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

The same applies to Sakuragawa Nana.

Seeing Sakuragawa Nana crying and apologizing to the others, Yuuki Yukina felt that what she did was actually quite right.

Chapter 118 You're only thinking about yourself?

When Yuuki Yukino arrived at Sakuragawa Nana's side—or rather, after pretending to wander around the area before arriving—Sakuragawa Nana was already surrounded by a crowd.

Most of the people surrounding Sakuragawa Nana were those who had just sat down to eat barbecue together, but not all of them. Apart from them, no other onlookers were seen.

In that sense, Yuuki Yukino felt that the position she found to teach Sakuragawa Nana a lesson was not bad.

Sakuragawa Nana knelt on the ground, crying loudly with snot and tears streaming down her face.

"Koyomi, what happened? What's going on?" Yuuki Yukina pulled at Nishio Koyomi, who was standing on the outermost edge of the circle.

Partly to solidify her alibi, and partly because during the time she ran to the nearby area to deactivate her transformation and then ran back, she really didn't know if anything had happened.

Nishio Ryū lowered his voice so that it wouldn't disturb the others who were trying to calm Sakuragawa Nana down.

"Sakuragawa Nana was attacked by an evil magical girl. Even Sakuragawa Nana herself didn't know why. This scene was witnessed by Koumori, who then dialed Hyakki Chiyu's number, and Hyakki Chiyu called everyone over."

Yuuki nodded repeatedly and asked further, "Kurenai also called me, but we split up, so I arrived a little late. What happened next?"

This was something Yuuki Eri and Koumori had agreed upon; there was nothing special about it.

Nishio Reki replied, "Afterwards, since Tenrai, Inuyama, and the others were carrying musical instruments, it wasn't convenient to bring them along. The shop manager and Tamaki were also waiting in the shop, so the others came to find Sakuragawa Nana."

No wonder the only people surrounding Sakuragawa Nana are Rei, Aika, her band members, and Chiyu, who came looking for Mari.

The most likely reason Xiao Li came here is to find me, and it would be most convenient for me to exchange information with Xiao Li.

"And then what?"

"And then nothing special happened. When we got here, she was crying like this, and we don't know who did such a thing."

Nishio Reki deliberately raised her voice a little. As her childhood friend, she knew exactly what Yuuki Yukino was planning the moment she saw Sakuragawa Nana.

Yuuki Yukino glared at Koreki with annoyance, then nudged him with her elbow, deliberately speaking sarcastically about him.

"Yes, yes, that's too much!"

……

With the comfort of others, Sakuragawa Nana temporarily stopped crying and returned to the barbecue restaurant with everyone.

After everyone returned, the atmosphere in the private room of the barbecue restaurant underwent a subtle change.

Sakuragawa Aika kept comforting Sakuragawa Nana, but Sakuragawa Nana remained silent.

The atmosphere at the barbecue had been ruined by Sakuragawa Nana, and now she's become the biggest victim of the attack by the evil magical girl.

Although the two cannot cancel each other out, this way, people will no longer discuss Sakuragawa Nana's immaturity and her tragic experiences.

As for Sakuragawa Nana herself, she was arrogant and domineering one second, but then she suffered a severe setback. Even if she wanted to continue doing the same thing as before, her sense of shame wouldn't allow her to continue doing such willful things.

She had truly escaped death; if the pink demon had wanted to, she would have been completely finished long ago. This feeling of being in a different world made her very quiet now.

Tenono and Yuusuke were both quite surprised by Sakuragawa Nana's identity as a magical girl, but neither of them said much. In this somber atmosphere, even someone like Tenono was too embarrassed to ask directly.

Nana and Tamaki were just chatting casually, occasionally clinking glasses, seemingly unaffected by the atmosphere around them.

Their choice was correct. Showing distance or concern at this time could have made the situation worse. Maintaining a calm attitude was the right choice.

The atmosphere on Helica's side was still great, even better than before.

After all, they all knew who had made Sakura Nana cry. Even if they hadn't done it themselves, everyone felt it was a great relief.

A little while later, Nishio Reki suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" and then handed his phone to Yuuki Yuuki.

"Xiaoyuan, the final results of the Christmas party are in."

A whispered remark by Nishio Ryū caused a huge uproar at the dinner table, with many people pulling out their phones to search for the final result of the match.

This is their match against Sakura Nana, and also a match against themselves that is impossible to overcome. Regardless of the outcome, the girls feel it is necessary to watch it.

Although this competition didn't bring any glory or prizes, it was more like a review and program report of the Moonsea Middle School Christmas party, serving as a secondary promotional tool, but it was extremely important to the girls.

"Look, look! We should be in the instrumental performance category, which is different from the song category." Inuyama Tomoe, who had come around behind Yuuki Yuuki, rested her chin on Yuuki Yuuki's head and kept urging her on.

"I think there are a lot of members in the Light Music Club, so they should be number one, right?" Sakura Hanako said casually while scrolling through her phone.

Helica Tenrai, however, was speaking up for Sakuragawa Nana and the others, which was quite unusual: "To be honest, Sakuragawa Nana and the others are indeed the best performers, so it's no problem for them to get first place."

"The atmosphere here is great, it's not impossible for us to get first place, right?" Yuki encouraged everyone, smiling warmly as she continued scrolling through her phone, stopping at the award they were most interested in.

"What is that?!" Baqi exclaimed, her voice cracking. "Everyone's favorite instrumental performance... what is this thing called blowing a trumpet with your nose?"

Everyone was paddling at roughly the same speed, and for a moment the girls' expressions became somewhat subtle.

"Why! Why?!" Herika slammed down her phone, picked up a thinly sliced ​​bone-in lamb chop from the charcoal grill in front of her, and stuffed it into her mouth. While chewing, she complained fiercely, "Our band, which we worked so hard to build, rehearsing and writing songs, can't compete with a nose-blowing trumpet?"

“Maybe everyone prefers something a little more abstract? The performance is more…” Yuki Yuki analyzed seriously, then comforted him, “Besides, the Light Music Club lost too, so it’s not unfair, it’s not unfair.”

"So what if we're not abstract! Fine... whatever, trying to be more abstract with them is a failure from the start, forget it, forget it." Helica angrily picked up a lamb chop, waved it in the air, and stuffed it into Lin Jiezi's mouth.

"By the way, the first place in the song category was the teachers' chorus singing the school song; the first place in the literature category was the poetry recitation 'Yuehai Middle School, My Youth'; and the first place in the language category was 'Making Sushi Together'," Xiao Li reminded everyone while scrolling through her phone.

"What is 'nizushi'?" Sakura Hanako asked, puzzled.

"It's about three different groups of people who are trapped in a sushi restaurant by heavy snow and can't go home for Christmas. After a series of conflicts, they reconcile and finally shout out in a friendly manner: 'Let's make sushi together!'" Mizuno Yu answered.

"Well... looking at it this way, it's actually not so bad that we didn't win an award. At least we don't have to be compared to this kind of thing." Helica breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not entirely. This first-place magic body looks pretty good too, doesn't it?" Baqi wrapped her arm around Yuuki Yuki's neck and pointed to the next award on the screen.

“That’s because there’s only this one program in this category,” Mizuno Yu replied, her face still expressionless.

"..."

The girls searched through the list a few more times and found the vote count in the specific categories.

“Uh…” Sakura Hanako raised her hand: “Actually, we only lost two votes to that guy who blows a trumpet with his nose.”

"What about the Light Music Club?" Yuuki asked casually.

Sakura Hanako flipped through the pages: "They have eighteen fewer votes than us."

"And what about them?" Baqi pointed to Sakuragawa Nana sitting over there.

"Twelve fewer votes." Sakura Hanako pushed up her glasses. "That means..."

"That means it's our victory! Right! Right!" Helica clapped her hands happily.

"That's how it looks based on the vote count." Mizuno Yu nodded seriously: "But the first place still belongs to the one who blows the trumpet through the nose."

"Who cares! We're number one anyway!" Baqi clapped her hands and squeezed between Helica and Yuuki Yuuki. While celebrating with Helica, she snuggled into Yuuki Yuuki's arms with ill intent.

The happier Helica was in her celebration, the uglier Nana Sakuragawa looked.

Of course, this only applies to Sakura Nana. Tennei readily accepted this reality and was already saying, "You guys are really amazing," as she began to rub her hands together, ready to exchange ideas with Hayashi Mustard, who was also a drummer.

However, Lin Jiezi, who was so frightened by the cow that she screamed and nearly died, seemed to have little interest in communicating with her.

"I...I don't understand."

The lively atmosphere suddenly cooled down after Nana Sakuragawa whispered something.

"I've clearly worked very hard, both in band practice and in cooperating with everyone, every single day. Why can't I compare to you guys?"

"Oh dear, it's just a school game, don't take it too seriously." Helica waved her hand generously. Anyway, she was the winner, and Sakuragawa Nana was in a bad mood, so she didn't want to add fuel to the fire by bullying a junior.

“I’m serious! I’ve carried my sister’s dream on my shoulders and given up so much, but why can’t I even…” Sakura Nana started to choke up again, but she no longer had the sharp edge she had before.

"Are you serious?" Helica raised an eyebrow.

She had already given Sakuragawa Nana a way out. Ever since Yuuki Yuuki met Tenrai Herika, Herika had rarely been so generous.

However, if Sakuragawa Nana doesn't appreciate it, Helica has no reason to continue obeying her.

No matter what, Helica has a really bad temper, absolutely terrible.

"Are you saying we're not serious?" Helica's voice gradually turned cold, and an invisible pressure began to spread.

"I...that's not what I meant." Sakuragawa Nana's tone became even weaker.

"We were just as serious, we worked twice as hard, and that's why we got the results we deserved. What about you?"

"You said you were carrying other people's dreams and responsibilities, and that you were working hard with your partners, but these are all things you've assumed! Nobody asked you to carry their dreams, and you don't have any responsibilities on your shoulders. Stop indulging in this self-pity and living in your own world all day long."

Sakuragawa Nana stuttered even more, opening her mouth for a long time but unable to utter a sound.

“Sakuragawa Nana, we are a group, and we can be honest with each other.” Helica said, her magical aura slowly leaking out as she unabashedly displayed the orthodox magical power of a magical girl.

The others sitting at the table all looked up at Helica and Sakuragawa Nana, and slowly released their own magic.

Now Sakuragawa Nana feels it more directly.

Magical girls, corrupted magical girls, violent ones, gentle ones—all sorts of beings who could never coexist peacefully are now sitting here, eating barbecue as if nothing's wrong.

Her expression turned even more unpleasant, but the ordinary people who couldn't sense any magic had no idea why Sakuragawa Nana would show such an expression.

"You keep everything to yourself as your little secret, so what makes you so arrogant as to say you can beat us? Have you ever been honest with them? Have you ever considered their feelings? No, you haven't. All you know is how to take what you need from them."

"You're the kind of person who only thinks about yourself."

Chapter 119 Apology

Sakura Nana couldn't understand how she could lose to these guys who knew nothing about music.

No, actually she already had a vague premonition, but she just didn't want to admit it.

In fairy tales, heroes are always fearless in the face of difficulties and obstacles, constantly striving towards an almost impossible goal, and ultimately overcoming the impossible. Such stories are always delightful to hear.

In such stories, there is always an invincible villain who makes other people's stories more exciting while gradually dimming his own.

Sakuragawa Nana felt that she was the great demon king.

No, maybe it's just some small fry that pops up on the road to the hero's success?

But they are so dazzling.

It turns out that having trustworthy and supportive partners by your side is such an enviable thing.

And what about those around me...?

Sakuragawa Nana lowered her head, looking at Tenneko sitting next to her, at Yuusuke Akira who remained silent, at her older sister, and at Rei.

If I could gain more power from them...