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

That is precisely why she doesn't want to be interrupted halfway through her eloquent speech.

"Wait a little longer," she told herself.

The coffee was served very quickly.

"Please enjoy your coffee."

Indeed, it was very quick; not long after, three steaming cups of coffee were served together.

After this coffee session, Baqi said nothing more, neither a threat nor a question.

Such an anomaly is all the more unsettling.

The moment Baqi left, Tenrai Herika opened her eyes. Her eyes, piercing through the steam rising from the three untouched cups on the table, seemed like spears aimed straight at Sakura Hanako's heart, leaving Sakura Hanako feeling powerless.

"Alright, is there anything you'd like to say, Sakura?"

Sakura Hanako really had a lot to say. She had not only been anxious about why Tenrai Helica hadn't come today, but she had also prepared a draft in her mind, intending to use her clear logic to persuade Tenrai Helica to return to the past.

However, due to the numerous unexpected incidents and variables encountered along the way, Sakura Hanako was unable to utter a single word of the fluent speech she had prepared in her mind.

"If you're not going to say it, I'll go first." Helica buried her head in the sofa cushions and casually squinted her eyes.

"No matter who it is or what they plan to do today, nothing can change my mind."

"I just want to be an ordinary person who has nothing to do with magical girls."

Chapter Forty-Four: Waiting for the Game to Begin

"What do you mean by wanting to become an ordinary person who has nothing to do with magical girls?"

Sakura Hanako quietly repeated the words she had heard Helica say, pondering the meaning the speaker intended to convey.

"It means exactly what it says."

Sakura Hanako knew, of course, that Helica meant what she said literally. What she wanted to know was why Helica made this decision, said it, and did it.

Out of respect and politeness for her senior, Sakura Hanako didn't directly point out Helica's problem. Instead, she patiently continued to ask, "Why does Tenrai-senpai want to become an ordinary person?"

"Because this is my choice, I feel that being an ordinary person, getting into a good university, learning some useful knowledge and skills, and playing musical instruments are all better for me than being a magical girl. Is there a problem with that?"

Herika completely refused to answer Sakura Hanako's question, her attitude as stiff as the bricks laid on the ground, and she would not soften with a few words from Sakura Hanako.

The series of incidents that began the moment Sakura Hanako stepped into the store eroded the credibility of her words, making each one carry less and less weight.

Sakura Hanako knew that Helica would definitely take this into account, or perhaps it was precisely because Sakura Hanako's words would become insignificant in this atmosphere that Helica said, "Let's talk here."

In a situation where Helica isn't even willing to talk properly, what can Sakura Hanako possibly talk about?

She couldn't even bring herself to say the words she had initially come up with in the Rainbow Society's activity room, the words she had planned to use to persuade Helica to change her mind.

However, Sakura Hanako felt she had to say that even if her words couldn't move the other person under these circumstances, she still had to make things clear.

"I don't understand, Senior Thunderclap. What about the duties of a magical girl? What if another corrupted magical girl appears in this city?"

"What about your duties as magical girls? I've already given up my identity as a magical girl, so I can ignore all of this, but there are corrupted magical girls right in front of you, aren't there? Why aren't you fulfilling your duties?"

Helica raised her eyebrows, her tone as indifferent as before.

Helica was deliberately picking a fight; it was obvious to everyone.

The corrupted magical girls in front of us are Yuuki Yukino and Inuyama Tomoe.

Emotionally, the time Yuuki Yuki spent with them made it hard to turn against her; in fact, Yuuki Yuki hadn't done anything heinous; and in terms of sheer combat ability, they weren't 100% confident they could defeat her.

Going to war with Yuuki Yuki would be entirely detrimental, and Helica herself couldn't possibly be unaware of this, but she still wanted to use this well-known reason to shut Sakura Hanako up.

Helica succeeded, and Sakura Hanako was speechless, as if she had choked.

"This……"

Taking advantage of Sakura Hanako's momentary speechlessness, Helica continued to articulate her thoughts.

"Besides, even without me, other magical girls will appear in this city. There's nothing that absolutely requires me."

"I know, but if Senior Tianlei is here, things will be easier for us. Wouldn't it be better if we could all just go back to how we used to be?"

"Sakura, reality isn't a fairy tale. Not everything can be solved with the power of a magical girl. You have to accept reality."

Helica was using a fallacy of semantics, and Sakura Hanako suddenly realized.

She wanted to restore her relationship with Helica to what it was before, instead of forcing Helica to fulfill certain duties as a magical girl.

Magical girls are just a reason to bring everyone together, not a vitamin to sustain their relationships.

Ultimately, this is just a starting point; even without magical girls, Nijisanji is still Nijisanji.

Is the magical girl's senior important? Of course not. For Sakura Hanako, what matters is Helica herself.

“Even if we don’t become magical girls, we can still be friends in a club, right?” Sakura Hanako grasped the key point.

"Nijisanji is a club that exists because of magical girls. Its initial purpose was simply to have a corner for magical girls, where everyone could discuss how to rescue Tsukimi-senpai from that woman Miya Miya. That purpose was achieved long ago, and from that time on, the meaning of Nijisanji's existence was no longer there."

"That's not how it is! We're not just together because of magical girls. We eat together, go out together, study together, and do community service together. None of this has anything to do with magical girls, Senior Tenrai. Do you really think these things are irrelevant?"

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter.” Helica shook her head. “I’ve never felt happy in Nijisanji.”

"But without Senior Heavenly Thunder, we..."

Sakura Hanako should have had better reasons to persuade Helica, but her confused mind made her completely forget what she wanted to say.

Add to that Herika's unyielding and unreasonable communication style, and even if Sakura Hanako's logic is perfectly sound, there's no way to wake up someone who's pretending to be asleep.

The half-sentence she uttered was the compromise she made after recognizing reality.

But Sakura Hanako wasn't going to give up so easily. Helpless, she could only look at Mizuno Yui sitting on the opposite side with pleading eyes, hoping that the other person could say something.

Mizuno Yu's initial silence wasn't because she intended to side with Helica, but because she was keeping a close eye on the situation at the coffee shop.

Mizuno Yu guessed that tonight's party was definitely not as simple as she thought.

Behind the calm surface, how many things are hidden that you don't know about? Mizuno Yu needs to slowly uncover them.

Sakura Hanako turned to look at Mizuno Yu, who was sitting next to her, and Herika noticed this obvious action.

He had already rendered Sakura Hanako speechless. If he continued like this, he would also shut Mizuno Yu up, and this pointless communication would come to an end.

Having lost the possibility of divine liberation, the responsibility of being a magical girl, and the direction to move forward, Helica Tenrai can no longer continue being a magical girl.

But she has a new direction, a direction that can only be taken after abandoning the magical girl path.

Tonight's conversation is her epitaph for her past.

Although what she said wasn't from her true feelings, and she herself felt that what she was doing was really too much, if she didn't harden her heart, even the slightest bit of soft-heartedness could cause her to lose all her previous efforts.

"Is there anything you want to say to me?" Helica asked in a cold tone.

"No," Mizuno Yu answered readily.

Hearing Mizuno Yu say that, Helica finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Dealing with Mizuno Yu is not as simple as dealing with Sakura Hanako. In terms of personality and his feelings for her, Mizuno Yu's words carry more weight.

If Mizuno Yuya and Sakura Hanako join forces, Helica will find it much harder to escape.

"Since there's nothing left, can we call it a day?"

"but,"

Mizuno Yu's last sentence made Helica, who was about to raise her coffee cup, pause.

The thing that Helica feared still happened. No matter what Mizuno Yu wanted to say, this turn of events would not benefit Helica at all.

"But what?"

"But I suspect there might be someone else who has something to say to you."

As Mizuno Yu spoke, her gaze passed through the crowd in the shop and landed on the girl behind the bar who was operating the coffee machine.

"We just happened to all gather here, and I believe none of us think it's a coincidence."

Mizuno Yu had made her meaning very clear: she wanted to know if this matter was related to Yuuki Yuuki, and therefore she had to bring Yuuki Yuuki into their discussion.

"This is a Nijisanji matter, why drag her into it?"

Helica immediately refuted this.

Only after she spoke did she realize that she had inadvertently placed herself in the opposite camp to Yuuki Enishi—the same camp as Mizuno Yu and Sakura Hanako.

“Yuki used to be a member of Nijisanji, but she never explicitly said she wanted to leave Nijisanji.”

Mizuno Yu seemed completely oblivious to Helica's refusal, and proceeded to explain her reasons for doing so in a very professional manner.

Aside from the fact that one of them, Yuuki Yuki, is a magical girl and the other is a corrupted magical girl, their positions on this matter concerning Nijisanji are exactly the same.

They are all members who are outside the club and are preparing to sever ties with it.

They are all people who know the inside story of magical girls, and they know all each other's secrets inside and out.

Everyone had an unforgettable time and made wonderful memories in Nijisanji.

Since Sakura Hanako invited him, theoretically, no one should object to bringing Yuuki Yukino in as well.

Therefore, Helica, who intended to sever all ties with the club and magical girls by involving Yuuki Yuki, had no way to object to bringing Yuuki Yuki into the picture.

Helica didn't care what anyone else said, but she didn't want to involve Yuuki Yuki in her conversations.

Why leave Nijisanji? Why seek another path? Why refuse to continue fulfilling the duties of a magical girl?

Herlica's reasons were far less complicated than she made them out to be.

All the reasons she gave to others or to herself were just excuses to back down.

The real reason was that she wanted to escape everything related to Yuuki Yuuki, it was that simple.

At one point, Herika suddenly realized that even though Yuuki had done things that she would definitely find intolerable, her feelings for Yuuki had not diminished in the slightest.

That's how much she likes Yuuki Yuuki.

She didn't want to continue wallowing in this deep sea where her feelings went unanswered; it was that simple.

"We are magical girls, and whatever you say has nothing to do with her!"

Herlica retorted loudly, but her rebuttal had very little effect and made her feel that she was bluffing.

“Yuki-senpai is also a magical girl. Although her position is different from ours, I trust Mizuno-senpai’s judgment, and I would like to hear Yuki-senpai’s thoughts.”

Sakura Hanako perked up again and echoed her, which seemed to Helica as if Hanako had seen through her guilty conscience.