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

However, as long as Yuuki Eri was around, he was instead constrained and could no longer forcefully push forward the conversation in the same way he used to.

Mizuno Yu's eyes darted around, turning to Yuuki Yui: "I don't trust Yuuki that much. The fact that she's hiding her identity as a corrupted magical girl makes it impossible for her to gain my trust."

“That’s right.” Yuuki Yui, who had fully accepted her identity as a fallen magical girl, answered naturally. Mizuno Yu’s suspicions were also completely reasonable and well-founded, so whether Yuuki Yui refuted them or not had no effect.

"To put it another way, we still don't know if this is just a coincidence. If Yuuki intentionally created this situation, then no matter what we do, we might end up doing Yuuki's thing and being schemed against by a corrupted magical girl. Nobody wants that, right?"

Herika subtly discerned the underlying meaning in Mizuno Yu's words. On the surface, she was using Yuuki Yuki's identity as a corrupted magical girl to her advantage, but the real target was still herself.

By subtly drawing herself into the magical girl camp, Herika creates an opposition to Yuuki Yuuki. In this way, if Herika simply follows Mizuno Yu's lead in speaking and thinking, it would be tantamount to contradicting her previous statement about cutting ties with the magical girl.

Sakura Hanako's approach is more superficial, talking about the bonds of Nijisanji, the responsibilities of magical girls, and the reasons why she cannot quit.

But Mizuno Yu was different. She never explicitly stated her position, but immediately used her actions to force Herlica to stand on her side.

Therefore, Helica absolutely cannot express any opinions or statements at this moment.

Helica remained silent, which did not surprise Mizuno Yu; her silence would not prevent her from continuing what she was about to say.

From the very beginning, Mizuno Yu's vision was not limited to the present moment.

"Therefore, I think that rather than risking what Yuuki might wish for and continuing with a topic that we've all lost our composure on, it would be better for us to sit down and have an open and honest conversation, and calmly exchange our thoughts."

"I have no objection." Yuuki Yukino, who was seen as the opposite of the others and was the most controversial person here, was the first to express her opinion. "However, don't take too long; I still have work to do."

“I have no objection either.” Sakura Hanako then agreed: “If Yuki-senpai still has work to do, let’s finish this quickly. My idea is to make everyone reconcile, that’s all.”

Before Helica could agree, Sakura Hanako had already said everything she needed to say, leaving Helica no chance to refuse the discussion.

"You say it."

"Hmm." Mizuno Yu pondered for a moment, "Then, Yuuki, did you know we would come to this shop?"

"know."

A pebble creates ripples on the surface of the turbulent water.

Chapter Forty-Six: What Kind of Feelings Are Embraced?

"Yuki, did you know we would come here?"

Mizuno Yu's first question received an unexpected answer from Yuuki Yuuki.

"I know."

These words were like a pebble thrown into calm water, creating ripples in everyone's hearts and making the others' hearts clench.

Everyone else would have guessed that the current situation was related to Yuuki Yuki, but Yuuki Yuki's quick admission of it was unexpected by everyone.

The more frank Yuuki Yukino appears, the more elusive her deeper motives become.

She wasn't just someone who chatted happily with everyone at Nijisanji; behind the scenes, she kept it a secret from all the magical girls, and it took her so long to be discovered. No one would believe that Yuuki Yuuki wasn't cunning.

"Lava Lantern told me that she gave the coupons to you because you are magical girls, and she mentioned it to me to avoid embarrassing me."

Yuuki Yukino, standing by the table, lowered her gaze and swept it over the faces of the people whose expressions had changed.

"However, I didn't know everyone would come."

It wasn't until Yuuki Yukino said those words that the expressions on the other people's faces softened.

At least from the perspective of Yuuki Eri's explanation, it makes logical sense.

"Um, this coupon was given to me by Mizuno-senpai after she heard that I was going to talk to Tenrai-senpai. Also, Mizuno-senpai said that it was given to her by that corrupted magical girl named Lava Mountain Lantern. I thought the atmosphere of this coffee shop would be suitable for our conversation, so I invited Tenrai-senpai over."

Sakura Hanako provided Tenrai Herika with details about the origins of the coupon.

She was the one who proposed the meeting, and she was also the one whom Helica misunderstood as having ulterior motives. Whether from the perspective of clearing up suspicion or being open and honest, Sakura Hanako had no reason not to clarify this misunderstanding.

"Hmm." Mizuno Yu lowered her chin slightly, but her raised eyes remained fixed on Yuuki Yu's face, watching Yuuki Yu's movements.

Yuuki Yui narrowed her eyes and looked over, meeting Mizuno Yui's gaze without any hesitation, showing absolutely no guilt.

Assuming everyone is telling the truth, it's not impossible that Yuu Mizuno thought that Touka Lava Mountain deliberately created this situation where she and Enishi Yuuki met.

Mizuno Yuu didn't know if there was any special relationship between Lava Mountain Lantern and Yuuki Enishi, but Lava Mountain Lantern wasn't the type to meddle in other people's business.

What if Yuuki Yukino did this because she wanted to communicate with me? That's certainly possible.

Mizuno Yu is not bragging, but the most meticulous person in Nijisanji is probably not Helica, and Sakura Hanako is a junior. If Yuuki Yuki wants to find someone, she can only ask herself.

"Ok."

After staring at Yuuki Yuki for a long time, Mizuno Yuu closed her eyes, bringing this initial confrontation to a close.

But her attack—and her questions aren't limited to this round.

When did you start working here?

"It's been about a month, it started not long after we returned from Rainbow Leaf City."

Yuuki Yui brought up Nijiha City, which is theoretically fine; using a school trip as a marker of time is the most appropriate approach.

But Rainbow Leaf City holds special significance for them. When Yuuki Yui mentioned this place, it sounded to them like she was deliberately testing the waters around a minefield.

Perhaps I was being too sensitive; everyone was thinking the same thing, and no one raised this question that they all shared.

"Through the introduction from Rongshan Deng, I learned that this coffee shop was hiring, so I came to work here."

The others remained silent; such a matter was so logical that they couldn't refute it.

Even if some people think that Yuuki Yukino might have ulterior motives, her skillful operation behind the bar and the taste of the coffee in front of her cannot lie.

If Yuuki Yuen had started planning more than a month ago so that everyone would meet at this store today, if she could have foreseen that far ahead, she wouldn't have given herself away and exposed her identity.

"Oh, right, because I work here, that's why I came here for coffee and participated in the lucky draw, and I just happened to win that coupon."

The sentence that Yuuki Yukino added later made her statement more credible.

Lava Lantern always has great luck with its prize draws. Whether it's a hot spring, a buffet, or a coffee shop, Lava Lantern makes it easy to win a prize wherever there's a lottery. This kind of mystical thing is hard to explain.

The development of everything involves an element of chance. Attacking this element of chance, like chasing after a lottery winner and asking, "Why did you win when so many others didn't?", is unreasonable.

However, Mizuno Yu was still able to find flaws in Yuuki Yui's words.

"You started working here a month ago, right?"

This is of course impossible. Mizuno Yu knew that Yuuki was working part-time. Sakura Hanako had chased after Yuuki for a long time to find out what was going on, and she told Mizuno Yu about it.

The midterm exams came shortly after this incident, and Halloween was a few days after that, so Mizuno Yu remembered it very clearly.

She also clearly remembered one other thing: Inuyama Tomoe and Nishio Reki showed no signs of working part-time. Every time school ended, they would leave in different directions.

They were all in the same grade, and Mizuno Yu was also training with the archery club, so they would occasionally run into these two familiar faces.

It's true that Yuuki Yuki is working, and whether she's working for a specific purpose is another matter, but it's strange that those two people are here helping out at work.

Just as a corrupted magical girl can set up restraint traps, Mizuno Yu can also use words as traps to wait for a corrupted magical girl to take the bait.

If Yuuki Yui confirms Mizuno Yui's statement, then he can immediately expose her lie.

"It's not 'us,' it's just me."

Yuuki Yuu, however, did not fall into the trap set by Mizuno Yuu.

"Then why do those two happen to be working here?"

Mizuno asked again.

"Because the store manager planned to hold a Halloween event, but was short-staffed during the Halloween business period, they came to help out during the event days."

Yuuki Yu answered very smoothly, and Mizuno Yu could not tell that she had time to think of an excuse.

The rapid-fire question-and-answer format easily exposes flaws. Yuuki Yu's statement about being in a hurry naturally benefits Mizuno Yu. Now that Yuuki Yu is answering so cleanly and efficiently, Mizuno Yu feels that Yuuki Yu's words are becoming more and more credible.

Otherwise, the only more dangerous possibility is that it is still under Yuuki Yuki's control.

“You’re also familiar with my social life at school.” Yuuki Yui further elaborated on her previous explanation, speaking slowly and deliberately in a declarative tone.

"Furthermore, you are also familiar with my interpersonal relationships when I was a corrupted magical girl."

Even knowing that Yuuki Yuuki was the pink-haired demon girl, the fact that she casually mentioned being a fallen magical girl was quite a shock to them.

The familiar Yuuki Yuuki seemed to have changed, yet nothing seemed to have changed at all. She seemed completely unconcerned about what she had said and how much turmoil her words had stirred up, posing a question that required no answer.

"Knowing me as you do, do you think I could find anyone else besides them?"

Yuuki Yukino's question indeed doesn't need an answer, but the unspoken meaning behind the question, and the look in her eyes when she said it, conveyed another meaning.

They are no longer companions who can continue to move forward together, otherwise the people who would receive the request would be Nijisanji, not Tomoe or Reki.

"Ok."

Mizuno Yu's affirmation signifies that Yuuki Yui has passed another test.

Yuuki Enishi's honesty and cooperation, as well as the completely self-consistent logic of her cause and effect, left Mizuno Yu with no room for criticism.

If that's really the case, then today was just a coincidence, but Mizuno Yu still felt something was off.

Mizuno Yu pondered for several seconds, during which time the girls around the table also fell silent.

"Any other questions?" Yuuki Yui broke the silence, her intention to leave was crystal clear.

In normal circumstances, Yuuki Eri would definitely make up for any omissions in this kind of negotiation, although Mizuno Yui would not have missed many things.

However, the fact that Yuki Yuki was able to supplement her thoughts is enough to show that Yuki Yuki's thinking was no less than her own.

Even though Mizuno Yuu and Yuuki Yuuki didn't interact much in Nijisanji, the time Yuuki Yuuki spent with him at the beginning of the archery club made Mizuno Yuu genuinely consider her her friend.

Otherwise, Mizuno Yu wouldn't have stood up for a formidable enemy like Miyashita Mia and shouted, "She's my friend."

The two friends always enjoyed working together on these small details.

When Yuuki Yuki lost her advice, Mizuno Yu realized how much help Yuuki Yuki had given her, even though she wasn't a magical girl.

It was only when Yuuki Yuki truly stood on the opposite side that Mizuno Yu realized how troublesome Yuuki Yuki was, without needing to worry about revealing her identity.

Yuuki Yuuki is like a fog right now, impossible to touch or grasp.

"If there are no problems, then I'll go back to work."

"Wait a minute, there's one last question."

Just as Yuuki was about to leave, Mizuno Yu called her back.

Just as Yuuki was about to take a step, she pulled her leg back and looked at Mizuno Yu with interest, waiting for her to ask that final question.

Feelings cannot be compared using quantifiable standards, but as one of the original members of Nijisanji, Mizuno Yuu values ​​the other members no less than Sakura Hanako.