Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

She immediately transformed the ring into the Soul Gem state.

Before the battle, the level of corruption was around 50%. For a normal magical girl, this battle would increase the level of corruption to 60%-70%. A fully charged Grief Seed can purify 99.999% of the corruption. However, the purification ability of Xiangzi's Soul Gem is much weaker. A fully charged Grief Seed can only purify 33.333% of the corruption for her.

Xiangzi estimated that her level of filth after this battle would be around 75%. She had already reduced her input and power consumption, and it hadn't reached the point of being unprofitable. Even if she kept the Candy Seeds of Lamentation unused, there shouldn't be any major problems.

That's how it should be.

However, the Soul Gem in her hand was 95% tainted, far exceeding her expectations.

"hiss......"

His legs began to feel weak, and his head began to ache. Xiangzi leaned on the desk, his head spinning, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Seriously... everything seems to pile up at once..."

That's how fate is; some people have everything go their way, while others have everything go wrong.

Xiangzi collapsed to the ground like someone suffering a sudden heart attack, her trembling hands pulling out a candy seed from her pocket as if it were her quick-acting heart medicine.

“Didn’t we say we were going to keep it?” Cupid asked.

"At times like this... don't... spout nonsense..."

Xiangzi attached the Seed of Sorrow to his soul gem, attempting to purify it. The gems collided, producing a crisp, tinkling sound.

But Xiangzi didn't feel any sense of purification.

She picked up the Seed of Lamentation from the candy and saw that the Seed of Lamentation, which was originally obsidian, had become clear and transparent.

Xiangzi's vision went black, and he fainted.

Before the world was completely plunged into darkness, she saw Cupid land in front of her, accompanied by faint footsteps.

“It seems that your Soul Gem absorbed some of the impurities of the Seed of Lamentation itself, and in turn purified the Seed of Lamentation.” Kyubey jumped in front of Shoko. “Who is the witch after all, Toyokawa Shoko? Things are getting more and more interesting.”

===

P.S.: The "[Reed Plains Magical Girl Battle Rules]" are posted on the Livehouse's bulletin board. The content is as follows:

1. Familiars do not necessarily have to be killed. When a witch dies, the familiar will also die. Pay attention to the order of priority (keeping familiars as pets is prohibited).

2. The roles of prey and hunter can switch places. Before hunting a witch, one must be fully prepared, or one will become the prey.

3. Regardless of whether you use the Seed of Lamentation, you should check the defilement status of your Soul Gem immediately after the battle.

The Tale of Nirvana: Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Chapter 9 I Am Xiao Xiang's Warm Heart

That was when I had just become a magical girl and was hunting witches for the first time.

He barely managed to kill the witch's familiar, but ended up with many injuries.

After leaving the familiar barrier, I encountered a girl with a witch's kiss on her neck. The witch's kiss was a mark of being controlled by the witch. The girl was being manipulated by the witch and was standing on a pedestrian bridge, about to jump off the railway tracks.

The witch had already killed two people using the same method, both of whom were ruled suicides by the police.

"I'm sorry I pushed you, but attempting suicide is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Ah..." The girl looked at me like a terrified hamster.

"You just wanted to commit suicide, didn't you?"

"No..." The girl looked towards the railway tracks, "Flowers..."

"Eh?"

I clearly saw a witch's kiss on her neck. No, there was a mark of a witch's kiss just now, but it's gone.

Could it be that I misread it, and it wasn't a suicide attempt after all?

Looking out the bridge, petals were falling. Did she climb the railing to hold onto them? What's the difference between that and suicide?!

"That won't do either. Which is more important, the flower or life?" I regretted saying it as soon as the words left my mouth. "No, flowers... they have lives too..."

"The flowers that have already fallen must be dead..." the girl said weakly.

"die?"

I feel my brow furrowing.

Did I see things wrong just now? Is she a normal person or has she been bewitched by a witch?

“She’s a girl with potential, Xiangzi.” At this moment, Cupid jumped onto my shoulder. “She overcame the witch’s influence on her own.”

"Is that so? It seems I misunderstood. I'm sorry." I stood up, intending to leave. "Goodbye."

"and many more!"

Group of doves, age flow (four) Liu seven people, you...

She called me over, took me to her house, and gave me some patterned bandages.

I glanced at the scars on my body that I couldn't hide. Although they would be healed by tomorrow and wouldn't hurt much, I still shouldn't refuse other people's kindness.

So I took the bandage.

"Could you please tell me your name?"

"My name is... Takamatsu Akari..."

"Takamatsu Akari? What a lovely name." I said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Toyokawa Shoko, you can just call me Shoko."

=========

"Xiaoxiang..."

Who?

Who is calling me?

"Xiao Xiang."

Xiangzi vaguely heard someone calling her.

The sound gradually approached from afar, becoming more ethereal and solid, finally settling perfectly above his head.

"Xiao Xiang!"

She opened her eyes, and her vision was filled with Takamatsu Akari's face.

"what!"

bang——

They sprang up reflexively, their foreheads colliding. Xiangzi clutched his forehead and fell to the ground again. The pain subsided in a few seconds, but he was too weak to get up.

Xiangzi curled up on the ground, his cheap clothes, which he had picked up from the lost and found at the laundry shop, showed obvious signs of rubbing.

She heard the footsteps getting closer and closer, so she opened her eyes.

Deng, resting his hands on his knees, stood beside Xiangzi and offered his hand.

Xiangzi looked up, frowning as he stared at his face, which appeared particularly blurry in the darkness.

"Didn't I tell you to wait for me? What if there's still danger?"

Despite saying that, he obediently grabbed the lamp's hand, struggled to get up from the ground, found a desk and put his bottom on it, barely keeping his line of sight parallel to the lamp's.

"The witch's barrier has disappeared, but Xiao Xiang hasn't come out yet. I'm worried...? (VI) 1 Qi Yi's Eight Things... then..."

"You should worry about yourself instead of me. What if the witch isn't dead? What if something happens..."

"But Xiao Xiang, you can't even stand up straight."

"..."

The ring transformed into a Soul Gem once more, its flawed state maintaining a dangerously high level of 95% taint. Just a fraction higher, and she would cross the line between magical girl and witch.

If she were to truly become a witch, Takamatsu Akari would become the first victim.

This was not the result she wanted to see.

"I'm not at the point where I need an ordinary person like you to worry about me," Xiangzi lied.

“Xiao Xiang, you’re lying. You just don’t want to involve me.” Deng saw through it. “We clearly agreed not to shoulder everything alone. Now you can’t even walk without my support.”

Night fell over the abandoned old school building. Not far from the window was an overpass, and the sounds of traffic could be faintly heard. The empty old school building seemed even quieter against the backdrop of the noise.

I don't know how long I was silent.

"Stay away from me," Xiangzi finally said.

"why?"

"I'm turning into a witch."

She raised her hand, her long middle and ring fingers holding the Soul Gem, which looked like it had just come out of a factory and was made of cheap metal and transparent gel, and waved it in front of the lamp.

"Stay away from me if you don't want to die."

"No, let's find someone to help us. There must be a way to solve this, Xiao Xiang."

The lamp shook its head, and its hair swayed along with it, like a rattle drum.

"You have to listen to what I say..." Xiangzi sighed, "You really could die."

“Xiao Xiang is the one who used to be terrified by the word ‘death.’” Gao Songdeng held Xiangzi’s hand. “It doesn’t matter who we find, Su Shi, Mutsu, Li Xi, or we can go back to RiNG and find Kasumi-senpai. She definitely has extra seeds of sorrow.”

"Why do you think I quit Crychic?" Xiangzi turned his head away.

"Where is RiNG?"

"Kasumi-senpai has already helped me a lot, I can't trouble her any further."

"But you're turning into a witch! Xiao Xiang!" The voice suddenly rose an octave, gripping Xiangzi's hands even tighter, forcing her to look at him, "Why are you so stubborn!"

"Didn't I already tell you to leave quickly?!" Xiangzi retorted, not to be outdone.

Their eyes met, neither willing to back down. Xiangzi struggled to pull his hand away, but Deng held Xiangzi's hand tightly, his eyes showing no fear.

The Soul Gem was too corrupted; Xiangzi couldn't muster any strength at all, and he couldn't even fight off the lamp.

"Xiao Xiang saved me and gave me the courage to face life. Now that Xiao Xiang is in trouble, I will help him if I can, even if Xiao Xiang wants to drive me away."

The lamp looked into Xiangzi's eyes, its tone firm and leaving no room for doubt.

"Xiao Xiang is very stubborn. He clearly wants someone to understand him and help him, but he keeps it to himself and even drives others away. He wants to do everything and bear everything by himself. He was like this during Crychic, and he is like this now. He is like a hedgehog, hurting everyone who wants to help him."

Takamatsu took a deep breath.

Through the neon lights outside the window, Xiangzi could vaguely see tears welling up in the corners of Deng's eyes.

"Why do we have to drive everyone away? Everyone wants to help Xiao Xiang, and so do I. I want to do something for Xiao Xiang."

"..."

Xiangzi realized that he didn't really have any choices.

Gao Songdeng is now like an agitated hedgehog mother. Even when she's so angry that all her quills are standing on end, she still hugs her baby hedgehog with her softest spot, even though the baby hedgehog's quills will prick her.

I really don't know how a little animal that was somewhat withdrawn a year ago could become so brave. Even though it's still a little animal, the Takamatsu Lantern is really...

It has become reliable.

"Ugh......"

Xiangzi sighed helplessly.

"Let's go first, and think of a solution as we go."

She jumped off the desk, and the moment her feet touched the ground, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. If Deng hadn't caught her in time, she probably would have fallen to the ground with a thud.

"Be careful."

"I... never mind, it's okay."

Xiangzi realized once again that he was so weak that he could only rely on the lamp.

This made her feel suffocated, yet inexplicably warm inside.

If there were no lights, would she have to lie here tonight, silently turning into a witch, taking Candy's place, and being hunted down by the next batch of new magical girls?

If there were no lights...

With the help of the lamp, Xiangzi and the two walked step by step down the corridor towards the outside.

"How are you feeling now, Xiao Xiang?" Deng suddenly asked.