You call this a love game?

"Brother Baiyu..."

Bai Jiangzhu buried her face in Bai Yu's chest, smelling the faint scent of laundry detergent on him. The embrace was warm and safe, reminding her of the hugs her mother gave her when she was a child before she got sick.

"If I became a magical girl, would you help me?"

She was afraid of becoming a ruthless killer like Yu, afraid of losing Shiraha-nii's care, afraid of seeing Mami-nee's disdainful look, and afraid of Aya-dai's disappointed gaze.

Bai Yu gently patted the girl's head and said with a tender smile, "Of course, no matter what Xiao Zhu becomes, I will always love Xiao Zhu. We are best friends!"

"friend......"

Bai Jiangzhu murmured the word softly, repeating it over and over again, as if she understood everything.

The word "friend" gradually became richer in her eyes. The original gray and white tone was now restored to a colorful hue. From then on, "friend" had a new definition in her heart.

Nestled against Bai Yu's chest, she listened quietly to the boy's strong and powerful heartbeat, its rhythm as uniform as a drumbeat. It was as if they had found a resonance, as if they were linked together, causing her heart to beat in sync.

Hmm... my head is spinning, it's such a strange feeling...

Bai Jiangzhu looked up at Bai Yu's chin and said, "Brother Bai Yu, can you come with me to see my mother this afternoon? I want to make a wish in front of her."

Have you thought of a wish?

Bai Yu looked down and immediately saw the girl's slightly open and flat chest.

Bai Jiangzhu nodded. "Yes, as long as Mom agrees, then my wish is confirmed."

“Then I congratulate you in advance on your wish coming true.” He suddenly picked up the controller and shoved it into her hand. “But before that—let’s get through this level first, we’re about to lose.”

Bai Jiangzhu instantly went from tears to laughter, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and threw herself back into the game.

The character on the screen leaped nimbly under her control, just like her joyful mood.

----

"Um...you're Ms. Itsumi? Right?" Yu looked at the girl blocking his way, glancing behind her with some confusion. "I have something slightly important to discuss with that person from earlier..."

Before she could reply, the girl opposite her charged at her, aiming a magic ray at her head.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly, slightly shifting her body to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, which missed its mark.

"Wow! That's dangerous!" Yu exclaimed with an exaggerated expression, as if she had really encountered danger.

"Tch!" Izu scoffed at Ifui, and having failed in his sneak attack, he gave up on any further action.

"No, isn't that a bit inappropriate? Using violence on someone you've just met... no, even the second or third time is inappropriate, isn't it?" Yu couldn't help but complain.

However, Itsuki ignored her words and said, "So you really came here to kill shit!"

"Xiang? Ah, that's the name of that person from earlier?" You paused for a moment before realizing what he meant. "Yes, that's it! I had some personal business with him. As I mentioned earlier, that person is a bad guy, so I came to kill him."

As she spoke, she showed the list in her hand to Itsuki Igei, "Look, it's clearly written on the list too, although the list records the real name..."

She watched the woman in front of her chatter on and on, but she couldn't hear a word she said.

"Stop talking nonsense! Everyone's lying! How would you know such things? Why do you keep saying bad things about Xiang? What do you know?!"

Seeing that Itsumi seemed a little angry, Yu quickly explained, "Ah, ah! Calm down, Miss Itsumi! It's alright! I just checked the list myself, and it's true that Sho's name isn't on it, but it seems to be his real name, right? There's no discrepancy, so it's okay~"

"You're such a weirdo! What have you been saying all this time?! Lists and lists... Are you out of your mind?! So what if it's written on it? That disgusting list, wasn't it made by someone who misunderstood Xiang's good intentions and resented him?! Why didn't you question it?! It's definitely fake!!"

Izu saw Izumi unable to hold back his roar, seemingly completely blinded by anger.

"Uh... this is tricky. It's clearly written on the list..." Yu looked troubled, repeatedly flipping through the name on the list to confirm that it was that person. "Well, anyway, whether it's true or not, let's just assume that person is a bad guy. Can you let me chase after him?"

"Oh, if I'm wrong, I'll apologize properly afterwards, okay?" Yu asked, clasping her hands together.

"...!?"

"...Hey, seriously, what are you saying? You're here to kill him, aren't you? You're here to kill Xiang, aren't you?" Itsu saw Igei with his head down, seemingly about to explode with emotion.

"Eh!? Oh right, didn't I already tell you? I'm here to kill him..."

Looking at the girl who seemed even less bright than herself, Yu couldn't help but mentally complain.

This is really difficult. Is it the type that can't understand human speech?

Seeing that Izumi seemed to have let go, Izumi said, "As expected, you're just as crazy as Kyubey said. What exactly do you want? Aren't there people worse than Sho all over the place?! Why don't you go kill them?! Are you mentally challenged?! Why don't you just go kill other even worse people?!"

Yu: "There is a list of bad guys, and it's constantly being updated, so it's fine. You see, I've checked it multiple times. Although sometimes I might be a little late... I'll try my best to be as fast as possible... I'm doing my best, so I think it'll be okay!"

But when she saw that the girl in front of her still seemed very unfriendly, she couldn't help but make the connection.

"Ms. Itsumi, is it that the murder of that person will cause you any trouble? For example, will it be difficult to go through the procedures with the government? But since he wasn't a relative, a spouse, or a guarantor, I won't cause you too much trouble~"

"Ah!! Could it be that that person borrowed money from you? An amount that wasn't even enough to buy you a glass of juice later?"

"..."

Itsumi swore he had never been so speechless at anyone before.

The guy in front of her, who looked like a madman, left her speechless. Every word he said was inexplicable, and he wouldn't listen to her. He wanted to kill her beloved Xiang, which was simply incomprehensible!

She was almost out of her mind from the very beginning. She inexplicably came and interrupted the date that she and Xiang had worked so hard to get. Then, she actually asked Xiang in front of her if he had done those bad things or if he was a bad person. It's only because Izumi had a good temper that she managed not to fight with her on the spot.

Fortunately, Xiang had already run away, so she didn't have to worry about his safety for the time being.

The woman kept bringing up topics like her real name and asking for money, which annoyed her greatly. She already disliked her, and now Izumi was even more certain that she had to keep this person here, otherwise she would definitely go after Sho! She couldn't let Sho get hurt!

"Don't go too far!! I will absolutely stop this!! But I will never forgive you!"

Seeing the angry Itsuki Ifumi, Yu couldn't help but mentally complain.

Ughhhh, I've angered her... She's completely furious...

But what's wrong with me? I think I'm about to get angry too...

This guy looks like he has no choice but to fight, right?

This is really difficult...

Just as she was distracted, Izu saw that Izumi could no longer endure it, and the Soul Gem in her hand instantly burst into a dazzling light, the beam of light shooting towards Yu once again.

"Die!! Die!!"

Chapter 73 Nagisa's Wish Comes True

"what happened?"

Seeing Baijiang Zhu suddenly stop standing at the hospital entrance, Bai Yu looked at the girl curiously.

Kyubey, who had joined them along the way, stopped and lightly leaped onto Shiraha's shoulder, his red eyes fixed on her.

Bai Jiangzhu took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind, and said, "Could you please wait outside for a moment, Brother Bai Yu and Qiu Bi? I want to go in alone and discuss this with my mother. I will call you in after we have discussed it."

Bai Yu asked with concern, "Is it alright for you to be alone?"

Bai Jiangzhu shook her head and smiled slightly, "Yes, it's alright."

"Your mother can't see my body, so I think it's okay for me to go in."

Cupid, completely lacking in emotional intelligence, interrupted their conversation.

Bai Jiangzhu: "I can do it all by myself! Xiaozhu, I, Xiaozhu, I'll explain it clearly, and then I'll call you in. Just wait here."

Bai Yu: "If anything happens, it's okay to call me."

"Okay, thank you, Brother Baiyu. I will." Baijiangzhu turned to Baiyu and smiled again. "Well then... I'm leaving."

Watching the girl walk away alone, Bai Yu had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

It's probably because of the stereotype left by the other party's mother last time. Her barbaric attitude makes it difficult for most people to get close to her. She has a temper as volatile as a powder keg that could explode at any moment, and she doesn't care about her daughter's feelings at all.

If the domestic violence accusation were reported, Momoe Nagisa could break free from her control at any time, but the girl did not do so. Instead, she preferred to believe that her mother was just sick.

Her nature is too pure and kind.

in the room.

Bai Jiangzhu carried various kinds of cheese snacks that she had bought in advance that morning and walked heavily to her mother's bedside.

The woman on the bed was staring blankly out the window, seemingly trying to recall something.

Hearing footsteps, she turned around.

"Mom, I've come to visit you."

The woman didn't speak, but simply stared at the girl quietly.

Meeting her mother's numb and indifferent gaze, Nagisa Momoe mustered her courage and picked up the bag in her hand, "This is cheese as a gift!"

"..."

"I bought a lot!"

Upon hearing about cheese, the woman surprisingly didn't get angry. She simply said calmly, "I don't want so much. How could I possibly eat it all?"

“Hmm…” Baijiang Zhu lowered his head for a moment, “I’m sorry… but Zhu will eat the rest, so it’s okay.”

"So what do you want to do here this time?"

The woman seemed to have run out of patience, and her tone began to sound impatient.

Bai Jiangzhu hesitated before opening her mouth.

Nagisa met an animal that can grant your wishes, and it can even cure your mother's illness. It says it can make anything come true!

Once you recover, you can go home.

So, Nagisa, Nagisa wants to help her mother with her illness...

But she couldn't say those words out loud.

If I told my mother such a fairytale-like, astonishing thing, she would definitely be even angrier.

Xiaozhu understands very well that what she can understand is probably not just at the level of a toddler.

Generally speaking, things like magic, which are not tangible, can be understood.

After a brief hesitation, Bai Jiangzhu smiled innocently and said, "The other day, Xiaozhu met a magical animal that gave Xiaozhu a very powerful ability to grant any wish. Mom, is there any wish you want to fulfill?"

"Can you do anything? Can you do anything for me?"

The woman seemed somewhat resigned to her fate and didn't care how absurd the girl's words were.

Nagisa Momoe nodded vigorously, "Yes! You can really say anything!"

"Heh..." The woman let out a sinister laugh. "Then, kill them all for me! Kill them all, whether they laugh at me or don't understand me, kill them all!!"

As she spoke, the woman's expression grew increasingly frenzied, revealing the familiar,狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) expression of Hyakue Nagisa.

"Illness doesn't matter! It doesn't matter anymore! Compared to all that, that guy! That guy! Kill all those guys too!! Curing them won't change anything! From the moment you were born! From the moment you were born! It's all too late!! So stop blaming me!!!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

The hospital curtains were made of thick white cloth, which turned blood red by the sunset. There was not a breath of wind, and the ward was like a room steeped in red tea, with only dust having room to float.

Because the weather was so nice today, the sunset was breathtaking, and everything around us was orange. We ended up at some watershed somewhere.

The woman turned into foam and dissolved, leaving only a small trace on the ground. The end.

The king turned to ashes, the kingdom was buried by sand, and that was the end.

Farewell, farewell, we will never meet again. The End.

Ah, that's great, that's my story. The End.

It's impossible for her to kill everyone, so Nagisa naturally wouldn't grant such an unreasonable request. Therefore, her mother's wish will not be fulfilled.

Thinking of her mother's hysteria, she could only keep recalling the stories she had read, using the tragedy of the stories to cover up her own sorrow.

She didn't know how she left the ward. All she knew was that when she came to her senses, she saw Bai Yu with his brows tightly furrowed, looking at her with concern, as if he was very worried about her condition.

I'm so sorry, Brother Baiyu, I made you worry again...

She's a bad child, a very naughty child, and she always makes others worry about her.

If only she were dead, then she would never bother anyone again, and no one would ever be angry or worried because of her. If she had never been born, her mother would certainly not be like this now...

It's all her fault for ruining her parents' happy life, it's all her fault...

Tears welled up involuntarily from the corners of my eyes, dripping onto the ground and dampening the dry dust in the air.