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

Yuuki Yukino's brain started working at high speed, racking her brains for any excuse she could use to explain herself.

"Magical Girl... what does that mean?"

Well done, Baqi! That's how you play dumb!

“Oh, right, you didn’t know? I’m a magical girl, chasing after two evil guys.” Helica glanced at Baki, then swallowed a large mouthful of rice. “Did you see anything suspicious on your way here?”

Yuuki Yukino's heart, which had been in her throat, was now at ease.

Based on her understanding of Helica, the other woman wasn't the type to test her; if she suspected someone, she would ask directly.

To some extent, the way he interacted with Baki was not much different from the way he interacted with Helika.

"Oh, magical girl, did you just have a fight with them? Judging from your injuries, you must have lost, right?"

Baqi placed her hands in front of her face, deliberately covering her mouth to ensure that the black magic markings wouldn't be revealed when she spoke.

This guy! How could he do that without me even noticing!

"Huh?" Helica's hand holding the chopsticks froze, and the chopsticks snapped in her hand.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Magical girl battles always have winners and losers. Good luck, righteous magical girl! Eat more and grow taller, maybe you'll be able to win then?"

"What did you say?" Helica slammed the broken chopsticks on the table.

I'm sorry! I take back what I said earlier, my dear white-haired little wolf, please shut your mouth at this time.

"No, we came by train. Baqi also likes magical girls, so we're cheering for Tenrai-kun, right?"

Yuki Yukino kicked Baqi several more times under the table, then quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Oh, I see." Helica looked at Baki with suspicion.

"I'm not... Ugh!" Before Baqi, who knew Helica's true identity, could cause a bigger scene, Yuuki Yukino picked up a piece of eel and stuffed it into Baqi's mouth.

Herlica's gaze lingered on Yuuki Yuki for a few more seconds, then she pushed forward the nearly empty eel rice bowl and stood up.

"I'm stuffed."

"Tianlei, won't you sit for a while longer?"

"No, I have other things to do. If you notice any danger or suspicious people, remember to contact me."

Helica didn't say another word, turned around and walked out of the store.

After Helica left, Yuuki Yuki and Baqi had been thinking about it for a long time, and although they had only thought about the eel rice for a little over an hour, they finally started eating.

Yuuki Yukino's first reaction upon tasting the food was—this is it?

How should we evaluate this?

"Internet celebrity food"—even if such a term doesn't exist in the real world, Yuuki Yuki really wants to use this term to describe it.

The eel, with its fishy smell not completely removed and an overly sweet taste, had its skin, which should have been crispy, become soggy after being kept in a wooden barrel. When you put it in your mouth, a strong fishy smell hits your palate.

Besides the eel itself, there are eel liver skewers that are brushed with a lot of kabayaki sauce but still taste bitter, eel liver soup that is made into soup but the bitterness is not reduced much, plain green onions and wasabi, and equally plain rice. These things make up this expensive eel rice.

If you gave Yuuki Yukino a computer, she could definitely make a poster in ten minutes saying "Help us with the unsold eel," and then pair it with this very appealing bowl of eel rice.

In fact, that's exactly what businesses do: attract diners with eye-catching labels and then make a profit. So far, they've already attracted at least two grudges, Yuuki Yuki and Tomoe Yuki.

As she ate, Yuuki Yuki inexplicably had only one thought left in her mind.

To expect things without permission, and to be disappointed without permission.

It seems this eel rice dish was so bad that Yuuki Yukino started to contemplate life.

Yuuki Yui doesn't remember how she walked out of the store that day; all she remembers is that she never wants to come into contact with eels again.

Actually, she also remembered something else.

That evening, Helica secretly posted a status update.

The image above is of an eel rice bowl, showing Yuuki Yuki's lower half of her body below the shoulders.

A sentence was also attached below the photo.

I went to eat at the super famous eel rice restaurant with my friends!

Chapter Ten: What should you do on the night summer vacation begins?

Yuuki Yukino sometimes wonders how she spent the first day of her summer vacation in the past.

It could be staying up all night happily, playing games for a few hours straight first, or going out for a nice meal.

Ah, I did go out to eat something nice. Although the eel rice didn't meet my expectations, I guess it can still be considered going out to eat something nice?

By the way, Baqi had a pretty high opinion of the eel rice, but when Yuuki asked her what was so good about it, Baqi seriously told Yuuki, "Anything I eat with Yuuki is delicious."

I can't understand it, I absolutely can't understand it!

What's even more incomprehensible is that on the night summer vacation started, Yuuki Yukino was pinned down at the table by Tomoe...

The cause of the matter is this.

After dinner, the two of them took a taxi home.

Considering the price of a taxi, Baqi would always inadvertently and subtly give herself a glimpse of her financial power.

After getting out of the taxi and returning to Baqi's house, she quickly washed up and changed into her pajamas. It was time for the two of them to have some time alone.

Even though it's supposed to be time alone for two people, what should they actually do?

We can't just jump straight to the point and start rolling around together, can we?

No, no, no, I shouldn't think like that. Getting together isn't something that will definitely happen.

So the two of them ended up sitting on the sofa with a pile of snacks and drinks on the coffee table, glancing at the movie playing randomly on TV.

This atmosphere is so awkward!

"Speaking of which, what does Baqi usually do when she's home alone?"

To avoid making the atmosphere more awkward, Yuuki Yukina started the conversation by asking an equally awkward question.

“侕镹令务删拔奇一三学习”

To address the awkward question posed by Yuuki Enishi, Baqi gave an answer she never dreamed of.

Sensing Yuuki Yuuki's surprise, Baqi added, "Yuuki doesn't think I got my grades without studying at all, does she?"

Baqi is absolutely right; Yuuki Yukino truly believes that.

After being exposed, Yuuki Yukino looked away in utter embarrassment.

How did my question make the atmosphere even more awkward?

Even the usually eloquent Baqi was affected by the strange atmosphere and started engaging in awkward small talk.

"It's not all about studying. Sometimes I also watch videos on my phone, like where there's good food or fun things to do."

"Does Baqi usually play games? Like computer games or mobile games?"

"No, sometimes when I see ads popping up in video apps, I want to try playing the game, but when I click on it, it's completely different from what's in the ad, which makes me feel a bit disillusioned."

"Haha, yeah, game ads and gameplay demos are really annoying, like what I saw before..."

No, this is so awkward! Everything feels so awkward!

The awkward conversation lasted only a few sentences before both of them fell silent, grabbing snacks from the table and stuffing their mouths with them, pretending to be engrossed in watching the not-so-interesting TV program.

After a long pause, Ba Qi suddenly asked.

"Xiaoyuan, the things I do when I'm home alone are actually very ordinary. Do you think I'm a boring girl?"

As she asked this question, her eyes never left the television, and her expression remained ordinary, though a hint of wavering could be discerned in the damp light reflecting off her eyes.

Wow, super straight shot.

And this atmosphere... it looks like an EMO is about to unfold. Next is Baqi's self-denial segment, and then I have to do my best to comfort her, and then Baqi's favorability goes up and up.

Hmm, hasn't this kind of plot happened before? Although the protagonist back then didn't seem to be Baqi.

Never mind, I can't seem to raise Baqi's favorability enough.

"No, I think Baqi is great." Yuuki Yuen casually picked up a bucket of potato chips and poured them into her mouth to cover up her guilty conscience.

"Is that what Xiaoyuan thinks?" Ba Qi's gaze was fixed on the TV, and she raised her hand to pat the empty seat next to her. "Xiaoyuan, come here for a moment."

Without the slightest hesitation, Yuuki Yukino lifted her lower body slightly off the sofa and scooted closer to Baqi.

As soon as she sat down, Baqi's hand came over and gripped Yuki's hand, which she didn't know what to do with.

As it turns out, Yuuki Yukino was overthinking things; Tomoe, this little sun, isn't so easily swayed by self-doubt.

"If I'm a boring kid, how about we do something more meaningful together?"

Before Yuuki could figure out where to start to comfort Baqi, Baqi herself emerged from her gloom, took Yuuki's hand tightly, and placed it on Yuuki's knee, shaking it a few times.

Hearing this vague statement, Yuuki Yukino already had a bad feeling.

"What does Nabaqi consider to be meaningful?"

Yuuki Yukino continued to play dumb. Apart from Baqi, she had almost no experience interacting with other girls, let alone being asked by a girl to do something embarrassing.

Even if she vaguely guessed what the meaningful thing Ba Qi wanted to do was, she wouldn't have the heart to expose it.

"Xiao Yuan doesn't know? When we stayed together a few days ago, didn't Xiao Yuan take the initiative to invite me?"

I never invited you! You're always the one who comes to me!

"Is...is that really true?"

Yuuki Yukino continues to play dumb.

"Of course I have. Does Xiaoyuan intend to do it all by herself? It's rare that you've made all the preparations, isn't it? I saw what Xiaoyuan brought when she came."

When packing her underwear, Yuuki did bring a few extra sets, and she didn't hide this from Inuyama Tomoe. Yuuki did this to prevent herself from getting her underwear dirty and having no clean clothes to change into, leaving her with no choice but to go braless.

To be naked in front of Baqi is like a little lamb jumping around in front of a big bad wolf.

It seems that Baqi is the little white wolf.

No, no, no, now that Baqi has extended such a warm invitation to me, I must respond immediately.

Yuuki Yukina scratched her cheek and stammered.

"Ah...that's right, then, let's do it..."