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

Yuuki Tamaki specifically chose to come over after get off work to talk about this kind of thing with Minato Nana, so they must be plotting something behind her back.

Recalling how well Yuuki Tamaki had always taken care of her, Yuuki Yuki deeply experienced what it felt like to be betrayed.

Yuuki Yukino has always excluded Minato Nana and her older sister from the ranks of magical girls. Her part-time job at the coffee shop and spending time with her sister are her safe havens where she can temporarily escape the mundane affairs of magical girls.

But when Minato Nana said that "she caused herself to become like this," Yuuki Yuuki couldn't think of anything other than a magical girl.

Lancelot introduced the job to himself, which also supplemented Yuuki Eri's conjectures to some extent.

Maybe Nana even knows about the time travel?!

Yuuki Yukina was still lost in her wild imagination, so much so that she didn't even hear Yuuki Tamaki standing in front of her and saying something to her.

“Yuan, let us explain to you first.”

As Yuuki Tamaki spoke, he tried to take Yuuki Yuki's hand.

Before that hand could even touch Yuuki Yuuki, it was forcefully flung away by her.

On the way home in a taxi with Baqi, Yuuki Yukino will definitely not be able to help but recall the scene from that time.

My reaction at the time was indeed a bit excessive. Humans are emotional creatures, and it's impossible to remain calm in everything like a machine.

The thing that ignites Yuuki Eri's emotions (that's called "back" by the monk Sanba).

Calling it a betrayal might be a hasty conclusion, since Yuuki Yuki doesn't know exactly what happened that led Yuuki Tamaki and Minato Nana to set a trap for her.

Well, maybe we can't really call that a trap.

Yuuki Yukino reorganized her thoughts and realized why she had been so angry back then.

It's deception.

If this weren't Tsukimi City, Minato Nana and Yuuki Tamaki would never be magical girls, and Yuuki Yuuki might even suspect that these things have something to do with Urobuchi Mashiro.

Taxi always reaches its destination, and Yuuki Yuuki will always face things she doesn't want to face.

She didn't want to go home at all, fearing that her last safe haven would be shattered by some conspiracy of Yuuki Tamaki. It seemed that getting away from Yuuki Tamaki and this home would be the way to escape.

But she couldn't go against Ba Qi's wishes—besides Ba Qi, the only other person who could receive her was Li.

The place where Li lived didn't look like it could fit two people at all, and the living room had a coffin and the "physical" Lin Jiezi, making it a bit creepy to live there.

"If Xiaoyuan becomes homeless, I can take care of her for the rest of my life, but only if I see with my own eyes that Xiaoyuan is really in trouble and it's not a misunderstanding!"

That's how Baqi convinced herself at the time.

Now, Yuuki Yuuki can only pray that her older sister hasn't returned, so she can escape for a while.

It would be even better if my sister never came back, then I could earn money to support myself.

Since I'm making money at Nana's shop again, I guess I'll have to find another job...

These are all just wishful thinking; what needs to be faced will eventually have to be faced.

Seeing the lights on in her own home from downstairs extinguished any remaining hope Yuuki Eri might have.

Jie Chengyuan had walked upstairs hundreds of times. In the past, she always hoped that she could get home as soon as possible and collapse into her bed as soon as possible.

Today, Yuuki Yuki hopes it will last forever.

The simple act of unlocking the door with the key and pulling the security door open allowed Yuuki Yuen to see the current state of the house, and also drew the attention of the people inside.

Yes, people, their boss, Minato Nana, is sitting on their sofa at home with her older sister.

Upon seeing Minato Nana there, Yuuki Yuuki froze at the doorway.

Baqi nudged Yuuki Eri's back with her enormous treasure chest from behind, pushing her into the house.

"Excuse me." As a guest, Baqi called out even earlier than Yuuki Enishi.

"I...I'm back..."

"Yuan." Tamaki Yuuki called out Yuan's name, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Baqi kicked off her boots and positioned herself between Yuki Tamaki, who was getting up from the sofa and walking towards the entrance, and Yuki Yuen, who was standing still, protecting Yuki Yuen behind her.

"Talking is definitely necessary! But we need to wait for Xiaoyuan to sit down and talk things over! Before that, no one can rush things!"

This was the most impolite thing Baqi had ever done, but also the time when Yuuki Yuuki felt most reliable.

It feels so good to have someone protecting you.

Originally, Yuuki Tamaki was also that kind of person, but after hearing those few words with her own ears, Yuuki Yukino was no longer sure.

A few minutes later, Yuuki Yukino, who had just put down her schoolbag and was still wearing her school uniform, and Inuyama Tomoe, who had also not had time to change her clothes and was wearing the autumn uniform of Tsukimi Middle School, sat side by side on one side of the sofa.

On the other side of the sofa, Minato Nana and Yuuki Tamaki were sitting there, their eyes fixed on Yuuki Yuki's side.

The four people maintained a distance that was neither too long nor too short between them, yet it seemed like an insurmountable chasm, and no one dared to cross that line.

"Yuki, it's okay. We can start whenever you're ready to talk," Baqi whispered in Yuki's ear.

"It's alright, let's start now." Yuuki Yu's voice was clear enough for everyone else to hear.

After the signal to begin was given, the first person to speak was actually Minato Nana, who had been silent since Yuuki Yuki entered the room.

"First, I should reintroduce myself. I am Minato Nana, the former lead singer of the band that Yuki Tamaki was in when he was young, Rose Garden."

Yuuki Yui didn't know the Rose Garden band. Apart from Helica Tenrai mentioning it in the past, she couldn't find much information about the band.

However, given that Minato Nana is the lead singer of the band and her older sister was in a band, it's not difficult to conclude that they were former bandmates.

"He's also... the culprit who caused Yuuki Tamaki to run away from home..."

The current Nana Minato is completely different from the one Yuuki Yuki knew. Nana Minato has finally developed the maturity that is appropriate for her age, and she speaks in a calm, apologetic yet humble tone.

"And also, he is the sinner who caused your family to become like this."

"Nana Minato, there's no need to take on everything yourself."

What do you mean by "causing our family to become like this"?

The pink-haired sisters spoke at the same time, and their two sentences overlapped so that the others couldn't quite hear what they were saying.

But the general meaning has been conveyed very clearly.

A question and a word of comfort—you can tell which is more important.

Tamaki Yuuki stopped talking and waited for Nana Minato to finish her story.

“When I was in middle school, I really wanted to form my own band and create a legend that belonged only to us. That’s when I met your sister.”

“Your sister is a very serious person with a bad temper, but her guitar playing is really amazing, so I invited her to join me. She immediately asked me if I could keep up with her pace.”

Although Yuuki Yukino really liked girl bands, and her older sister and Minato Nana were indeed girls at that time, she didn't care at all about how the band was formed.

Minato Nana then talked about the band, how each member joined, and how they overcame difficulties and worked together.

The "difficulties" that Minato Nana mentioned included her family.

"Yuki Tamaki has a high pursuit of music, and the band's progress is rapid with her around, although at that time she always exuded a very intimidating aura. We later learned that her family did not support her continuing to play in the band."

"so……"

While Minato Nana hesitated, Yuuki Tamaki took over the conversation.

"So I ran away from home, like a complete delinquent girl. I didn't spend any time with my parents or Yuan. I abandoned my family and chose music."

Should I be angry?

Yuuki Yui felt that the past should remain in the past.

She had never blamed her sister for her absence; on the contrary, she was grateful to her sister for raising her.

and many more.

Raised me?

Although it was vague, Yuuki Yuuki always felt that she had indeed experienced these things.

Even if the memory is unclear, the emotion, the sense of security felt when I first saw Tamaki Yuuki, is not lying.

However, those memories and feelings should belong to "Yuki Yuki", not "him".

In short, this strange feeling should be unrelated to the current situation.

"And then what happened?" Yuuki Yui suppressed her strange emotions and asked directly.

Minato Nana bit her lip. Yuuki Yuki had lost count of how many times Minato Nana had done this tonight; it seemed that Minato Nana had never let go.

"One of our band members is a magical girl."

Upon hearing the words that were both unexpected and yet predictable, Yuuki Yukino's eyebrows furrowed, and she simply exhaled a breath of hot air without further reaction.

Not only Yuuki En, but even Tomoe was shocked by this unexpected statement, and suddenly raised her head to look at Minato Nana.

Yuuki Yukina shared some of her speculations with Baqi. If these two were indeed related to magical girls, Baqi would try to rescue Yuuki Yukina from this predicament.

What Nana Minato said was completely different from what Yuuki Yuuki wanted to hear.

Yuuki Yukina summarized the story, saying that Minato Nana started dating another band member named Kuriko, who was a magical girl.

One day, Kuriko fell into darkness. Corrupted by the black magic mark, she became irrational and suspected that her sister was having an affair with Minato Nana. So she blew up her own house, causing the death of her parents.

That's all.

Hearing these stories she had never heard before, Yuuki Yukino was momentarily at a loss for how to react.

It would be a lie to say that Yuuki Yukino was completely unmoved, but even after hearing such a story, she couldn't bring herself to blame Minato Nana at all.

Putting aside the fact that the two people sitting opposite Minato Nana are both corrupted magical girls, so it's impossible for them to stand from the perspective of ordinary people, after all, so many years have passed, it's not good to settle old scores with such things.

Moreover, Minato Nana's story is told in a very neutral way. Even if there is an emotional bias, it is to tell Yuuki Yukina that it was all her fault. If Minato Nana is not lying, she is also one of the victims.

Is it wrong to have feelings for a fallen magical girl? Yuuki Yuuki completely disagrees, so she can understand this situation.

"So, what exactly did you mean by what you told my sister before, that I ended up like this?" Yuuki asked the same question she had asked in the store before, but unlike back then, she didn't turn around and run away when she didn't get an answer.

"So, you mean, our band... caused Yuuki, Yuuki Yukina, to lose your older sister when you were little, and then you lost your parents..."

As Minato Nana spoke, knowing Yuuki Yuki's understanding of her, her regret and self-blame were not something she could fake.

“Hmm…” Yuuki Yui nodded with a frown.

Is that all?

Corruption? Conspiracy? Aside from Kuriko, this has absolutely nothing to do with magical girls, right?!