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

Yuuki En thought to herself, closed her eyes, and covered her chin with the blanket, leaving only half of her head exposed.

Unlike Yuuki Yuuki, who was lying in bed, Nishio Reki was sitting at Yuuki Yuuki's desk by the bedside, holding his phone and slowly scrolling through something on his phone, occasionally letting out a few soft laughs.

"What are you looking at?" Yuuki asked curiously, looking at Nishio Reki sitting in her room by the moonlight.

"A corny joke, Xiaoyuan, do you want to hear it?"

Nishio Reki pointed his phone at Yuuki Yuuki and waved it. Yuuki Yuuki could only make out the lines of text on it, but she couldn't make out what they meant.

"At this hour, are you still reading lame jokes?" Yuuki Yui pouted and complained.

"Because I need to keep watch over Xiaoyuan at night, so that I can wake her up immediately when she's almost rested, or if anything unexpected happens, I won't sleep," Nishio Reki replied.

"That's not what I meant. It's that... right now, who knows what might be happening or is happening right now, and Xiao Li is still in the mood to read lame jokes." Yuuki Yuen pouted even more.

“Didn’t Xiaoyuan have a lot of fun with us during the day? It’s precisely at times like these that we need to relax. That’s what Xiaoyuan said, but she herself is the most nervous.”

Nishio Reki turned his phone back, placed it face down on Yuuki Yuki's table, and rested his arm on his knee while facing Yuuki Yuki.

“I’m always nervous. Time is running out, and Sumireko Yumehara won’t let us prepare at our leisure.” Yuuki pulled the blanket up even higher, leaving only her eyes showing.

After hesitating for a moment, Yuuki asked the question that would definitely be criticized by Nishio Reki.

"Hey, Li, is it really okay for the two of us to just sit here so leisurely?"

"Of course it's okay, Yuuki can't do a good job even if she tries." Surprisingly, Nishio Reki didn't forbid Yuuki from talking about this topic as sternly as before: "Even if I tell Yuuki not to think like that, she can't do it, can she?"

“That makes sense.” Yuuki Yuuki turned over and lay down with her back to Nishio Reki.

There was no clock in the room, but Yuuki Yukino seemed to hear the ticking of a clock, as if urging her to get up quickly.

That wasn't magic, nor was it a hallucination; it was just that Yuuki Yuuki wasn't content with the status quo.

Thinking this, Yuuki Yukino turned over again.

"Yuki, can't you sleep?" Nishio Reki, who had been sitting in a chair and staring at Yuki Yuki for who knows how long, asked softly.

"Hmm," Yuuki Yukino's voice was muffled.

"How about we do something else to distract ourselves a little?" Nishio Reki's voice became even gentler.

Like a whisper close to the ear, or syllables with magic, it unconsciously calms the anxiety that fills one's heart.

Driven by Nishio Reki's whispers, Yuuki Yukino's thinking slowed down as well.

It was as if only at this moment could Yuuki Yuki feel that the gentle Nishio Reki had returned.

Although Nishio Reki didn't actually say anything gentle or do anything to comfort her, he just asked a very ordinary question.

But the moment you connect with a radio wave, no reason is needed.

Only when that gentleness truly descends upon her will Yuuki Yukino realize just how wonderful the much-criticized saintly character really is.

Although Nishio Reki is not a saint, and her gentleness is only shown to Yuuki Yuuki, it is enough.

That fleeting moment of attraction was enough for Yuuki Yuuki.

“Do something else, distract yourself…?” Yuuki Yui murmured repeatedly.

"Hmm, maybe I was a little too harsh? Sorry..." Nishio Reki apologized for no reason. "One hour. Aside from continuing to investigate and thinking about those things, you can do whatever you want, Yui."

"I see... You can do anything else..."

Yuuki Yukina huddled under the covers, moving her body to the edge of the bed amidst rustling sounds. She stretched out a hand from under the covers and gently placed it on the back of Nishio Reki's drooping hand.

"Then..." Yuuki blinked, shrinking even closer: "Shall we do it?"

Under the tranquil moonlight, the eyes of the pink-haired girl he admired seemed to sparkle with an even clearer light; her cool hands conveyed a slight wavering, yet she held them tightly.

Then, an invitation was extended to venture into even more forbidden territory.

No one could refuse.

This is on the premise that Nishio Reki doesn't spit out a mouthful of air.

"puff--"

As if startled, Nishio Reki quickly withdrew his hand, the chair leg scraping against the floor with a long creak.

Then, the sound of a chair overturning and a girl hurriedly getting up echoed in the darkness.

Not only Yuuki Yuki, but even Nishio Reki himself did not expect that his subconscious reaction would be like this.

He had been furious earlier because Yuuki Yui refused to replenish his mana, but now, at Yuuki Yui's invitation, he subconsciously backed down.

How embarrassing! Nishio Reki cursed himself inwardly. If Yuuki Yuki hadn't been watching, he probably would have slapped himself twice.

But it was precisely because Yuuki Yukino, who was startled by him, had already dazedly poked half of her body out of the pink summer blanket and was looking at him with eyes that were fading with hope and filled with innocence that Nishio Reki found it even harder to forgive himself.

While I told myself that Yuuki Yuuki should rest well and stop worrying about those things, I failed to do so.

Yuuki Yukino once said that she should be more honest and more confident, but... she still couldn't do it.

Unconsciously, I was still running away, running away from the possibility of getting closer to Yuuki Yuki.

The reason I lost Yuuki Yuki countless times in my memory is because I was afraid of losing her. So I'm afraid that the happiness I feel now is that the two of us can still be together in an ordinary way.

"Xiao Li."

Yuuki Yukino's voice seemed softer, sounding as if she was about to cry.

Nishio Reki knew it was her imagination, but she couldn't help but think that way.

"Hmm..." she replied, as if she were a lifeless, withered tree.

"Aren't you going to do it?"

The flame that should have been extinguished was rekindled by the girl herself.

A desire hotter than the summer sun was poured into the furnace, allowing that tiny spark to ignite into a raging fire that could not be easily extinguished.

Having been given a second chance, Nishio Reki threw himself headlong into a sea of ​​fire that was enough to burn away his consciousness and reason.

I don't remember much about Nishio Reki.

She only remembered the strand of pink hair that fell on her smooth shoulder, the kiss that landed on her waist, and the teasing that filled her empty body.

She only remembered the smell of sweat and shower gel, the moans of desire and pleasure she heard, and the scalding heat and dripping body temperature she felt.

All she remembers is drifting along with the hot wind, the surging tide, and the girl's whispers.

What else?

And then there's the final embrace, where you can hear each other's heartbeats, feel each other's warmth, and feel a tight embrace as if you're about to become one again.

That should be all, right?

I think so?

It wasn't until Yuuki Yuki's awkward emphasis that she snapped out of her daze.

"This is because most of my magic power was used up in Mizuno Yu's dream. In order to fight Yumehara Sumireko, I must maintain my best condition, so this is something I have to do."

Yuuki Yukino's shadow seemed to overlap with the blonde girl they wanted to save at some point.

Is it because we've spent so much time together that we've started to resemble each other?

As Nishio Reki thought about it, he chuckled softly, covered the pink-haired girl's completely exposed body with the blanket, pulled the girl into his arms again, and lightly pecked the tip of the girl's nose.

"I know."

Yuuki Yukino's expression was so blurry under the blanket, but Nishio Reki could still feel the other's malicious touch with his body.

The flames, which had not yet been completely extinguished, reignited once more in a gentle breeze brought by the young girl.

How much time has passed since then?

I really can't remember Nishio Reki.

She felt very tired, as if she was about to fall asleep.

But she could still vaguely hear the voices calling from beside her pillow.

"Xiao Li, are you still awake?"

"Hmm," Nishio Reki replied vaguely.

"I suddenly thought of something, let's just chat about it."

"what?"

"Do you know why Miyashita Mia suddenly fell into darkness? I can't figure out what kind of wish she was trying to fulfill after falling into darkness. It's strange from any angle. So, does Reki know?"

"Ok, I know."

Nishio Reki groggily rolled over, frowned, and pulled Yuuki Yukino back into his arms, explaining vaguely.

"Because... she came into contact with something she shouldn't have been able to access before. Some magical girls, as Yui said, fall into darkness because their wishes are answered in a distorted way."

"And others, it has nothing to do with wishes, it's because of them..."

At this point, Nishio Reki suddenly came to his senses.

It's certain that Yuuki Yui doesn't know the reason for Miyashita Mia's fall from grace, and even Miyashita Mia herself doesn't know the reason for her fall.

Because those things shouldn't be known to them.

At the very least, they must not find out from me.

Did Nishio Reki wake up suddenly because he realized he had said something he shouldn't have?

Absolutely not.

Because Nishio Reki witnessed with his own eyes that the entire wall in front of him, which was Yuuki Yuuki's back to and was against the bed, suddenly disappeared.

More accurately, it was forcibly erased by someone, by a certain magical girl.

The girl, who had erased the entire wall, stood there quietly, behind the wall that had completely vanished.

Standing next to Yuuki Eri, in a place that has already been connected.

The girl who lived next door to Yuuki Yuki stood where she was supposed to be, with empty eyes, and slowly raised her hand from under her pajamas toward Nishio Reki.

Nishio Reki felt as if he were witnessing a tsunami roaring in front of him.

Every drop of seawater that surged forth was countless times more precious than the sea itself, possessing genuine magic that was enough to easily capsize her small boat adrift on the sea.

That magic alone was enough to suffocate her completely.