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

"Yuki Tamaki, it's been a long time."

Hanzawa Kuriko gave a dry greeting. Although her actual age was similar to that of Yuuki Tamaki, she had been in a state of defeat for a long time, and her mental age was not much older than Yuuki Eri and the others.

In front of Yuuki Yuki, Hanzawa Kuriko can still act like a peer of Yuuki Yuki's older sister, and she is essentially harmless in front of Minato Nana, but she is bound to be nervous in front of Yuuki Tamaki.

Tamaki Yuuki's eyelids twitched violently, as if some ominous premonition was coming true.

But Tamaki Yuuki managed to steady her voice with her composure, maintaining an excessive level of politeness, more like her demeanor during work hours: "Excuse me, who are you?"

"Don't you remember me?" Hanzawa Kuriko forced a not-so-good smile, raised her hand to grab her hair, but stopped just before it touched her head, and awkwardly put her hand between her legs, trapping it with her knees.

Even though Hanzawa Kuriko's action had been forgotten in Yuuki Tamaki's memory, seeing it again now made something awaken in her mind.

Without Hanzawa Kuriko saying anything, Yuuki Tamaki seemed to have already realized who the girl sitting in front of him was.

But Hanzawa Kuriko still introduced herself; whether Yuuki Tamaki realized it or not, it was something she always had to face.

"I am Hanzawa Kuriko."

Yuki Tamaki first slightly raised his eyebrows, then his pupils contracted to almost a point, trembling violently as if in an earthquake. His lips twitched slightly, but Yuki Tamaki bit them hard with his teeth.

It's certain that Tamaki Yuuki will waver after meeting the culprit who caused his entire family to become like this.

Just as Nishio Reki and Minato Nana were both frowning and watching the two's condition with great concern, a roar that was almost deafening tore through the eerie silence.

"asshole!"

Hanzawa Kuriko's collar was tightly gripped by Yuuki Tamaki, who lifted her into the air with his strength, making her hang limply like a soulless puppet. Yet, her eyes remained fixed on Yuuki Tamaki's face, which was twisted with anger.

This is... Yuuki Tamaki?

Both Nishio Reki and Minato Nana couldn't help but gasp.

Whether as Yuuki Yuuki's best friend or as a member of the Rose Garden band, both of them have a unique understanding of Yuuki Yuuki.

A gentle older sister, a steadfast teammate—no matter her image, Tamaki Yuuki is the epitome of reliability. It's unimaginable that she would act so disregarding her image like this.

But something unimaginable happened right before my eyes.

Nishio Reki moved his fingers, wanting to step forward and stop Yuuki Tamaki, but was stopped by Minato Nana who reached out her hand.

That's right. Hanzawa Kuriko is a magical girl, and Yuuki Tamaki could never hurt her, and Hanzawa Kuriko could never turn around and hurt Yuuki Tamaki.

Although almost all of Yuuki Tamaki's injuries were caused by the girl in front of her, it was precisely for this reason that it was best not to stop Yuuki Tamaki and Hanzawa Kuriko and let them resolve their own issues.

"you……"

Yuki Tamaki clenched his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.

She seemed to want to say something, but said nothing except that one syllable.

Yuuki Tamaki herself wanted to question the other person, to ask why such a thing had happened back then, and why she still had the nerve to appear in front of her now. She wanted to vent all the grievances she had suffered alone over the years on the other person.

Tamaki Yuuki herself is not a monolithic entity; she too has gradually grown up from that naive age. Her reliable image is simply because she doesn't show her vulnerable side to others.

While this applies to the band, it's best if family disputes don't affect the band's normal operations. At most, they can be treated as lighthearted topics of conversation during leisure time—even though they are anything but lighthearted.

This was even more true when she lived with Yuuki Yuki. Her older sister could never collapse, otherwise the whole family would continue to crumble.

I've been enduring it all, until this explosion.

boom.

Yuuki Tamaki released her grip and pushed Hanzawa Kuriko back onto the sofa. With a sinister and terrifying expression, she grabbed the hand that had just lifted Hanzawa Kuriko and began rubbing her wrist repeatedly.

ended?

Nishio Reki and Minato Nana didn't dare to breathe loudly.

Yuki Tamaki walked to the other side of the sofa and sat down in the seat furthest away from Hanzawa Kuriko.

ended.

The two breathed a sigh of relief and then walked over from the other side, sitting directly between Li Zi and Huan.

Minato Nana was definitely going to sit closer to Kuriko, while Nishio Reki sat right next to Yuuki Tamaki, afraid that Yuuki Tamaki might do something else.

After the two were seated, Hanzawa Kuriko spoke first.

Is that all?

This was undoubtedly said to Yuuki Tamaki.

"What do you mean?" Tamaki Yuuki feigned ignorance.

"Aren't you going to punch me in the face a couple of times? Or give me a piece of your mind?" Hanzawa Kuriko retorted, her tone sounding much more relaxed than when she first saw Yuuki Tamaki.

Yuki Tamaki's outburst seemed to have put Hanzawa Kuriko's mind at ease.

Yuki Tamaki glanced in Hanzawa Kuriko's direction, then turned her head away. Although she could tell she was trying to calm herself down, her anger was not so easily hidden.

"If you want me to do that, I can, but what's the point?"

“Yes, it doesn’t really mean anything, but it will definitely make you feel better,” Hanzawa Kuriko replied.

"Forget it, nothing can be changed." Yuuki Tamaki's words were unusually sharp today, making Nishio Reki and Minato Nana think of that short but temperamental blonde girl.

But now, even the Thunder Helica has become depressed. Just thinking about it makes Nishio Reki feel as if something is blocking his chest.

“That’s true,” Hanzawa Kuriko quietly agreed.

"So, you called me here because you wanted to catch up with me? Or do you have a way to help Xiaoyuan?" Yuki Tamaki continued, getting straight to the point.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm here? Why I've become like this?"

"Not interested," Yuuki Tamaki replied immediately.

“Okay.” Hanzawa Kuriko shook her head: “You’re still the same as before, always prioritizing the big picture. No, all you ever see is what you want to see, whether it’s the band or your sister. Nothing else catches your eye, and you don’t care about anything. I was out of my mind to suspect you and Nana back then.”

"If you want, I can punch you in the face right now, but magical girls shouldn't be afraid of pain, right?" Yuuki Tamaki glared at Hanzawa Kuriko, but didn't retaliate again.

“It still hurts, at least before you transform,” Hanzawa Kuriko said.

"So you came here to catch up with me?"

Yuki Tamaki shifted his body slightly, and although he didn't explicitly intend to leave, he had already shown a willingness to back down.

Hanzawa Kuriko stared at Yuuki Tamaki for a long while, then finally sighed:

"You guessed right, the reason I called you here is indeed about Yuuki Yukino."

Chapter 289 Low Morale

As if influenced by Yuki Tamaki, Hanzawa Kuriko cut straight to the point without any unnecessary words.

"I plan to help Yuuki Yukino out."

"Are you planning to make things even more chaotic for Yuuki Yukino?" Yuuki Tamaki asked.

She specifically used Yuuki Yukino's full name, instead of her nickname at home, which shows that Yuuki Tamaki takes her younger sister's situation very seriously.

However, Nishio Reki couldn't tell whether Yuuki Tamaki's tone was serious or probing, something that Nishio Reki really couldn't guess.

She herself told Yuuki Tamaki about being a corrupted magical girl, and Yuuki Tamaki naturally knew that Hanzawa Kuriko was also a corrupted magical girl.

Whether Yuuki Tamaki, like other ordinary people or even ordinary magical girls, harbors prejudice against the identity of a corrupted magical girl is the only thing Nishio Reki cannot say for sure.

However, Hanzawa Kuriko explained it very clearly.

"Don't misunderstand, I plan to work with you to stop Yuuki Yukino from continuing to act recklessly."

"Why would you do this? It's a very dangerous thing, isn't it?" Tamaki Yuuki asked again.

It wasn't difficult for her to tell that Hanzawa Kuriko was still a magical girl; she only needed to look at Hanzawa Kuriko's face, which hadn't changed at all in the past ten years.

As for fighting Yuuki Yuuki as a magical girl, or simply interfering with her actions, it's not hard to judge her danger after hearing about Yuuki Yuuki's abilities from Nishio Reki.

"You know quite a lot. Your sister really doesn't hide anything from you." Hanzawa Kuriko sighed, but under Yuuki Tamaki's continued questioning gaze, she changed the subject back.

"There are three reasons. First, I care about Nana and don't want anything that Yuuki Yuki does to affect Nana's normal life. Second, it can be said to be repaying a debt of gratitude. If it weren't for Yuuki Yuki, I definitely wouldn't be able to talk to Nana like this. Although this is not what I wanted, I should have disappeared completely, but... well, anyway, it's to repay a debt of gratitude."

Hanzawa Kuriko paused briefly, then her gaze became much more serious.

"Third, I can't talk about atonement or whitewashing. What I've done is done, and it's impossible to say that doing some good deeds cancels out my mistakes. That's not fair. But people who have done wrong things are not necessarily incapable of doing good things. I just want to do this. Even if it can't make up for my past mistakes, at least it can make my conscience feel better. It has nothing to do with you. You can think whatever you want. It's just for myself."

This time, it wasn't Tamaki Yuuki who spoke, but Reki Nishio.

"So what do you plan to do?"

"Don't rush. I called Yuuki Tamaki here simply because she has the right to know these things. Actually, I don't know why I'm telling her. I just feel that she should know." Hanzawa Kuriko's words were a little awkward and repetitive, which actually made her current mood a little easier to understand.

Based on Yuuki Tamaki's understanding of her, he already knew what Kuriko was thinking.

Saying things like "it's just to make myself feel better" and "I want Yuuki Tamaki to know" is really just about wanting to make up for the mistakes I made in the past.

But she couldn't bring herself to say it, and even if she did, from Hanzawa Kuriko's perspective, Yuuki Tamaki might not accept it, and might have other thoughts. It would be better to attribute everything to her own sudden whim.

Actually, it's not that she's not angry anymore. If she really wasn't angry, she wouldn't have spoken to Hanzawa Kuriko in such an aggressive manner before.

But getting angry wouldn't change anything; that was a given. And with her younger sister somewhere and doing who-knows-where, she had no mood to be angry.

Yuki closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again.

"So, what do you plan to do?"

……

Yuuki Tamaki's question was undoubtedly an acceptance.

Yuki Tamaki was called over because Hanzawa Kuriko had something to say to him, and Nishio Reki was asked to bring him over because Nishio Reki was indispensable.

Hanzawa Kuriko was not familiar with anyone. The only people she had contact with were Yuuki Yuki, with whom she had a brief conversation before, and Nishio Reki, who was so sad that she went to Minato Nana to cry and confide in her.

Having spent so much time by Minato Nana's side, Hanzawa Kuriko had come to understand the cause and effect of the matter. She wanted to repay Yuuki Yuki, and the best way to do so was through Nishio Reki, who knew Yuuki Yuki very well.

Since Yuuki Tamaki and Minato Nana were of no help, they stayed at Minato Nana's house for the time being. Minato Nana and Yuuki Tamaki needed to explain the situation regarding Hanzawa Kuriko.

In fact, Hanzawa Kuriko really wanted to say it in person, but she didn't have much time. After a brief conversation with Yuuki Tamaki, she set off with Nishio Reki.

However, Hanzawa Kuriko encountered setbacks at her very first stop.

"You wicked person! You almost killed me! I don't want to be with you! Get away from me! Get away now! If I didn't want to cause trouble, I would have beaten you up already!"

Hiding inside the game console, Sumireko bared her teeth and claws at Hanzawa Kuriko, waving her bear paws like wheels.

Hong Moli, holding the game console in both hands, also looked a little embarrassed. Bai Gui Qianyou, who was next to her, also did not eat this time, but sat there obediently, paying attention to the situation.

Speaking of awkwardness, it's not just Hanzawa Kuriko who almost stabbed Yumehara Sumireko to death; Nishio Reki, who beat up Koumari, is also in an awkward position.