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

Yuuki Yui didn't know what kind of inner conflict Rei had, but it must exist, and it was something she had to find out if Rei really got caught up in his inner turmoil.

"So, Rei, what's your thought about the question I asked you before?" Yuuki Yuen returned to the main topic, secretly locking onto her target.

"What's the problem?" Nishio Reki was taken aback at first.

Judging from her expression, it was clear that she already knew what Yuuki Yukino had asked.

"Oh, this... I..."

As expected, Nishio Reki was conflicted about working with him.

But Nishio Reki's dilemma seemed a bit inexplicable to Yuuki Enishi.

Even though Yuuki Yui wasn't as perceptive as Mizuno Yui, she could still sense some things.

Li shouldn't dislike himself; in fact, the opposite might be true—Li has a rather high level of affection for himself.

You can tell from Li's unusual behavior when he first brought her back to school that Li had been showering him with affection for a period of time.

That kind of overture is like a retaliatory compensation. To put it specifically, it's like when you were a child, you couldn't afford the egg pancakes sold outside the school, and when you grow up and have your own property, you wish you could add three sausages and five eggs to the egg pancakes all at once.

Getting back to the main point, Li must have known that that period had caused her trouble, which is why she restrained herself. But Li's feelings would never change because of that.

Whether it's working or going on a school trip, there's really nothing going on, but Li simply doesn't want to participate in these activities with me.

She doesn't dislike herself, but she doesn't want to be with herself either. If we use the controlled variable method... could the problem lie with Baqi?

It doesn't seem like that at all; that's Yuuki Yukino's intuition.

The reason for Nishio Reki's inner turmoil is not external, but internal.

It's not that she doesn't want to work with "herself," nor that she doesn't want to work, but rather that "she" doesn't want to work with her.

This line of thinking should be correct.

Now that the signs of a problem have been discovered, Yuuki Yukino must find a way to follow the clues and dig deeper into the underlying reasons hidden by Nishio Reki.

Putting aside all emotions, Nishio Reki will definitely play a pivotal role in her future journey as a magical girl, so Yuuki Yuuki really wants to get along well with Reki.

When it comes to feelings, Nishio Reki and she are childhood friends, and she doubts the plausibility of Reki's time travel. Therefore, Yuuki Yuuki also wants to know what reason made their relationship turn out the way it is now.

However, it's unrealistic to dig up everything at once; one must use a combination of firmness and flexibility, employing both soft and hard tactics.

"No need to answer yet!" Yuuki Yuki interrupted Nishio Reki before he could utter a word of refusal.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when Nishio Reki was slightly stunned after being interrupted, Yuuki Yukino quickly changed the subject.

"Whether or not Riku comes to help, I can't escape changing clothes. If I listen to all of Minato-san's and the customers' opinions, I might end up dressing up as a magical girl and serving coffee in the shop."

"To avoid this situation, I'll have to prepare a Halloween costume."

“Oh, indeed.” Li agreed, looking at Yuuki Yui with some confusion, wondering why Yuuki Yui suddenly brought this up.

Yuuki then offered her suggestion: "So, if you're free today, Reki, come with me to buy Halloween costumes. It's almost Halloween, and the number of shops selling costumes has increased dramatically."

"But is my taste okay? I've never bought anything like this before. When we were kids, we'd just cover ourselves with a sheet and run outside...right?"

"Think about it, the yukata you gave me suits me perfectly, so Reki knows me well enough, right? I really like that yukata too, so if Reki can help, he can definitely find one that suits me best, right?"

"Yuki said that Inuyama Tomoe is also planning to come along, right?" Yuki Yuki hadn't forgotten what Nishio Reki had just said so quickly.

“I mean, Baqi has already agreed to work together, so if we're buying clothes, it'll just be the two of us,” Yuuki Yui immediately replied.

While answering, Yuuki Yukino didn't stop thinking, and it's normal for Nishio Reki to ask if Tomoe would come along.

Every word and phrase of Nishio Reki could provoke deep thought in Yuuki Yuuki under these circumstances.

If Nishio Reki refused him because Tomoe was going with him, then the problem is actually simple.

Yuuki Yukino understands jealousy; she still vividly remembers the time when Reki and Miki were vying for her affections.

However, Nishio Reki's reaction was not as simple as jealousy. Even after he suggested that the two of them go together, Nishio Reki's brows remained furrowed.

"Let's go. If Li doesn't come with me, I don't know what's suitable for me on my own. Besides, it's been a long time since we went out together as a couple, right?"

Yuuki Yukina stood up from the sofa, took two steps to Nishio Reki's side, grabbed Reki's hands with both hands as if she wanted to pull him up, but the strength was not enough to pull him up, and she pleaded with Reki in a soft and sweet tone.

Yes, now Yuuki Eri has mastered the skill of acting cute, and it works wonders on both Tomoe and the shopkeeper.

Forcing things to progress and compelling others to cooperate is a method that only works on those who can tolerate your willfulness.

The person who is best at using this move is Helica Tenrai. She formed a club solely based on her strength and drove the club to carry out one activity after another.

This method worked just as well on Nishio Reki. With a little coaxing, Nishio Reki finally stood up from the sofa, following her force—if Reki hadn't wanted to stand up himself, the strength she used would definitely not have been enough.

After getting up, Nishio Reki silently went back to his room to wash up and change his clothes, while Yuuki Yuki sat in front of the sofa waiting for Nishio Reki to get ready to go out.

The pure white European-style coffin that always lay in front of the sofa was something Yuuki Yuen couldn't possibly miss.

Yuuki En had long ago made her own judgment about this coffin; it was a magic wand, the same thing that Nishio Reki gave to the God of Bonds—a materialized magic wand that wouldn't disappear when a magical girl's transformation was canceled.

However, it is fundamentally different from Enmusubi.

Yuuki once thought that the wand belonged to Arata, but later battles proved that this guess was wrong and that Arata's wand was something else entirely.

So where did this magic wand, the magic wands that Reki pulled out during his battle with Hyakki Senyou, and even the Enmusubi in his own hand come from?

The answer may very well be hidden inside the coffin right in front of us.

He had asked about the coffin before, but Nishio Reki's answer was always, "I can't say."

Regarding what Nishio Reki meant by "cannot be said," Yuuki Yukino was able to deduce some information. As long as it relates to the details of time travel and the origins of magical girls, including Hayashi Mustard, these would all fall into this category.

In other words, this coffin is related to the essence of magical girls, or to the time travel that Nishio Reki mentioned.

Looking at the coffin, Yuuki Yuuki felt a strange sense of familiarity, and almost subconsciously reached out her hand towards it.

The movement was as natural as picking up a cup from the table.

"Yuki?" Ryou, who had already changed into her autumn clothes, called out to Yuki Yuki: "Should we go?"

"Ah? Oh! Coming!"

Yuuki Yukino quickly withdrew her hand as if she had touched a rose stem and been pricked, only then realizing that she seemed to be doing something dangerous—anything related to what Yukino had said "cannot be said" could be dangerous to her.

However, Yuuki Yukino didn't intend to dwell on things at this time, and then put the matter of the coffin out of her mind.

This was one step beyond what Yuuki Yuki had initially anticipated; she also had to go home and change out of the clothes that had been soiled by Nishio Reki's saliva.

“Yesterday, Baqi and her two junior colleagues came and helped me bake the cookies the shop needed. The pumpkin lanterns that the shop manager asked us to make are also ready.”

It was indeed intentional that I didn't invite Nishio Reki, and I don't owe anything to him. On the contrary, it seems that I feel guilty for not inviting him.

Yesterday, I simply tidied up. The cleaned-up jack-o'-lanterns, the dream-like cookies on the table, and the pumpkins made from scraps were all on display. Yuuki Eri didn't intend to hide anything.

"Hmm." Li responded, reaching out to touch the pumpkin lantern that had been dug out, but then withdrew his hand on his own.

This small movement was also keenly observed by Yuuki Yukino.

However, Yuuki Yuki did not say anything more about it.

Li was indeed strange, as if he was afraid to enter his own world.

On one hand, she forcefully manipulates her own future, leading him down the path she has designed, while on the other hand, she is unwilling to leave too many traces around him.

Before exposing her identity, Yuuki Yukino could understand Arata's behavior. A mastermind and enigma should appear at the right time, provide some information, and then continue to hide.

But after I forcefully pulled her out of the darkness, she seemed to be afraid of seeing the light and always wanted to hide back in her shadow.

Yes, Yuuki Yuuki felt that her idea was correct.

Next, let time verify it slowly.

Yuuki Yui also discovered a characteristic of Nishio Reki: whenever Nishio Reki is about to do a formal job, she will instantly get into the zone and devote herself wholeheartedly to completing the task.

No matter how depressed Nishio Reki was when he was about to reject her, all that negative emotion would vanish when she entered the business district.

Similarly, during previous school trips, I not only memorized information about various famous historical sites and travel routes, but I also knew how to create a good atmosphere in the group.

Now, Li is just like she was back in the days when she was vying for Yuuki's affections. Full of energy, she takes one piece of clothing after another and hands them to Yuuki, watching with anticipation as Yuuki changes into the clothes she has chosen.

It was a perfect fit. Nishio Reki had a very accurate grasp of his size, so Yuuki Yuuki hardly had to choose anything herself; a whole bunch of costumes that Reki had found were presented to her.

"Hmm! This is really cool! It suits Xiaoyuan perfectly!"

Yuuki looked at herself in the mirror, wearing a short dress that perfectly matched the British style of the last century. Her pink hair, tied into a bun, was tilted to one side of her head, and the shadow just covered by the tilted hat made her look even more retro.

Just as Nishio Reki said, this outfit is indeed very cool. If he changed his hair color, he could play the main character in the game "The Mystic" next door. However, it seems a bit out of place for Halloween.

"This doesn't seem very Halloween-like, does it?" Yuuki Yukino took off her top hat and pressed her face against the mirror, examining herself repeatedly.

"It's okay! We can wear vampire dentures! What era are we living in? Still watching traditional vampires? They're always dressed like medieval vampires, that's so outdated!" Nishio Reki suggested from the side.

Indeed, even Koumori's transformation involves a little dress and a chainsaw; even a little vampire has to keep up with the times.

"It doesn't seem like a good idea. Adding these elements feels like taking shortcuts."

"It's alright, I also picked out this one for Xiaoyuan."

This one, well, how should I put it?

It seems to overlap a bit with Baqi's attributes.

Whether it's the sharp, military-style attire, the inexplicable belts on the clothes, or the trinkets with supernatural fantasy elements, they all seem like characters who stepped out of a post-apocalyptic wasteland game.

Especially those furry animal ears and tail, it was as if they were trying to erase the last bit of Baqi's unique features.

"This won't do!" Yuuki Yukino rejected it outright without even trying it.

“I think it would suit Yuuki very well.” Nishio Reki looked at the clothes in his hand, then at Yuuki, and said seriously.

"Because its tail isn't a pendant! It's an accessory! Where did you find something like this?" Yuuki Yuuki stared at the terrifying size at the end of the tail and let out a sharp, popping sound.

“We also have pendants, but this one looks better... Why don’t you try it first?” Nishio Reki’s serious tone was completely different from when he was initially reluctant to come with Yuuki Yuki.

"Absolutely no way! I'm not going to try that cool style!"

“Alright then.” Nishio Reki showed a slightly aggrieved and disappointed expression: “Then let’s try this one, it’s cute and has a Halloween style.”

after a while.

The previous outfit had too many belts as decoration, but this outfit seems to have nothing else besides the belts.

Except for the parts of my body that were not allowed to pass censorship and were covered by a belt, the rest of my skin was exposed in the mirror.

The little devil's horns and the tail behind the coccyx certainly have a Halloween feel to them, but other than that, they are utterly discordant elements.

With the black demonic markings on her stomach, she absolutely couldn't go out in public looking like this.