that trust, she still had to carry it on her back to put Yuuki Eri's mind at ease.

"Since Xiaoyuan trusts me so much, I'll reluctantly join."

"Great! I knew you'd join!" Baqi clapped her hands a few times.

"Oh right, right." After clapping her hands a few times, Baqi put her slightly red hands together and rubbed them together. She then changed the subject: "Actually, there's something else I'm curious about. Ah, this is my own question."

"Hmm?" Nishio Reki snorted, not expecting that Tomoe would ask any interesting questions.

“Nishio Reki, oh, is this the first time I’ve called you by your name so formally? It feels quite strange.” As she spoke, Baqi spread her arms and placed them on her knees, the playful look in her eyes vanishing in an instant.

Baqi just said that she has never formally called Nishio Reki by his name.

Nishio Reki was the same; he had never seen Inuyama Tomoe so serious.

"Nishio Reki, why did you choose to give up on Yuuki Yukino?"

Chapter 47 Their Time

On the last Friday before the school trip, Nishio Reki finally officially joined Yuuki Yukino's group.

That's right. Although there were no changes in the composition of the team, the result was that a team was formed with Yuuki Yuki as the team leader, instead of Tenrai Helika's team.

Although the group leader is just a nominal position with no real power, he is responsible for more work, making it a thankless and arduous job.

However, having Yuuki Yuki, who can connect everyone with a red thread, as the group leader is undoubtedly the best choice.

"I really didn't expect you to give me an answer so late. Well, never mind, you look much more relaxed now."

Watching Nishio Reki write the last stroke of his name on the application form in delicate handwriting, Yuuki Yuuki finally felt a huge weight lifted from her heart.

"Hmm?" Nishio Reki initially seemed not to have heard clearly, then lowered his head to put the pen cap back on, straightened up at Yuuki Yuki's desk, and casually asked.

Did I look very serious before?

Yuuki Yui pouted, "A little, I guess. You've been looking preoccupied lately, and you've been avoiding me a bit. How should I put it now, have you relaxed a bit?"

Nishio Reki's calm expression gradually changed, showing a mixture of surprise and smugness—an expression that Yuuki Yuuki couldn't decipher.

It's an expression that tells a story.

"Perhaps?" Nishio Reki lowered his eyes.

"Has something happened?"

"Well..."

Something did happen.

It was on the day that Inuyama Tomoe followed him all the way.

At that time, this was the question that Inuyama Tomoe asked herself.

"Nishio Reki, why did you choose to give up on Yuuki Yukino?"

"Give up? How did I ever do anything to give up on Xiaoyuan?"

"Because you just seem like you're not going to do anything. Why not, like in the past, mediate between various forces, using your superb rhetoric and your ability to see into the future to deceive, guide, and construct the ending you want?"

As Inuyama Tomoe spoke, she unusually expressed her own thoughts. Although she couldn't be described as aggressive, Inuyama Tomoe's attitude was already quite assertive.

"How do you know I'm unmoved?" Nishio Reki asked coldly.

"So what did you do?" Baqi answered the question with a question.

"Do I need to tell you everything I've done?" Nishio Reki retorted.

Inuyama Tomoe's words were not noisy at all; she maintained her offensive in a declarative tone, methodical and unshakeable:

"Indeed, but is that your excuse for doing nothing? You know the crisis Xiaoyuan is in right now, and we're all trying to find a solution. You, the only one who knows the whole story, are unmoved?"

Sitting on the same sofa, the atmosphere between the two was rapidly cooling down, as if it might drop below freezing at any moment.

"I……"

Nishio Reki wanted to say that she didn't know the whole story, and she didn't know what to do now.

From the chaotic battle between Yuuki Yuki and Kuroba Kiyomi, things had already gone far beyond Nishio Reki's imagination.

The survival of Koumori and Hyakki Senyu, Inuyama Tomoe's premature divine liberation, Yuuki Yuuki finding herself, an attack, and a chaotic school trip team formation.

Nishio Reki doesn't know or understand any of these things.

But what could she say? What could she do?