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

The person who opened the door was not Helica, but a middle-aged woman.

Upon seeing Nishio Reki and Hanzawa Kuriko, the woman looked surprised and didn't say anything immediately.

Just as Nishio Reki was about to speak, the woman spoke first.

"You two, are you here to see Helica the Thunder God?"

This is Helica's mother, whom Nishio Reki knows; he had met her a few times before.

Nishio Reki was about to speak again, but was interrupted once more.

The voice of Helica, accompanied by a series of footsteps, came from the room.

Is someone looking for me?

Immediately afterwards, Helica, dressed in her pajamas, appeared in front of the two of them.

Helica looked much more haggard, and her once clear, lightning-like eyes had become duller than before.

At the same time that the two could see Helica, Helica also saw the two standing at the door who hadn't yet entered the room.

A confused expression froze on Helica's face, then quickly twisted into a subtle but extremely resistant emotion.

But that resistance only lasted for a moment. After that, Tenrai Herika went straight to the door, squeezed past her mother, and stood in front of Nishio Reki and Hanzawa Kuriko.

"Heavenly lightning..."

Nishio Reki had just opened his mouth, but then closed it for the third time because of the strange atmosphere.

Helica gripped the doorknob tightly and slammed the door shut.

"Right now, I don't want to say anything to either of you."

Chapter 291 Let's Turn the World Upside Down

Herika's condition was abnormal; anyone could tell at a glance.

The person most worried about Yuki En is now having second thoughts, Lin Shi?

As the door to Tenrai Herika’s house slowly closed, Nishio Reki, emboldened by some unknown source, reached out and slipped his hand through the crack in the closing door.

Immediately afterwards, a piercing scream echoed throughout the corridor.

Hanzawa Kuriko was stunned, Tenrai Herika's mother was stunned, and even Tenrai Herika, who was about to close the door, widened her eyes slightly as she looked at Nishio Reki, who was clutching his hand in pain.

Although magical girls must have suffered much more serious injuries in battle than they do now, the pain in the nerve endings is not something that can be easily dismissed.

"Are you... alright?" Helica opened her eyes wide and mechanically reopened the door. The sad expression on her face was somewhat dispelled by Nishio Reki's unexpected action.

Nishio Reki clenched his teeth, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his shoulders trembling slightly from the pain.

Then, Nishio Reki suddenly raised his head, and his sharp gaze made Herika shrink back, instinctively raising her hands to shield herself.

But this gave Nishio Reki the best opportunity.

Nishio Reki reached out and grabbed Tenrai Herika's wrist, pulling her away without saying a word.

Helica was caught off guard and was dragged out of the door by Nishio Reki, who led her down the stairs.

Helica's mother had never seen such a scene from young people before. She stood there stunned for a while until Hanzawa Kuriko bowed slightly to her and said, "Excuse me," before she nodded and closed the door.

Herika was dragged down half a flight of stairs by Nishio Reki before she remembered to struggle.

However, Herica's physique destined her to be at a disadvantage in this pure contest of strength, and her struggles were powerless against Nishio Reki's iron-like grip.

Herika looked around. There was nothing in the corridor except for the walls that had turned yellow from age, the marble stairs, and the metal railings. She couldn't even find a place to lean on.

As for those who helped—besides Nishio Reki, who was pulling him along, and Hanzawa Kuriko behind him, there wasn't a single living person to be found.

Although Hanzawa Kuriko isn't exactly a living person, that's not the point at all. The real question is what Nishio Reki is trying to do.

"W-What are you going to do?!"

"Come with me." Without uttering a single unnecessary word, Nishio Reki walked up the steps, slipped his hands under Herika's armpits, and lifted her into the air like a child, then carried her downstairs.

Ten minutes later, in a secluded gazebo near Herika's house.

Helica glanced around out of the corner of her eye. In this time of monster rampage, there were very few living creatures left in sight.

Having been dragged here herself, Helica seemed to resign herself to her fate and sat down on a chair in the pavilion, crossing her arms over her shoulders.

"Speak, what do you want from me?"

That's what she said, but Sakura Hanako had already told Helica about the two people who had come to see her, and Helica knew exactly what the two were up to.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have reacted this way upon seeing the two of them.

Nishio Reki was certainly aware of this: "You saw us and that's how you acted, you should know that, right?"

"Know what? I know nothing."

"How could that be? Then why did you say before that you had nothing to tell us?"

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

After a series of pointless trash-talking exchanges, Helica did regain some of her former energy.

"So, why did you act that way when you saw us? Does it not matter to you what Yuuki Yuuki does to you? Is it okay if you don't help Yuuki?" Nishio Reki asked, standing in front of Tenrai Herika with his hands on his hips.

But as soon as Nishio asked the question, Helica's spirits, which had just begun to recover, plummeted again.

"Wouldn't I just be in the way?"

　"What?" Hanzawa Kuriko's eyelids twitched, and she couldn't help but ask.

But this question was like a switch that released a floodgate, causing Helica's emotions to erupt instantly.

“Yumehara Sumireko is right. If I hadn’t been so willful in going to see Yuuki Yukino, none of this would have happened. Whether it was that time or later, every single time, wasn’t it all caused by my stubbornness?”

Helica shouted loudly, her voice trembling and bordering on hysteria.

"Haven't I always been this kind of person? I don't care what other people think, and I don't care what trouble I might cause them. I just do things my own way. Even if you come to me, what can I do?"

"Forget it! That's just who I am! I..."

Hanzawa Kuriko glanced at the hysterical Tenrai Helica, then turned to ask Nishio Reki beside her.

How old is she?

Nishio Reki replied, "We're in the same grade as each other. Me, her, and Yui are all third-year students."

"So she got very good grades?"

"That's true."

Did you skip a grade?

"No, as far as I know, there isn't."

"So she's the same age as you?"

"I don't know the exact birthday, but it's around the same time as mine, right?"

"Oh." Hanzawa Kuriko nodded in deep understanding: "Then why is she still so naive, getting so hung up on this kind of thing?"

Herlica's expression froze. She was indeed doubting herself, but she was still herself, and her personality wouldn't change.

Hanzawa Kuriko and Nishio Reki were not talking behind her back, so she could hear everything clearly.

To speak ill of oneself to one's face like that, possibly including some subtle criticism of one's height, would normally make Helica furious.

Even when she was feeling down, hearing these words would still bother her a little—no, make her angry.

However, she was indeed in a bad mood. She knew Hanzawa Kuriko, after all, she was a member of her favorite band. Out of respect for her idol, Helica did not get angry.

It would be more inappropriate to show such a scene in front of one's idol. Even though Hanzawa Kuriko has some embarrassing or even excessive past experiences, let's keep things separate.

"Hey, little one." Hanzawa Kuriko turned back to Helika's side, squatted down with her hands on her knees, and was half a head shorter than Helika.

"Hmm?" Helica couldn't cry for a moment, and she wasn't that angry anymore. Her frustration was interrupted, so she gave a muffled reply.

Hanzawa Kuriko opened her mouth, but the question that came out was completely unrelated to Yuuki Yuuki: "If I remember correctly, Nana said that you used to be a fan of our band, right?"

This question puzzled Helica, but she still nodded in agreement.

"That's right, what's wrong?"

"So what do you think of our rose garden?"

Helica thought for a moment: "Great, sunny and youthful. Unlike typical rock bands, it's not the kind of maverick band, but it's also different from bands of middle school or college students of this age. There's a gap in hard skills. If I had to describe it, it would be that it makes people feel very comfortable. Yes, it's a very comfortable band."

"Comfortable? This is the first time I've heard that adjective." Hanzawa Kuriko nodded. "So, your comfortable band disbanded because of me, will you hold a grudge against me?"

Helica hesitated once again.

"I can't say."

The answer was quite interesting; it neither denied it outright nor admitted it outright.

With Hanzawa Kuriko gesturing for her to continue, Helica honestly began to explain.

"Although the band didn't reunite afterward, Ms. Sakuragawa's sister took up her sister's dream, Ms. Minato's shop still has old guitars, and Ms. Shirogane even opened a live house. Everyone would think that was a wonderful time, right? Even after what happened... Thinking about it this way, Ms. Hanzawa, as the culprit, was indeed very awful."

"But if we're talking about hatred, Yuuki Yuki and Yuuki Tamaki probably harbor a deeper hatred for you, right? I'm just a fan of the band, and I feel sorry for the band's disbandment, but it's everyone's own decision. It's certainly not good to let idols do whatever they want, but for fans to demand that idols do something is also a kind of rebellion, isn't it?"

"I am a magical girl, and I know what a corrupted magical girl is like. I also know how much that dark impulse can affect a person. So, I can understand it to some extent. Many things are inevitable due to chance."

Hanzawa Kuriko nodded in agreement: "Is it an inevitability under the guise of chance?"

Helica lowered her head and hummed in agreement.

Hanzawa Kuriko lowered her eyelashes.

"But actually, Rose Garden isn't as good as you think. Sakuragawa often makes mistakes at crucial moments, Yuuki will turn on you if the band's performance goes wrong, Nanata has no sense of boundaries and always messes things up, and she even gets drunk on the day of a performance, and Shirogane does nothing but try to smooth things over, and as for me, I have even bigger problems."

"But hasn't this always been how it's been done?"

Helica seemed to understand something, yet she also seemed unable to comprehend it.

“I’ve heard some of your stories from you yourself. You were on the opposite side from Yuuki Yuuki at the beginning, but didn’t you still walk together with Yuuki Yuuki in this way?” Hanzawa Kuriko raised her hand and stroked Helica’s head.

“So…” Helica asked softly.

"Even as a teammate, I still have some prejudice against Tamaki Yuuki. So, everyone has their own problems, so don't worry about your problems affecting others. If you can't even tolerate the problems of your fellow travelers, can you still call them teammates?"

“But this is no small problem.” Helica raised her head uncertainly.

"Is the problem I caused small? Is the problem Yuuki caused small?" Hanzawa Kuriko retorted.