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

This time, Helica answered immediately, and then, as if worried that Baki might misunderstand something, added a sentence at the end.

"Anyway, it's not as serious as you think. It's just a little related to the club. Never mind, you'll find out when you get there."

"Hmm... I see." Baqi then released Yuuki Yukino, sat back in her seat, and crossed her arms to think seriously.

Baqi pondered for a while, occasionally humming softly.

Helica stood there waiting, but her expression grew increasingly gloomy.

Meanwhile, the other students in the classroom would occasionally glance at Helica, whispering about what would happen next.

Herica appeared here, still talking to Yuuki and Baqi, which was the perfect opportunity for gossip.

Even when gossiping, one should be mindful of personal safety; if Helica finds out, it will be a huge loss.

After thinking for a long time without reaching this simple conclusion, Baqi threw the question directly at Yuuki Yuuki: "Yuuki, what do you think?"

“I think…” Yuuki Yuki drawled out.

Yesterday, Baki seemed a bit off, and today Herika's reaction is also very unusual. Are they all lining up with something on their minds?

"I don't have any ideas, I'll just listen to Baqi today."

Even if Yuuki forced her to go, Tomoe would only mutter a few words, but her body would honestly follow along.

But Yuuki Yukino wouldn't do that.

Furthermore, the fact that Baki brought up this issue proves that she wasn't so opposed to going to the Rainbow Society's activity room with Helica.

Since Helica had said so, even though Baki was a little unhappy with Helica, she never threw a tantrum when discussing serious matters with Helica.

Helica is acting strangely right now, and Baki couldn't possibly miss it.

In that case, Yuuki Eri might as well go with the flow and throw the problem back at them.

After receiving the question, Baqi pouted awkwardly and thought for a long time. Yuuki Yuki reasonably suspected that all of this was done for Helica's benefit.

"In that case, Xiaoyuan and I will reluctantly make the trip."

……

Ten minutes later, in the Nijisanji club's activity room.

The reason it took ten minutes was because Yuuki and Baqi hadn't finished their lunch yet, and it wouldn't be convenient to just leave their lunch there or move their half-eaten lunch over.

After speaking with Helica, Helica left first. Yuuki and Baqi didn't waste any time either, quickly devouring the lovingly made bento box that Yuuki had made. After packing up the bento box, they immediately headed to the Nijisanji activity room.

Upon entering the activity room, the smell of bento boxes hit you, but everything on the table had already been cleaned up.

It seems that everyone else has just finished lunch.

Upon seeing Yuuki Yuki and Tomoe enter the activity room one after another, the expressions on the faces of the others changed somewhat. Sakura Hanako and Nishio Reki even stood up and pulled over two chairs next to them.

"Xiao Yuan, come and sit here."

"Seniors, you've arrived. Senior Tianlei only said to gather us together, but didn't say what it was about. When I asked just now, Senior Tianlei said that he would wait for you all to arrive before we could talk together."

Yuuki Yukari and Baqi didn't stand on ceremony. They went straight to the chairs, sat down, and gave a brief greeting to everyone.

After everyone was seated, all eyes were on Helica.

Herlica coughed twice, stood up from her chair, walked to the blackboard in the activity room that almost no one ever used, and tapped the blackboard a few times with her finger, as if she were about to start a lesson.

“Well, although, although…” Herika began with a string of interjections.

Mizuno Yu raised her eyebrows: "What's wrong? Is it something important?"

"No, don't speak!" Helica pointed at Mizuno Yu with her finger, then clenched her fist, coughed twice, and said, "Ahem, I'll say it again."

Baki was about to open her mouth to say something, but was glared at by Helica, who seemed to have the ability to predict the future, so she shut her mouth, feeling embarrassed.

"It's already November, and Christmas is just about a month away. As you all know, this is our last Christmas at Yuehai Middle School."

When Helica got down to business, her coyness improved considerably, and she got straight to the point.

"The teacher probably already mentioned that we'll have a Christmas party, right? We do it every year. At the Christmas party, everyone can sign up to perform on stage."

Helika had said all that, and anyone who knew her even slightly understood what she meant.

"I wanted to sign up for the previous two Christmas parties, but I always felt that neither I nor my band could meet the requirements, so I never got to be on that stage. So, I guess I'm a little disappointed?"

Although everyone knew Helica's purpose, no one interrupted her; everyone waited for Helica to finish speaking.

"I... I don't want to have any regrets in my last year. Sure enough, I still want to perform on stage one last time."

As Helica spoke, she placed her hands in front of her, slowly lowered her head, letting her blonde hair slip down her sides, and bowed deeply to the girls sitting at the table.

"So, could anyone lend me a hand?"

Chapter Nine: The End of Everything is a Girls' Band

Standing in front of the blackboard in the activity room, which had never been used, Terahi Helica slowly and deeply bent over in front of all the other members of Nijisanji.

Helica's voice doesn't need to be loud; her clear pronunciation is enough for everyone to hear her perfectly.

"Excuse me, can anyone lend me a hand?"

As soon as Helica finished speaking, the expressions on everyone's faces in the activity room became incredibly interesting.

The first thing on everyone's mind wasn't what Helica had just said, but rather that Helica would actually say such a thing and do such a thing in front of everyone.

Helica just said "please," right? She said "please," didn't she?

The usually arrogant Helica Tenrai, who always forced everyone to move in the direction she set, was now bowing to everyone, including Inuyama Tomoe, and saying "please".

Helica's feelings are absolutely genuine.

Anyone could sense the weight of Helica's words and the immense determination she had behind them.

But that's precisely why no one could answer Helica's question immediately.

And so it turned out like this, with the entire activity room unusually quiet.

But everyone clearly noticed that Helica's shoulders seemed to twitch as she fell silent, and then she bent her waist even lower.

Helica's body is now beyond the angle of being parallel to the ground, forming an acute angle with her straightened legs.

Although the angles of bowing are similar, each slight reduction in the angle represents a significant increase in the degree of bowing.

Normally, out of politeness, people would only bow slightly, but if they were meeting a respected elder, they would bow even lower.

Even when making a very humble request to someone, especially someone with whom you don't necessarily have a good relationship but you still need to ask for their help, it's at most a matter of being on equal footing.

But what Helica is doing to everyone now has long surpassed that level.

You have to understand, this is the Rainbow Club, and everyone sitting here is Helica's classmate or even junior. Their relationship is far from being at the level where she needs to beg like this.

“In the past, I have done many excessive things to everyone, and I have been stubbornly forcing everyone to move in the direction I expect. If I am willful again this time, I am sure I can make everyone be willful with me again.”

“But!” Herika’s voice grew louder, her throat trembling with inner turmoil. Even such a loud voice couldn’t mask the fact that she didn’t really have much confidence.

However, she still had to speak out, she had to say it herself here, to express her truest thoughts to everyone.

If you can't even convey your feelings to your closest friends and family, how can you possibly convey them to every audience member through music?

“But!” Helica repeated, still bowing to everyone, slightly raising her head to look at each of them sitting there, who were also watching her.

“I don’t want that. I don’t want people to form a band with me because of pressure from me. I don’t want people to be unhappy because they have to accommodate me. What I want is… what I want is everyone’s truest thoughts.”

"I'm not good at saying pretty words. All I can tell you is my truest thoughts. I want to show a different version of myself on the stage of Yuehai Middle School, the version I aspire to be."

As Helica spoke, she gritted her teeth, and her two hands, which were hanging down on either side of her uniform skirt, silently crumpled the hem of the skirt beside her.

"So, could you all lend me a hand?"

Helica the assassin felt her heart pounding.

But I felt exceptionally relaxed.

Being able to express her feelings without reservation was an extremely novel experience for Helica.

By doing this, do you get a little closer to your ideal self?

There probably is.

Helica remained bowed, her resolute gaze fixed on everyone, and the silence continued.

Everyone has different thoughts in their hearts, and everyone has different things they need to do.

Final exams, entrance exams, part-time jobs at coffee shops, studying family affairs, investigating magical girls and corruption—Herrica could easily come up with a lot of things for everyone just by thinking about it.

Forcing everyone together is indeed a bit willful, and even now Helica would think so.

But I have given everyone everything I wanted to say, everything I could do, and everything I could convey through my clumsy words, without reservation.

Next, we wait for the other people's answers.

"I do know a little about keyboards. If you don't mind, could I be a keyboard player?"

Yuuki Yukino was the first to break the silence, raising her hand to her face as if answering a question in class, and replying in a light, airy tone.

On the surface, Yuuki Enishi showed no emotional fluctuations, but inside she was screaming and wanted to crawl all over the place.

This is exactly what I want to see!

As expected of my idol, he's finally grown up!

If Yuuki Yukino hadn't had to restrain herself from showing too much excitement, she definitely would have hugged Herika and cried tears of joy.

Herlica parted her lips slightly, looking at Yuuki Yuki, who had lowered her hand, with a mixture of surprise and delight, a tiny glimmer of light appearing in her eyes.

Then, Helica nodded vigorously a few times.

But after Yuuki Yukino spoke, there was silence again.

Yuuki Yukino could probably guess why no one was speaking at this time.

The most direct reason is that, apart from Yuuki Yuki, who is a half-baked keyboardist, no one else can play any instrument.

The first time Yuuki Yukino met Helica was when she stole the first meeting scene that Nishio Reki was supposed to be setting off. At that time, Helica had a big argument with the other members in the cafeteria because of a discord within the band.

Helika's sincerity is genuine and touching, but what truly sustains her in expressing her feelings is her unwavering love for music.

That passion was intense enough to enable Herlica to do things she wouldn't normally do, and it allowed her to grow as a result.

But that burning passion can also make Helica so serious that she can't tolerate even the slightest imperfection, thus causing her to repeat what happened before.

Even if future outbreaks are not as intense, they will still occur.