You call this a love game?

"That's not true." Bai Yu couldn't help but rub his forehead.

Even at a time like this, she still has the nerve to spout nonsense at her savior. She really can't see the situation clearly. Typical Sayaka.

"Your magic power is almost depleted, right? Here, take this."

Homura Akemi suddenly spoke up, throwing the Lament Seed that had fallen from the witch she had just killed at Sayaka Miki.

"Hmph, who wants your charity!" Sayaka turned her face away, not even glancing at the Lament Seed that had fallen to the ground.

Even though she hadn't used Lament Seed for several days, the battle just now had almost depleted her magic power, so Sayaka wouldn't accept charity offered to her.

Seeing this, Bai Yu sighed and silently picked up the Seed of Sorrow and forcibly pressed it onto Sayaka's Soul Gem.

"Hey! Shiraha-kun, take that thing away! I won't use that woman's stuff!" Sayaka roared, struggling incessantly.

However, Bai Yu not only did not remove her, but instead held her tightly, controlling her and forcibly purifying the soul gem to restore her magic power.

Feeling the magic power gradually filling her body, her weakness was relieved, and the wounds on her body were gradually healing as the magic power was replenished. Sayaka looked at Shiraha holding her with a complicated expression.

No matter how willful she was, the boy never seemed to get angry or upset with her.

She knew, of course, that she was just putting on a brave face, but she couldn't swallow her pride and ended up having to ask him for help.

Even though she's the magical girl, the one with the greater strength, it's always Bai Yu who has to take care of her.

Seeing that Sayaka's wounds had almost healed and the Soul Gem had become clear again, Shiraha returned the inactive Grief Seed to Homura Akemi.

"Alright, come with me, she's recovered." Homura Akemi said expressionlessly, standing behind Shiraha.

"Alright." Bai Yu nodded and released Sayaka from his arms.

"Hey, wait! Bai Yu-jun, where are you going with her?!"

Sayaka grabbed Shiraha's hand, preventing him from leaving.

"Where to? To my house, of course!"

Homura Akemi grabbed Shiraha's hand and leaned against his shoulder, their intimate gesture making Sayaka want to kill her.

"That's impossible!" Sayaka looked at Shiraha with a questioning gaze.

Amid Sayaka's tense expression, Shiraha glanced at Homura Akemi beside him, who wore a dangerous smile, and nodded silently.

"Let's go." Bai Yu put his arm around Akemi Homura's shoulder, turned around and led her away.

Chapter 21 Homura Akemi's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

"Mr. Bai Yu..."

Sayaka stood there, her eyes wide open, but she could only watch helplessly as her childhood friend was led away by that hateful woman.

She bit her lip, her hands clenched into fists, her nails almost digging into her palms, a complex mix of emotions including resentment, anger, and worry.

She always felt that Bai Yu was threatened by Akemi Homura, otherwise why would he have gone with her so easily?

She believed that Bai Yujun would never betray her; there must be some unspeakable reason. That hateful woman must have caught Bai Yujun red-handed and threatened him into going with her!

They might even suffer inhumane treatment!

In an instant, she wanted to chase after him and snatch the white feather back from Homura Akemi's hands.

But when she thought of Homura Akemi's unpredictable abilities, she was afraid that she might accidentally hurt Shiraha in a moment of impulsiveness.

Sayaka's mind was in a mess. She wanted to rush up and explode, but she was afraid that she was no match for him and would put Shiraha in an even more dangerous situation. However, she was unwilling to just watch the boy being taken away.

How awful! Homura Akemi is so evil!

However, when Shiraha arrived at Homura Akemi's place, things didn't turn out as Sayaka had hoped, nor did the things he had vaguely expected happen.

Instead, after Homura Akemi brought him back, she simply left him in the living room and went to the kitchen to do something.

It wasn't until he heard a series of loud banging sounds coming from the kitchen that Bai Yu couldn't resist sneaking to the kitchen door to peek inside.

Homura Akemi was frantically taking a plate of... cake out of the oven?

Looking at the 'cake' that resembled an ancient god, Bai Yu seriously doubted whether eating it would cause him to lose his sanity.

The girl wasn't even wearing gloves; she was using the Soul Gem to treat her burned fingers.

What I'm saying is... if you really don't know how, you can just buy some and heat it up in the oven yourself, and treat it as if you baked it yourself.

But this is already the best Homura Akemi has ever done.

Even if she is a genius who can learn how to make explosives just by looking at information online, cooking really does require a bit of talent.

Even with the same materials and the same steps, some people can still make completely different things.

Looking at the failed product in front of her, Homura Akemi sighed softly, feeling somewhat disappointed.

This was her third attempt at making cakes. The first few times, with Mami-senpai guiding her, the cakes she made were passable and didn't taste too bad.

Without Mami's guidance this time, she kept making mistakes on small details on her own.

Even though the timing and ingredient ratios are correct, the final product still doesn't turn out right.

She should have saved Mami Tomoe this time.

In order to prevent the witches from attacking Shiraha, she cleared away all the witches near his house and school in advance, but she still couldn't save Tomoe Mami in time, even though there was no original plan to save Tomoe Mami this time.

Her goal was to save Bai Yu, protect him from harm, and prevent him from suffering any more. Nothing else mattered; everything else could be sacrificed.

But... looking at the pitiful-looking cake in front of her, Homura Akemi suddenly felt a little discouraged.

I've tried so hard, but it still doesn't work...

"Are you making a cake? It smells really good!"

Bai Yu walked over to Homura Akemi, who was in a low mood, and looked at the cake as if it were staring directly at an ancient god, trying his best to find an angle to praise it.

"N-No! I didn't make this!" Homura Akemi turned her face away in a panic, picked up the plate, and was about to dump the cake inside into the trash can.

Bai Yu grabbed the girl's arm and said with a smile, "Don't waste it. Although it doesn't look very pretty, it smells quite nice. Maybe it tastes delicious."

"……All right."

Homura Akemi's expression didn't seem surprised, and she handed him the plate directly.

Bai Yu took the plate, casually pulled a fork from the cutlery box next to him, forked off a small piece of cake, and put it in his mouth.

The texture upon first bite is the familiar softness, and the taste is naturally excellent. As long as you don't add anything strange and the baking temperature is within the normal range, it's hard to make it taste bad. In fact, it's true that only someone with real talent can make this taste bad.

"Not bad, Akemi-chan is quite talented." Shiraha forked a piece of cake and held it to Akemi Homura's lips. "Want some?"

"Mmm." Homura Akemi nodded and gently bit off a piece of cake from the fork that Shiraha had used.

She could now use the same fork with him without batting an eye, after all, she had experienced this scenario more than once.

She's always so gentle, even though her attitude was so terrible at first, and she even threatened him with Sayaka.

The boy seemed completely unconcerned and showed no malice towards her whatsoever. He rarely even appeared angry, but it was precisely because of this that she found him so repulsive.

Why... why are you so gentle to everyone, but can't you only treat her?

Or perhaps it would be better to be gentle with himself for a moment, but he can't even take care of himself...

The past experiences seemed to come vividly to mind, and those scenes of memory floated before my eyes. My throat instantly felt choked up, and my eyes gradually reddened.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?" Bai Yu leaned down slightly and whispered in Homura Akemi's ear.

Feeling the warm breath on her earlobe, Homura Akemi's face flushed red, and her heart tightened.

Suddenly she remembered that the boy was now powerless and had agreed to obey her. In her territory, wouldn't she be able to do whatever she wanted to Bai Yu?

Homura Akemi's eyelashes trembled slightly. She lowered her eyes and looked down at her toes, but suddenly reached out and grabbed Shiraha's collar, burying her head in his chest, her nostrils filled with the boy's refreshing fragrance.

Hey, is this considered throwing yourself into someone's arms?

Shiraha's hand holding the fork froze in mid-air, while his other hand quietly climbed onto the girl's waist. Cream accidentally dripped onto Homura Akemi's hair, adding a unique touch of snow-white to her pure black hair.

He felt a slight dampness on his chest; the girl's breath burned his skin through the fabric, and a muffled nasal sound came from his chest.

"I'm tired, let's go back to my room and rest."

"Okay." Bai Yu nodded, casually tossed the fork onto the dining table, and carried Akemi Homura towards the room.

Upon entering the room, the girl's simple furnishings didn't look like those of a middle school girl at all.

"Should I take off my clothes?"

Shiraha put his arm around Homura Akemi's waist and sat down on the bed.

Homura Akemi glanced at Shiroha out of the corner of her eye and, seeing that the boy didn't seem to offer much resistance, nodded slightly shyly.

"Ah."

—Tonight I am the nightingale beneath the rose bush, chirping in your ear all night long.

P.S.: Please vote for me and click "follow" to read the story. It's really important to me ≡(▔﹏▔)≡

Chapter Twenty-Two: Eye Roll, Puff Pastry, Innocent Male Student

The next morning, Sayaka, who always had a procrastination problem, arrived at school early.

When she rushed into the classroom with heavy dark circles under her eyes, she didn't see the two people there.

"Sayaka, what are you looking for?"

Dragged along by her friend, Madoka Kaname yawned as she followed Sayaka into the classroom. Seeing her friend's strange behavior, she couldn't help but ask.

"Has Bai Yu-jun not arrived yet?"

Ignoring Madoka Kaname's question, Sayaka quickly found a classmate who had already packed up and was sitting in the classroom and asked them.

"Hey, Kamijou-kun..." The purple-haired classmate glanced at Shiraha's seat before answering with relief, "I don't think I see him. He probably hasn't arrived yet. There are no backpacks on his seat."

"Ok, I see."

Hearing this, Sayaka became even more nervous, until she saw Shiraha appear at school unharmed, and her heart finally settled down.

"Shiraha-kun, are you alright? Did that transfer student do anything to you?" Sayaka's eyes were wide open, her face full of worry.

Seeing Sayaka's anxious expression, Shiraha couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

If you're asking if someone else is alright, of course he is; in fact, he's never been this well.

But Homura Akemi is a different story. Last night was too crazy, and the girl is still unable to get out of bed. She wasn't even awake when he left.

From another perspective, he was practically soaked to the bone, dripping wet, while Sayaka was still asking him if Homura Akemi had done anything to him.

Seeing the girl's worried expression, Bai Yu gently patted her shoulder and said with a smile, "I'm fine, Sayaka, you don't need to worry. Yesterday she just took me to her house to talk about magical girls."

Well, physical contact and interaction can also be considered a topic of conversation.

Hearing this, Sayaka's tense expression eased slightly, but she still frowned with worry. "It's good that you're alright... but I always felt that the transfer student wasn't a good person."

Bai Yu smiled and shook his head. "Sayaka, your imagination is too rich. Although Homura was a bit hostile to you before, she's not as scary as you make her out to be."

"Little... Little Flame...?" Sayaka opened her mouth slightly, looking at Shiraha in disbelief.

Yesterday she was Xiaomei, today she's 'Xiaoyan'. In just one night, they've become so close they can call each other by our first names. What exactly happened between you two last night...?

Sayaka strongly suspects that things are not as simple as they appear.

"Well... Homura is actually a pretty good person. Sayaka, just tone down your temper a bit and stop overthinking. She won't do anything to you."

Seeing this, Shiraha could only try his best to smooth things over for Homura Akemi, and try to rebuild a friendly image in front of Sayaka.

Sayaka pouted, looking unconvinced, "I'm not thinking anything! I just think there's something wrong with her. Are you being coerced by her to say these things to me?"

"I'm perfectly fine now, nothing's wrong." Bai Yu couldn't help but chuckle, gently patting the girl's head. "Alright, I know you're worried about me, but I'm really okay, you don't need to worry."

"All right……"

Seeing that her childhood friend was so certain that she was alright, Sayaka had no choice but to give up and temporarily abandon her pursuit of Homura Akemi's threats.

But she still felt something was off, especially the unfamiliar scent emanating from Bai Yujun.

Neither the shampoo nor the shower gel smelled like the one she was familiar with; they smelled more like… a seductive fox.

A vixen is stealing my food!

It's not just about eating, it's about eating boldly, even eating like crazy.

Recalling the madness of last night, Bai Yu finally understood what it meant to reach the peak.