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

Minato Nana raised her glass, downed the remaining half of the beer, and burped at the ceiling under Sakuragawa Aika's gaze, hiding her sigh behind that not-so-pleasant sound.

"It's nothing, it's just that I haven't seen you guys for a while. I miss you all a little."

“We? No, not including… Yuuki Tamaki, and Hanzawa… Ha…” The dazed Shirogane Rei raised her head from the table like a zombie emerging from the ground, and before she could finish speaking, she fell to one side.

Then, the girl began to snore with even breathing.

Even though Shirogane Rei could no longer hear, Minato Nana still answered the girl's question to the girl who had fallen into a deep sleep.

"That's right, it's just the three of us, we're already very grateful to be able to see you all."

Minato Nana ordered two more beers, handed one to Sakuragawa Aika, and silently raised her glass.

Sakura Aika raised her glass in acknowledgment, and the two of them simultaneously tilted their heads back and drank more than half a glass.

After a moment of silence, Minato Nana picked up the chopsticks, used them to pick up the charred beef, set it aside, and then put it back down.

The glass that Minato Nana picked up again was the one that was half-filled with beer, and she clinked glasses with Aika once more.

After exchanging drinks several times, the glass was finally empty.

Just as Minato Nana was about to get up and order two more beers, Sakuragawa Aika stopped her.

"Alright, Nana, you've had enough to drink tonight."

“That makes sense.” Minato Nana lowered her hand, leaned back in her chair, and raised her arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Want to go out for some fresh air?" Aiko suggested, "Let Ling sleep here for a while, just the two of us."

Minato Nana hesitated for a moment, but under Sakuragawa Nana's concerned gaze, she finally nodded.

Stepping out of the store, the summer night breeze felt on my body, making my alcohol-numbed brain seem even more sluggish, and my steps became unsteady.

But it's very comfortable.

Sakurakawa Aika intentionally walked at a distance of half a meter from Minato Nana, maintaining a friendly distance between them.

"Nana, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine," Minato Nana replied casually.

"Don't lie to me, it's obvious when you lie," Aiko retorted immediately. "Even if we're temporarily stopping our activities, we're still good friends, right?"

"Hmm." Minato Nana nodded, but her expression remained somewhat ambiguous.

Sakuragawa Aika was very impatient with Minato Nana's behavior and went even further, becoming more assertive.

"Let's not keep things from each other. It's one thing that you didn't invite Huan today, but why didn't Chestnut come?"

Upon hearing that name, Minato Nana clearly showed great unease.

This made Sakuragawa Aika feel that her guess might have hit the nail on the head. After weighing the pros and cons, she still chose to ask the question in a more direct way.

"broke up?"

"I don't know." Minato Nana shook her head.

"What does it mean if I don't know?"

"I don't know, that's all."

The wheels rolled several times, and the girls walked a long way along the street.

Sakuragawa Aiko felt her mind becoming even more foggy.

Perhaps Nana Minato was the same; under Aika's persistent questioning, she also began to tell her own story.

It should be described as a lamentation.

"Chestnut, she's gone! I'm so worried! Even though she had a terrible temper later on, I still liked her! Why would I be with her if I didn't like her? But she's gone!"

Aiko waved her fist, indignant on behalf of Nana: "Yeah! How could she be so mean! She just left our Nana all alone! It's outrageous!"

"That's right! That's right! She... she even said she was going to get revenge on Huan, and then she never showed up again! Such a big thing happened in Huan's family, she must have been the one who did it! I was worried that she might do something to you!"

"Don't worry! We'll be... we'll be fine, hiccup, Chestnut won't be either..."

"But I'm so angry! Why is everyone getting hurt because of these things!"

"Yeah! I'm so angry! That wretched chestnut, when she gets back, Rei and I will definitely teach her a lesson!"

"I'm angry!" Minato Nana said, kicking a soda can off the roadside.

"I'm angry!" Ai Ke echoed, running a few steps and kicking the can even further away.

The two men kicked the metal can around, making a clanging sound all the way.

"No! I'm so angry! I want to punch this world to pieces!" Minato Nana shouted, and punched a roadside telephone pole.

"I'll smash this world with one punch!" Sakuragawa Aika shouted, throwing a punch at the roadside.

"Smash it!"

"Smash it!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

The girls chased and played in the summer night, running far, far away!

……

"So... you and Nana got drunk in the middle of the night and started acting crazy, and then... you got into a fight with a trash can on the street?"

Platinum rubbed its temples and asked tentatively.

“Yes,” Sakuragawa Aika nodded.

"So you injured your hand by hitting the trash can?"

"Ah."

"You were found lying in the garbage dump because you thought you had won the fight, so you just lay there asleep?"

"Ah."

"Then... what about Minato Nana..."

"She went to hit another trash can..."

"And what about me..."

"Nana said she left you a trash can, and then she went back to find you..."

Platinum Rinne pressed both hands together on her temples and rubbed them even harder.

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Sakura Aika's face was so red that she didn't dare to show her face to anyone, and she explained in a low voice.

"If you got drunk and started acting crazy, walking around vomiting, breaking your hand by hitting a trash can, and then sleeping in a garbage dump overnight, would you say something happened?"

"Then you have to explain yourself. This has nothing to do with Minato Nana, right? I always thought it was Minato Nana..." Rei's expression was unusually interesting. For a moment, she didn't know what kind of emotion to use to face Aika.

“I explained, but you don’t believe me, and neither does Cai Cai. You all just think I’m biased towards her.”

“That…that makes sense…” Ling slapped her forehead speechlessly.

No wonder Sakuragawa Ai was the only one among the four adults who drank juice; it turns out there was another reason she couldn't see through.

Yuuki Yukina felt that in this degree of stubbornness, Sakuragawa Nana and her older sister were really alike.

On one hand, they are desperately hiding their past, not wanting their most important teammates to know their shameful truth; on the other hand, they are also desperately hiding their experiences, not wanting their closest people to see their true selves.

The two sisters are really alike in their lack of honesty.

At first, they tried desperately to cover it up for the sake of their own face, and even when things got so out of hand, they were too embarrassed to tell the truth. But now, time has allowed what was originally a trivial matter to grow into something bigger than anyone expected, causing so many messy things to happen.

Perhaps it's because things are getting bigger and bigger that things that could have been said with a little effort are becoming increasingly difficult to be honest about?

This may be a coincidence, or it may be the inevitable result of not being able to communicate properly.

It's stupid, but everyone does something similar to some extent.

Because of shyness, because of awkwardness, because of various other reasons, the words that should have been spoken became difficult to express, until they eventually became an irreparable regret.

Yuuki Yuuki suddenly felt somewhat fortunate, as did Bachi in the coffee shop and Herika in the hot spring inn.

Also, it was the summer night when I caught Xiao Li, who was trying to escape.

I feel really lucky to have been able to resolve these issues properly.

With the mystery that had puzzled many for years being revealed in such a boring and uninteresting way, today's group activity has come to a complete end.

I must say, it was quite a fulfilling day.

Minamoto, along with the remaining three members of the Rose Garden, planned to start their second battle in a different location and catch up with their old friends.

Sakuragawa Nana, who had been apologizing desperately until just now, also needed to spend some time with her own band.

After being busy for so long, the girls were also feeling tired. Helica didn't plan to hold another wild party like the original Rose Garden members, so she let the girls leave directly.

So after a brief farewell, the three parties dissolved their engagement.

Perfect timing! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have taken their toll on Yuuki Yukino, and she really needs a good rest.

With that in mind, Yuuki Yukino declined all offers to take her home and instead took her neighbor, Hayashi Keko, home with her.

However, someone is destined to give Yuuki Yuuki a little surprise at the very end of this Christmas season.

Perhaps it was fright.

When Yuki Yuki and Hayashi Keiko walked up the steps to their front door, there were already two people waiting there.

The slightly petite girl kept her knees tucked in, with a thick blanket draped over her shoulders to wrap herself up – an outfit rarely seen outdoors.

The black-haired girl beside her stood there quietly, her lowered eyes reflecting nothing, like a statue.

What the two had in common was that they were covered with a thin layer of snow, and their exposed skin was red from the cold. Clearly, they had been waiting for Yuuki Yuki here for more than just a short while.

Yuuki Yukino slowed her pace, her gaze fixed on the two girls waiting at her doorstep. She instinctively and warily shielded Lin Jiezi, who was walking beside her, behind her.

Although Lin Jiezi didn't need his protection, Yuki Yuki still did it.

If these two people make any noise, it won't be funny at all.

Noticing Yuuki Yuuki climbing the stairs, the girl wrapped in a blanket slowly got up, shook off the snowflakes, and took two steps back to stand in front of Yuuki Yuuki.