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

Thinking about how she had repeatedly told Helica that she liked her, and how Baqi had overheard it all, Yuuki Yuuki was at a loss for words.

"You...you...that liqueur-filled chocolate! You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

"Hehe, hehe." Baqi laughed a few times sheepishly, clearly imitating the Thunder Helica from earlier.

Although Bachi was pretending to be stupid, the confused Helica was genuinely stupid.

"Don't play dumb!"

Hehe, hehe.

Well, no wonder Baki hid in the closet instead of confronting Helica face to face; it turns out she had ill intentions all along.

The romantic moments between Yuuki and Baqi were completely ruined by Baqi! Just thinking about this made Yuuki even angrier.

"Yuan! Who are you talking to?"

Before Yuuki could teach Baqi a lesson, Helica crawled out of bed like a caterpillar.

Yuuki Yukino glared at Baqi, who was huddled inside, and slammed the wardrobe shut.

When he turned his head, his expression had completely changed.

"You must have misheard me, right? I didn't say anything."

“I heard you, yes, I heard you talking.” Helica scrambled off the bed and began crawling in the shadows on the floor.

"I told you you misheard me. I was... um, let me find you a towel to wipe your tears." Yuuki Yuen picked up the spare towel that Baqi had thrown out along with her and handed it to Helica.

"Ah, a towel, thank you, Yuan." Helica chuckled a few times and picked something up from the ground. "But, here, here's a towel."

Hmm? You have towels?

When Yuuki saw the white fabric with a bow in Helica's hand, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

That's a damn towel!

Help! Please stop doing things that are making me feel so uncomfortable!

Yuuki snatched the item from Helica's hand, quickly opened the wardrobe, threw it at Baqi's face, and also tossed in the matching items that Helica hadn't yet touched, which were scattered on the floor.

This angered Helica, who felt as if something important had been taken away, and she burst into tears again.

"My towel! My towel!"

"How about using this? This one is brand new."

"No! I want that, I want that! Waaah, the towel, waaah!"

When Yuuki Yuuki later recalled this unusual Christmas Eve, the only word she could describe it was "disaster."

She didn't know how long it took before she finally calmed Helica down and made her fall into a deep sleep while holding her.

Yes, it was Helica, who had stripped down to just a tight-fitting tank top and shorts.

Thankfully, it was shorts, not panties, so I didn't develop any unnecessary feelings.

Even if it were panties, after being tormented by Helica for so long, she probably wouldn't develop any extra feelings for them!

Besides, the root of all evil is still hiding in the closet.

Yuuki tried several times to sneak up while Helica was asleep so that Baki could go back first, but as soon as she made the slightest movement, Helica would open her eyes groggily and hug her even tighter.

There's no other way, so it'll have to be this way.

That being said, what time is it now?

When Baqi arrived, it was just past four o'clock, when it was barely dark. The two of them spent about an hour getting ready.

Even counting from the time Helica entered the room to the time she caused a scene, and then to the time Helica fell asleep, it has only been less than two hours.

That means it's only seven or eight o'clock now.

Just this moment, Yuuki Yukina's arm, which was being held and used as a pillow by Helica, was already starting to go numb. If Helica were to hold her all night, Yuuki Yukina couldn't even imagine what would happen to her.

Never mind, whether Helica falls asleep first or wakes up first, my torment will be over.

Yuki Yukino's idea was excellent, but reality often goes against her expectations.

Instead of Baki sneaking out of the closet, or Herika sleeping or sobering up, she heard another rhythmic knocking on the door.

isn't it?

Now Yuuki Yukino is truly in despair.

Yuuki Yukino didn't react yet, but Helica rubbed her sleepy eyes and lifted her head.

"Who is it? Someone is knocking on the door."

Yuuki Yukino did have a guess about who it might be, but she definitely didn't want to be right.

But then her phone, which was on the bedside table, started vibrating and the ringtone sounded immediately.

The caller ID displayed on the screen was none other than the person Yuuki Yuuki had guessed was knocking on her door.

What to do? Answer or not?

As Yuuki hesitated, Helica urged her again.

"Who is it? Someone is on the phone."

"N-nothing serious." Yuuki Yui was covered in cold sweat, her tongue was tied in knots, and she quickly hung up the phone.

Before Yuuki could unlock her screen after hanging up the phone, a message from Nishio Reki popped up.

"Xiaoyuan, I see your lights are still on. Aren't you home?"

Then another one popped up.

"Are you unable to answer the phone? Are you alright? Please let me know if you need any help."

One more thing.

"By the way, I'm right in front of your house now. Could you open the door for me if it's convenient?"

It really is Xiao Li!

But if it were Xiao Li, she should be able to explain her current desperate situation, right?

Although Nishio Reki has a history of competing with Tomoe for Yuuki's affections, among the people close to Yuuki, Reki is the one who understands Yuuki the most and is the least likely to cause her trouble.

Even if Yuuki Yukino didn't know if Nishio Reki would understand her, and it wouldn't be good to shut Nishio Reki out, but...

But it would be even worse if Nishio Reki met someone who was practically only wearing underwear on his bed, and someone who had hidden in the closet without underwear.

I'll send a message to Xiaoli first, telling her that my situation is complicated.

Yuuki Yukino got right to work, swiping her thumb to unlock her phone and quickly starting to edit.

Yuuki Yukino didn't try to hide the fact that she was fiddling with her phone from Herika. This was partly because Herika was holding her arm and she couldn't leave immediately, and partly because she hadn't considered that Herika would be staring intently at her phone.

Furthermore, Helica was in a daze and operated very quickly, so she probably couldn't see anything, right?

Herlica surprised Yuuki Yuuki by only a few things – she only saw the note "Koyomi".

But this note was enough for Helica in this situation.

"Nishio... Calendar? Is it the Nishio Calendar?"

Yuuki Yukino's fingers froze halfway through her operation, and her neck stiffened as she slowly turned towards Helica like a machine.

"No! We already agreed! If she sees me... No, no! I have to be a good boy!"

Why are you suddenly acting like a good girl? Where did you go when you were crying and making a scene, demanding to hear me say I liked something, and even using Baqi's things to wipe your tears?!

Yuki Yukino is too lazy to reiterate the feeling of being devastated. In short, besides being devastated, Yuki Yukino can't think of any other words to describe her feelings.

Helica, who had just taken a nap, still seemed a little disoriented, but perhaps because she had exhausted herself with all the commotion earlier, she wasn't as rowdy as before.

"You, you go open the door! I'll find somewhere to hide! I can't let Nishio Reki see me, yes, I can't let her find out!"

Isn't this good enough? It's better than Helica starting to cry and throw a tantrum again, isn't it?

So Yuuki watched as Herika nimbly jumped off the bed, and before she could grab her, she opened the wardrobe right in front of her and curled up inside.

Then, screams erupted from the wardrobe, one after another. The wardrobe door was smashed open the next second, and two screaming girls fell onto the pile of clothes that Baqi had thrown outside.

Forget it, let's just destroy it. Let everyone do whatever they want.

……

Five minutes later.

"Because the two of them weren't here, I sneaked over."

Sitting on the sofa, Nishio Reki spoke in a serious tone.

Okay, okay, this is the third time Yuuki Yuki has heard these words tonight.

The three of you are really in sync; you didn't even need to discuss the night raid yourselves.

Xiao Li is sitting here, so what about Helica and Baki's dream premiere?

The answer is simple: it's hiding in the closet right now.

Yuuki Yui had no idea how a girl who was embarrassed about doing something wrong and a girl who was delirious after eating chocolate with liqueur could reach an agreement. After whispering to each other for a while, the two of them climbed into the closet together and hid.

Fortunately, this time they didn't forget to bring their clothes in as well.

What's so good about it?! It's not good at all!

Just sitting next to Nishio Reki made Yuuki Yuuki feel like she had thorns in her back!

Anyway, Yuuki Yukino has made up her mind that Nishio Reki is absolutely not allowed to enter her room, which is currently locked with the door tightly shut!

But Nishio Reki probably won't cause himself any trouble, right?

Of the three, only Xiao Li didn't make a move on him, but sat about half a meter away.

"Xiaoyuan, why do you look so worried?"

"The reason is complicated and it will take a long time to explain." When asked this by Nishio Reki, Yuuki Yuuki's body went limp and she collapsed onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling with a dead look in her eyes.

After all this fuss, it would be too much to ask Yuuki Yukino to act like nothing happened and fool Kotori again.

Anyway, since Helica and Baki have already run into them, it doesn't matter if Xiao Li sees them too...

Yuuki Yukino once had such a terrible idea, but in the spirit of minimizing the problem, it was better not to give up too much.