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

Having been classmates for three years and good friends, Yuuki Yu was already used to Mizuno Yu's serious demeanor. She narrowed her eyes and greeted him once again with a warm smile, like a cool morning breeze.

"Okay, good morning."

"Hey! That's so mean! Why didn't you say hello to me!"

A fierce but not angry voice came from the other side of Mizuno Yu's body. The blonde girl poked her head out and scolded Yuuki Yuuki, but the expression on her face that couldn't help but laugh made it clear that she was just joking.

"Good morning, Helica." Yuuki Yuuki's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Why are you with Yuu today?"

“My mom always drives me to school, it’s such a hassle. I’m graduating from junior high soon, shouldn’t I be able to come to school by myself by now?” Herika pouted. “What about you? You’re not with Li today?”

"Knowing I would oversleep, Xiao Li left by herself so as not to disturb my sleep," Yuuki Yui replied.

“We live so close by,” Herika muttered.

“It’s precisely because we live so close that we’ll have many opportunities to go to school together in the future.” Yuuki Yukari smiled even more broadly, as if she were showing off to Herika.

"How wonderful, childhood sweethearts." Helica's muttering grew louder, then she suddenly slammed her fist down: "Never mind! Good morning! Fate!"

"Good morning, Helica," Yuuki Yui said, her pent-up frustration from the night seemingly subsiding.

But the sadness of graduation doesn't just disappear so easily.

"Time flies, everyone will be graduating soon."

"But everyone has been admitted to Yuehai Middle School, and we will be classmates in the future, and may even be in the same class." Mizuno Yu stated a reality that was better than any consolation.

“That’s true. Me, you two, Li, and that wretched white-haired guy, we’ve all been accepted. There will always be a few of us in the same class, right?” Herika counted on her fingers, one by one.

"Pfft." Yuuki Yukino couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You're about to graduate, how come you still can't get along with Baqi?"

“She’s so annoying!” Helica pouted.

"Okay, okay, I hate it." Yuuki Yukari echoed Helica's words.

Although Helica and Baki were constantly bickering and comparing their grades, their relationship actually seemed quite good to outsiders.

"If it's Hyakki Senyou, then you should be going to St. Yuu Academy, right?" Mizuno Yu casually mentioned, immediately eliciting a response from Helica.

"Isn't that obvious? Her grades aren't much worse than mine and that stupid white-haired guy's, and she's the daughter of the Minister of a Hundred Demons. Where else would she go but St. Yuu Academy? By the way, Yu, your family is quite wealthy, why don't you go to St. Yuu Academy?"

Mizuno Yu answered frankly, "Even if I went to St. Yuu Academy, I wouldn't be able to graduate with my grades."

"Speaking of grades, Hong Moli, who's always hanging out with Hyakki Chiyu, must have pretty good grades too, right?" Yuuki Yui didn't want everyone to discuss topics that would upset Mizuno Yu, so she quickly changed the subject and asked a different question.

“Isn’t that obvious? Hong Moli is number one in grades, even I and that stupid white-haired girl can’t compare! She should be able to choose any school in Yuehai City, right?” Helica poked Yuuki Yuuki’s side across Mizuno Yu and added, “St. Yuuki Academy doesn’t seem like a good option.”

“Indeed.” Mizuno Yu nodded: “The graduate representative who spoke at today’s graduation ceremony was Koumori.”

……

"Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the teachers who have guided us over the past three years, as well as to all my classmates who have studied hard with us. I also wish all of you good health and great success in your future endeavors."

The blonde girl on the stage closed the speech she had laid out on the podium and bowed deeply to the teachers and students sitting below.

"Speaker, graduate representative, Hong Moli."

The applause of the audience was thunderous.

Accompanied by melodious music, the bustling girls walked out of the graduation ceremony hall together.

"Ah—finally graduated!" Inuyama Tomoe stretched lazily in the glaring midday sun, then glanced at Helica walking beside her. "It feels so good not to have to see you, you short, blond thing."

"You stupid white-haired idiot! Are you looking for trouble?!" Helica retorted angrily, her sleeves rolled up, even though her summer uniform didn't have sleeves.

"We won't be parting ways so soon. Didn't we all agree to go out for a big meal together after graduation?" Nishio Reki, who was closest to Yuuki Yuki, said with a smile.

"And we'll meet again at Tsukimi Middle School," Mizuno Yu said, recalling what she had said that morning.

“However,” Yuuki Yui also looked up at the azure sky, shielding her eyes from the glaring sunlight with her hand, but the light was still dazzling, “that also means we have officially graduated from the Plum Garden.”

The truth may be comforting, but the lingering sadness of graduation in the air is not so easy to dispel.

Having been through the graduation ceremony, I can still faintly hear the music that symbolizes graduation coming from the auditorium behind me, music that I may never hear again.

After Yuuki Yukino spoke, the previously lively atmosphere subsided, and the girls fell silent in unison. Even the tense rivalry between Baki and Herika stopped glaring at each other.

Graduation, what a heavy word.

With such heavy hearts, this may be the last time the girls will stroll through the school.

Instead of heading directly to the school gate, everyone tacitly took a longer route.

The girls walked on, their silence remaining unchanged. No one spoke, and they didn't know what to say. Perhaps remaining silent was the best option.

But silence will always be broken.

However, this time it wasn't any of Yuuki Yukino's group.

"I hate you, but... but you know what! I don't know when it started, but you're the only person I see. Besides my grades, besides you, I have nothing left!"

The voice sounded familiar; they had heard it in the auditorium not long ago.

It was the voice of Hong Moli, the representative of the graduates. Even though her voice was a little off, it had a hysteria that no one had ever seen before. But her classmates, who had been together for three years, would not mistake it.

Are they arguing? Yuuki Yukina suddenly had this thought.

Although Yuuki Yukari and Koumori were not close, she knew that Koumori never interacted with others. Yuuki Yukari couldn't imagine who such a person would associate with, or why she would unleash such malice.

Could it be that Hong Moli has been acting all along? Is she actually a super wicked person?

The sadness of graduation, which no amount of comforting words could dispel, vanished without a trace thanks to Yuuki Yukino's curiosity.

With these questions in mind, and with the gossip spirit that comes with being a young girl, Yuuki Yukino felt she needed to find out for herself.

But with this group of people around me, if I were to go and gossip...

"Hey, should we go check what's wrong?"

"Sure! I'm curious too!"

"Are you going? If so, I'll come too."

"What about Xiaoyuan? Does Xiaoyuan want to go and see too?"

Amidst Xiao Li's questions, Yuuki Yuki patted her thigh under her skirt.

"Let's go! What are we waiting for!"

The sound wasn't far away; just around the corner, you could see a cherry blossom tree at the end of the road, where someone was kneeling on a carpet of petals, weeping uncontrollably as they were bathed in a rain of blossoms falling from the sky.

"I hate you, but it was because I kept watching your back and following in your footsteps that I was able to get here."

The girl standing in front of Hong Moli was also easy to recognize. Whether considering that she was alone with Hong Moli, or her rare gray hair, it was as if her name was written on her face.

Even if Yuuki Yukari and the others didn't guess or see the other person's identity clearly, they could still hear Koumori shout that name loudly.

"Of all the ghosts and spirits, I love you the most!"

If everyone hadn't been secretly observing and witnessing this standard confession scene, they would definitely have started to cheer.

Although she couldn't join in the commotion, Yuuki Yukino felt like she had eaten a full meal just to witness such a romantic yet twisted scene.

Hmm, very good. This trip was worthwhile. If I had agreed to come later, I wouldn't have been able to see such a delicious scene.

With a sense of complete satisfaction, Yuuki closed her eyes and prepared to turn and leave.

Before she could even turn around, Ba Qi's excited voice, which cracked slightly, rang out from beside her. Although she had tried to keep it low, her excitement was still palpable.

"Look! Look! They're kissing!"

Oh, what's all the fuss about? What's there to be excited about?

Wait a minute? What did Baqi say?

They're kissing?

This is something I have to watch!

Yuuki Yui turned around quickly and saw Hyakki Senyou bending down in the rain of flowers, gently separating her face from Koumori's.

Between the lips, a barely perceptible petal slowly drifted down.

Chapter 102 Awakening from the Dream

"Wow! This soda is amazing! Festivals are definitely the best!"

Baqi took a big gulp of iced orange soda and wiped her mouth with her wrist under her white yukata.

“Indeed, summer’s end should be said off with a festival!” Herica put her hands on her hips and gulped down her iced milk, letting out a long, satisfying sigh.

Indeed, Yuuki Yuuki, who grew up in Tsukimi City, deeply agrees that if there were no festival at the end of summer, something would definitely be missing.

Instead of holding a soda, Nishio Reki held a large shaved ice in his hand, scooped out two mouthfuls with a spoon and put them in his mouth, then chimed in, "But I didn't expect that we would see this side of Koumori today, that she would actually confess to Hyakki Senyu like this."

"They've always been together, so it wouldn't be surprising if they actually got together sometime. There were even rumors circulating at school that they were dating." Mizuno Yu offered her assessment as always:

"But this morning was the graduation ceremony, and confessing immediately after it ended took a lot of courage."

"Yeah, that's youth, all that love and stuff," Yuuki Yui sighed, stuffing a grilled sausage into her mouth.

A single sentence is like a pebble thrown into water, instantly creating a thousand waves.

"If we're going to date, I'm available anytime!"

"Hey! What are you saying, you stupid white-haired idiot? If we're going to date, it'll be me!"

"Xiaoyuan and I are childhood sweethearts, so it should be me!"

"I have no interest in romance; all I want to do is go further and further down the path of self-improvement."

Seeing everyone making a ruckus, Yuuki Yukino couldn't help but chuckle.

"so good."

"Huh? What is Xiaoyuan saying?" Baqi looked over with a puzzled expression.

"She's saying 'That's so nice!' you idiot!" Helica snapped, "Wait, Yuan, what are you saying about 'that's so nice'?"

What is it?

It's about getting together with your friends in a lively and fun way.

In this festival, in the next festival, and in countless festivals to come, life would be very fulfilling.

"I mean, we all attended the graduation ceremony together, graduated together, ate at the buffet together, went to the movies together, and came to the festival together in the evening. It was such a fulfilling day."

Yuuki Yukino tossed her hair and looked at the fireworks rising into the sky in the distance.