Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

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"Ah."

"And what about you?" Xiangzi said. "Aren't you now the most special 'patient,' just like me, with feelings? Can you become a magical girl?"

"Huh?" Delete raised his head disdainfully. "Me? A magical girl? Are you kidding me?"

“You seem to have a richer emotional life than most people,” Xiangzi said casually.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Delete mimicked her hands with her ears, making a classic gesture of rejection. "How could I possibly become a magical girl? You must be joking."

"Hehe." Xiangzi looked at it with a forced smile and said in the same tone as before, "As a Cupid, you have such rich emotions. I look forward to your performance, Delete."

For some reason, Delete felt a chill run down his spine when he looked at Xiangzi's expression.

“I know what you’re thinking. You’ll never see that kind of scene in your life, I promise.” Delete shook his head, and casually raised one ear, pointing at Xiangzi’s frying pan. “By the way, your eggs are almost burnt.”

"Eh!"

Xiangzi quickly lifted the pot and poured the eggs into a plastic box.

"Luckily it didn't burn."

"Do you still want to keep wandering around outside?"

"Let's go back," Xiangzi said dejectedly. "The novelty's worn off."

She pushed the cart, returned the ice to the cold storage, and then picked up the frying pan and fried eggs that were placed to the side.

These two eggs look pretty good; I can give them to Mu as a treat later.

on the way back.

Xiangzi heard a roaring sound overhead. She looked up and saw an airplane flying backwards into the sky.

“What’s done is done… Mami should know about this, but why is she so fixated on it?” Xiangzi asked.

"Are you asking me?" Delete pointed to himself.

"Ah."

"Perhaps she thought she could kick her grandfather down the stairs, gouge out his eyes, and slit his throat without any consequences."

"But what if she's wrong?"

“It doesn’t matter, Toyokawa Shoko.” Delete turned his head and looked at her. “Everyone only believes what they want to believe. What the truth is doesn’t matter.”

It jumped onto Xiangzi's shoulder, stretched out its ear like an old friend, put its arm around Xiangzi, and spoke in a tone as if talking to an old friend.

"Don't you also believe deep down that there are other possibilities for that future that becomes Nirvana?"

"What do you think?"

"what you think."

Delete answered the question with a question.

But Xiangzi lowered his head and didn't say anything more.

The Tale of Reincarnation: The Shore of Oblivion: Chapter 519 "Bonfire" Party

As the days passed and the day of the invasion of the art museum drew ever closer, Homura's condition improved.

During these rare peaceful days, Xiangzi also got a good rest. Every day he would go out and wander around the world on the other side.

Mu didn't have much to do, so he would spend his days walking around with Xiangzi, sometimes even venturing beyond the boundaries of Shenbin Port.

Sometimes, Xiangzi would sit on an advertising billboard beside the highway, watching the traffic flow backwards.

Sometimes, Xiangzi would sit on top of the shipping container, watching the crane lower the container back onto the ship, and then watch the ship slowly sail away in reverse, like a zipper closing the wake left on the sea.

sometimes.....

In any case, over the past few days, Xiangzi has completely gotten used to life on the other side.

However, compared to Xiangzi, the four children from Mitakihara seemed very uncomfortable. The night they clashed with the Ode to Praise was their first encounter with something so counterintuitive. Even though Xiangzi had told them beforehand, they still found it difficult to adapt after actually arriving on the other side.

So when Xiangzi was wandering around, he saw that the four little ones from Takihara were basically huddled inside the shipping container.

The container contained all the things that had been transferred to the other side with them, so there was no sense of incongruity in being inside.

However, on the last night, which was the night before they returned to the museum, Xiangzi still dragged the four of them out of the container, saying that they wanted to have a campfire chat.

Everyone, including Yan, was pulled by Xiangzi to the top of the container, where they sat together under the night sky.

Since arriving at the other side, Homura's physical condition has improved significantly. In the past few days, given the magical girl's recovery ability, she has recovered enough to be able to walk again.

The two wounds that Mami left on his waist and legs have turned into scars on Homura's body.

Given a magical girl's regenerative abilities, it's entirely possible to avoid leaving scars, but Homura says she doesn't intend to remove these two scars.

This was left by Mami, representing proof of their complete break.

The moment Mami pulled the trigger, it was decided that there was no turning back between them. Mami and they were now completely strangers.

These were the words that Yan said in front of everyone at the "bonfire party".

That is now.

“Senior is not the same senior she used to be... I think it’s better to give up on this idea sooner rather than later, rather than hoping that she can go back to the way she was before.” Yan lifted her clothes to reveal the hideous scar on her lower abdomen, her eyes half-lowered.

“I vote in favor,” Kyoko said.

She had mentioned this a long time ago.

On the contrary, Madoka and Sayaka showed rather forlorn expressions.

"..."

"..."

"Alright, alright, let's not discuss these depressing topics tonight." Seeing that the little storytelling session, which was originally intended to lighten the mood, was about to fall flat, Xiangzi stepped in to smooth things over. "I don't recommend drinking coffee or tea tonight. I'll make some hot chocolate instead."

She jumped off the platform on top of the container, went back inside, and got some instant drinks.

Six people sat around under the starry sky, with a large block of ice in the middle that Xiangzi had taken from a nearby cold storage. On top of the ice was a kettle of hot water that was bubbling and steaming.

If anyone feels thirsty, they can pour some hot water from the kettle; it will be piping hot.

The hot and cold sides were reversed. What was an unbearably hot summer night for ordinary people was a freezing winter for them on the other side. At this moment, a block of ice radiating heat that could warm their bodies was placed in the middle, which was just right.

It just feels like something's missing because there's no light source.

However, this problem is also easy to solve.

The propagation properties of "reverse entropy radiation" allow Xiangzi to transform some of the things she damages into matter on the other side, such as small twigs.

She took a handful of twigs and threw them onto the ice. Soon, the twigs lit up with flames, eventually turning into a leaping, flickering flame.

A fire piled on top of ice—how could I have such a dream?

Xiangzi made a cup of hot chocolate with hot water heated with ice cubes and handed it to Yan, who had just finished telling his story.

"We can discuss anything after we get back to this side tomorrow." Xiangzi patted Yan's head. "Just relax tonight."

"Thank you..." Yan lowered her head, her eyes buried in the reflection of her glasses.

In short, this matter has come to an end.

The magical girl in charge of preparing the food in the container must be a foodie. Besides instant drinks, there are also instant noodles and curry rice that you can heat up and eat, as well as a lot of snacks, like marshmallows.

Sayaka took out a pack of cotton swabs, held a bamboo skewer with a marshmallow on it, and placed it near the ice, using the heat from the ice to bake the marshmallow until the surface was slightly charred.

"No matter how long I stay, it feels so magical. This so-called other world is even reversed in terms of hot and cold." She put the roasted marshmallow into her mouth and squinted her eyes in enjoyment. "Hey, this is really authentic roasted marshmallow. If anyone had told me before that I could roast marshmallows with ice, I would have pried open their brains to see if they were hollow inside."

knock --

Kyoko raised her hand and tapped Sayaka on the head.

“Yes, it’s empty.” Kyoko nodded seriously, while her foot moved away from the spot.

"You bastard!" Sayaka jumped up angrily. "I was thinking of baking one for you too, and this is how you treat me?!"

The two, one red and one blue, continued their usual game of chasing each other around in circles.

"Hehe~ I can bake marshmallows myself too~"

"Stop right there!"

"I just won't stop, what can you do about it?"

“You two are at it again…” Xiaoyuan’s lips curled into a helpless smile as she looked at Xiangzi. “I’m so sorry for causing you trouble…”

"It's okay, it's okay, we had a lot of fun."

Xiangzi rested his chin on his hand, watching Sayaka and Kyoko chasing each other, and said with a hint of envy.

"You two have a really good relationship."

"Who's on good terms with her!"

"Why are you mimicking my speech?"

""ha?!""

"It's so good to be young," Xiangzi sighed, stroking his face.

But I'm only two years older than them, so why do I seem so old?

No, no, I can't think about things that will make me age faster.

Xiangzi shook his head.

Just then, a bamboo skewer skewered with a marshmallow was handed over. The marshmallow was roasted to perfection, with hardened caramel covering its surface, and a faint sweet aroma wafted into Xiangzi's nostrils.

"Xiang, this is yours." Mu handed the bamboo skewer to Xiangzi.

"It smells so good! Thank you!"

Xiangzi took the bamboo skewer and bit into the marshmallow. The crisp caramel made a soft "crack" sound as it split open in his mouth. The marshmallow, warm and soft, along with the broken caramel, touched his taste buds, creating two completely different sweet flavors.

These roasted marshmallows are so delicious!

Xiangzi cupped his face in his hands, enjoying the moment.

She opened her eyes and looked at the two figures, one blue and one red, making a ruckus, and another pink and one black, who were chatting quietly. She then moved her gaze upwards and looked at the distant sky.

On the other side, everything in the world seemed upside down, except for the starry sky above. The port had less light pollution, so there were more stars to see than in the city. On a clear night, the stars were scattered across every corner of the sky, from left to right, from front to back, as if you were inside a glass sphere filled with stardust, with glittering points of light everywhere.

This is exactly the kind of atmosphere I want.

Xiangzi cupped his face in his hands, gazing blankly at the sky.

Quiet, peaceful, far from human habitation, it seemed as if the whole world had turned upside down, yet it remained unaffected. My constantly tense nerves finally relaxed upon seeing this starry sky.

It's nice to look at the stars like this once in a while.

but......

Xiangzi pursed his lips, feeling that something was missing.

"Xiang, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Xiangzi shook his head, "It just feels like something's missing."

Xiangzi looked up at the sky and murmured to himself.

"What's missing? What's missing?"

She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her: the crackling of the small campfire lit on ice, the reversed sounds of the wind and waves, and the cries of seagulls that had not yet returned to their nests—this too was reversed, and it took Xiangzi a long time to get used to it.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

“I understand,” Xiangzi said. “It’s missing some music.”

"Yeah, I also feel like something's missing."

Xingzi suddenly stopped and snapped her fingers at Xiangzi.

"I heard that all the magical girls in Reed Plains are into music, right? How about we sing a couple of songs to liven things up—"

"—I've got him!"

thump--!

The moment Kyoko stopped, Sayaka followed closely behind, pounced on Kyoko, and the two of them became entangled, rolling around several times and almost falling off the container.

"watch out!"