Raising magical girls, and leave them with eternal regret?!

Lately, WuYue’s life has been something like this:

Looking forward to school > Looking forward to going home > Looking forward to school > Looking forward to going home.

And then… on the weekends, when she doesn’t need to work or after finishing her shift, she goes out to have fun.

Sometimes alone, sometimes with someone else.

Ever since YouYu moved in with her, her life has been like this.

“It’s already been two weeks.”

In the classroom, propping her chin up as she gazed out the window, WuYue couldn’t help but smile.

In these two weeks, her life has undergone a tremendous change.

Previously, she had little interest in returning home early, but now, she can’t wait to get back.

She used to be indifferent about the length of her work shifts, even hoping it would be longer. But now, she’s reduced her part-time jobs to just one, and she now hopes the shifts will be as short as possible.

“It seems I’ve really changed a lot because of him…”

As she muttered this to herself, WuYue found it amusing. Had she always been this easy to sway? It had only been two weeks, and she had already turned into this strange version of herself.

But, then again, it’s not surprising.

After all, she felt that she and YouYu were incredibly similar in certain ways, and this sense of similarity had only grown stronger over these past few weeks.

This so-called sense of similarity… could it be a sense of kinship? Is that what it should be called?

Because no matter what it was, whether it was something outrageous, strange, or difficult, if she needed help, YouYu would be the first to step up, just like her, completely disregarding the consequences to help her accomplish it.

He even got hurt again because of this.

It felt as if she were looking at her old self.

It was as if she had encountered an “another her.”

So, all she could do was helplessly scold YouYu with the same words her grandmother used to chide her, then tend to his wounds.

And in her heart, she made a note to repay him next time.

Though it was troublesome, she still felt warmth and contentment.

Relying on each other, helping each other.

As expected, life with two people is much more interesting than being alone.

“Ding—”

“Oh? Time’s up?”

“Alright, class, that’s it for today. I won’t keep you late—you’re dismissed!”

“Yay!”

As soon as the teacher announced the end of class, the excited students in the classroom quickly packed up their bags. Some had even packed their things a few minutes before the bell rang.

And now, WuYue was one of them.

“Phew! Finally, school’s over!”

“What should I eat after I get home today~?”

Thinking about this happily, WuYue slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked out of the school gates.

Even the weather, which was gradually turning gloomy, couldn’t dampen the joy in her heart.

“……”

But in the shadows, unbeknownst to her…

A girl with blue hair, wearing the same school uniform, was watching her intently with her violet eyes.

As she watched WuYue’s departing figure, a look of surprise flickered in the girl’s eyes.

“Could it really be…?”

“That person…”

“She has potential, too?”

————

“Huff—huff—made it!”

Riding her bike through the rain, WuYue finally reached the bus stop and let out a sigh of relief.

“Sigh! Why does it always have to rain so hard right when school ends? Looks like I won’t be getting home anytime soon.”

Just a moment ago, on her way home from school, the gloomy weather finally broke, and it started to rain. Without an umbrella, WuYue was forced to take shelter at a bus stop.

The weather today was really strange! She had checked the forecast just yesterday, and it said there wouldn’t be any rain for the next few days.

But of all days, it had to rain today—so unlucky!

“Thankfully, I have plenty of time now. Otherwise, if it were before, I might have had to rush to work in the rain…”

As WuYue was thinking this, her phone, which was in her backpack, suddenly rang.

“At this time… Hmm? It’s YouYu.”

Seeing the caller ID on her phone, WuYue was momentarily surprised, then smiled.

“Calling at a time like this… Is he coming to pick me up?”

Predicting this in her mind, WuYue answered the call.

“Hello? WuYue, can you hear me?”

“Yeah, I can hear you. The rain is still pretty heavy… Are you coming to pick me up? I remember you’re still supposed to be working, right? Is that okay? I can wait until the rain stops before heading home.

“It’s fine. I’ve already taken leave from work. Besides, this rain is unusual; the weather forecast just said it might keep raining until tomorrow morning.”

“Wow, really that bad?”

“Yes! Just wait for me there. I’ll come get you right away!”

“…Thank you.”

After the call ended, WuYue hung up the phone.

“This rain… it does have some use after all~.”

Although the gloomy weather earlier had dampened her spirits, now, she felt much better.

Well, the reason? … It’s quite simple and clear.

“Well, since I have time, I might as well review today’s material.”

After all, YouYu had said that he would handle the money matters from now on, so she shouldn’t worry too much and should focus on her studies.

But she couldn’t just entirely escape responsibility and had to take on some of the financial burden.

“I have to study even harder!”

“Hmm! Then I’ll start from here—”

“Boom—!”

“?! What was that sound?”

Just then, a loud rumble came from across the street, interrupting her.

Along with the rumble came a thick cloud of dust, rising to at least ten meters high, and fragments of the road flying everywhere.

“Is… is something happening over there?”

Looking over to the place where the accident seemed to have occurred, WuYue hesitated for a moment. Then, she sighed, furrowed her brow, and, braving the heavy rain, walked across the street.

She was never the type to sit idly by in the face of a situation, and that hadn’t changed now.

So, she needed to see if anyone had been caught in this sudden mishap and needed help.

“Tap tap, tap… Boom!”

But before she could reach the scene of the accident, another loud explosion came from that direction. The force of the blast blew away the smoke that had been obscuring her view.

At that moment,

She saw… a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.

“……Wh-What is this?!”

WuYue’s voice trembled uncontrollably.

What she saw was a massive creature, a gigantic bat that was impossible to find in the natural world!

It looked like a monstrous beast straight out of a fantasy world, with claws outstretched and fangs bared!

At that moment, the bat had its deadly claws aimed at a small figure in front of it.

That figure… was a child, around 5 or 6 years old!

“!! Watch out!”

Seeing this scene, WuYue didn’t have time to think. Her body acted faster than her mind.

“Bang!”

Before she could even react, she was already on the ground, with the little girl safely in her arms.

Feeling the pain in her back, WuYue forced herself to stand up with the girl and said with a smile:

“Phew… that was close. Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine… But what about you, big sister?”

“Ah! You’re talking about these red marks on my back? It’s just paint.”

“But… but…”

“Alright! Hurry up and go! Otherwise, I’ll be really angry, okay?”

Before the little girl could finish her words, WuYue forcefully pushed her away, making it clear that she wanted her to escape.

The little girl hesitated at first, but after hearing a woman calling out her name, she eventually ran away in tears.

“…This will do.”

After watching her leave, WuYue finally couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground.

Turning to look behind her, the gigantic bat was slowly approaching her.

“…”

It was at this moment that she realised.

Because of her “kindness,” her life had reached the worst point it had ever been.

Perhaps…

She was going to die.