Ch.188188. Confession

“Please consider that.”

“Alright, Arin…”

“What? So, we just need to readjust it, right?”

“We had such a hard time deciding that day, remember?”

“…Honestly, I don’t know how fortunate it is that we didn’t decide through fighting! Anyway, I think we need to do it again!”

“But to go with what we decided today for a whole week… Should we play the game three times a week now?”

“Game… how about rock-paper-scissors?”

“Wasn’t it rock-paper-scissors last time too?”

“Yes! It’s fair!”

“So we each choose the day we want every week, and… if you want to use consecutive days, you can swap as needed?”

“Yes! Starting tomorrow!”

“Weekend… Well, if you think that’s fair. Is rock-paper-scissors enough?”

“Yes! Honestly, last time we discussed all sorts of things but ended up with rock-paper-scissors anyway.”

“So we’re leaving it to luck?”

“Yes. Please do it that way!”

Even Yuri, who was lying down, placed Ellie beside her and perked up her ears with interest.

Wait, is it right for them to decide such things right in front of me…?

Shouldn’t this be something they discuss when I’m not around?

And here’s Blanc, calmly stroking my hair while making agreements.

Isn’t it a bit awkward to schedule confession times in front of the person they’re planning to confess to…?

And is it right for the girl to be the one confessing…?

Even for someone like me, what should I call it—my previous life?

The body I had before this one.

I have memories of being male.

Shouldn’t I be the one confessing instead?

Of course, someone like me… doesn’t match well with such pretty girls.

Setting aside the fact that we’re the same gender, which feels a bit strange.

For girls like that to be interested in a guy like me…

It’s completely impossible.

Besides, Arin and Seohyun are still…

That’s right. Isn’t it?

Putting aside the fact that confessions are usually made by men, to be discussing this in front of the object of their affection…

And romance is supposed to be one-on-one.

Why are they so casually discussing who goes first, as if it’s natural?

Don’t they think I might only accept one of them?

No, it seems like they haven’t even considered the possibility that I might reject them.

“Blanc…”

“Yes, Vine?”

“Is it normal to sit the person you like down and have this kind of conversation…?”

“We’re not exactly what you’d call normal people, are we?”

“That’s… true, but still.”

“Honestly, we know what we’re saying sounds strange. But… it’s everyone’s wish not to break our relationship with each other, or our relationship with you.”

“…So two people who feel that way are hugging each other quite… intimately.”

“Ah… Yuri unnie?”

“…”

“Isn’t she just being hugged one-sidedly, like you?”

Blanc responds by hugging me tighter.

How am I supposed to respond when she keeps avoiding answering like this?

It’s irritating, but what’s more irritating is that I’m not actually irritated.

I’m caught in a contradiction.

“No… even setting that aside. Isn’t it really strange to be deciding such things and talking about them in front of me…?”

“Well… as I said earlier, we’re hardly in a normal relationship.”

“…True. You’re magical girls and I’m a villain. Or I guess now I’m an ex-villain.”

“So just because we’re different doesn’t mean we have to think it’s strange. Do we really need to care about what others think?”

“…You should still care about that. You have public faces as magical girls, so what are you saying?”

“Even considering that, we think it’s fine. We don’t want to break our relationship with anyone. Though… I should be the first, the official, and the primary one.”

“…What are you saying? You’re my archenemy, aren’t you? And except for Arin, the other magical girls were my enemies too.”

“So, is that still true now?”

“Once an archenemy, always an archenemy, isn’t it?”

“They say that people who are most opposite to each other live by filling in each other’s shortcomings. And there’s nothing unnecessary in life.”

“…Evil is usually classified as unnecessary.”

“Oh? Then do you think Ellie, who’s being held by Yuri over there, is unnecessary too?”

“T-that’s not what I meant! Why are you twisting my words! That’s not it…!”

Ellie is…

Ellie is different.

Ellie is… Ellie.

Me being evil is enough.

“If Vine is evil… then I should be banished to some far corner of the universe as a greater evil… The worlds I’ve affected…”

“Ellie, that’s not it…”

“Vine…”

“Ellie… that’s…”

“That’s right. Ellie was just deceived by the Boss and the Doctor. Of course… it was for quite a long time. I think the same applies to you, Vine. Of course… I don’t want to justify those actions. What was done was wrong.”

“…”

“But… that doesn’t mean you can’t love. If only absolutely good people could love, who in this world could love? If no evil could ever become good, how could this world ever change?”

“That’s…”

“Who says evil can’t become good? Evil can become good. One way to fill the world with goodness is to make evil good.”

“What guarantee is there that I’ll become that?”

“I think… it might be possible through the power of love.”

“…What?”

“How about it? Isn’t it worth trying? If you can repay the karma you’ve accumulated through evil with good deeds. Receiving the consequences of evil actions through someone else’s evil deeds just traps the world in a cycle of evil.”

“When you say ‘worth trying,’ do you mean me turning to good, or…”

“Both.”

Blanc cuts off my words.

“What do you think? Won’t you try it with me? You’re always talking about karma, karma. And trying to accept all the injustices that come your way. All by yourself.”

“That’s…”

“What’s wrong with sharing it? Can’t we bear it together?”

“You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“…The wrong of falling for this little devil?”

Really…

How can she say such embarrassing things seriously in front of others?!

I can’t control my expression anymore, I can’t do anything about it.

How red must my face be?

How red must my ears be?

Looking around, everyone is staring at us.

And seeing Arin looking at Blanc with a frustrated face…

“W-what are you saying…”

“I like you.”

“…Are you saying this here?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Really… Didn’t you say you’d give me three weeks? So I could sort out my feelings… No, you’re my archenemy, my archenemy…”

“Archenemy? Does being archenemies mean we can’t like each other?”

“T-that’s… no, isn’t it strange…”

“It is strange.”

Blanc holds my cheeks and makes me look at her.

As if telling me to look at her eyes, clear and blue like the morning sky.

As if telling me to look at her hair, dazzling like white sunlight.

As if telling me to look only at her.

When darkness asks how it could look at light, and light answers that it exists alongside darkness, illuminating it, how am I supposed to respond?

When light says it will share the persecution that darkness receives, what answer am I supposed to give?

“Hey! Don’t cut in line! We haven’t even started yet! We haven’t even done rock-paper-scissors! I’m going to be Vine unnie’s first, Yunsul unnie! Ugh, uhhh…!”

“Vine. Do you really think that if we’re archenemies, we can’t like each other? Do you think lovers should never fight?”

“T-that’s… that’s very different… W-we shouldn’t start a relationship like this… You all could find much better connections or lovers…”

“That’s you.”

“H-huh…?”

“Vine.”

“Y-yes?!”

“I like you.”

“…W-what…”

“Well… at first it might have been pity. Just because you were sacrificed to the dimensional gap. Going around committing evil acts because you belonged to Eden. Just like that.”

“B-Blanc…?”

“You looked so pitiful. Call me a jerk who shows cheap sympathy if you want. Well… honestly, all the time we’ve spent together until now has been fighting or fighting… or quarreling.”

“T-that’s… isn’t that natural, you and I…”

“But… strangely enough. Honestly… rather than feeling hatred, I think I fought while wondering why you were like that.”

“…Why are you saying this now…”

“Why would such a small child, speaking like an adult, want to stay in Eden? Why would she do such things to people?”

“Um, Blanc…”

“Well, thinking about various things. As I kept reviewing and watching you.”

“Blanc…”

“Yes. It became certain after you came here.”

“I. Like you.”

“Huh…”

Blanc, who was holding my cheeks, now takes my hands in hers.

“Thank you for abandoning Eden and choosing us. And… I’m sorry. For not protecting you. I want to save you now, even if it’s late.”

“I… like you. Not just… No. Not just as a friend. More like… in a romantic way. I love you… I’m really clumsy with this kind of thing… but… my feelings are sincere. This feeling that I don’t know where it started, but what’s certain is that I like you…”

“Vine… I really like you.”

“Ugh, uhhh…”

Really…

“Will you… accept me?”

If she says it like this…

How am I supposed to reject her…

How could I possibly reject her?

“Y-yes…”

“Thank you… Vine.”

Blanc hugs me tightly.

It’s uncomfortable, but… Blanc’s warmth and heartbeat are transmitted to me.

Ugh…

“I-I don’t know… Please don’t ask me why I’m acting like this when we fight later…”

“I won’t. When we fight, I’ll be sincere too, you know?”

“…Ugh.”

Really…

The sunlight embraced me so warmly.

And then.

As Blanc slowly approached.

Naturally.

The two lights and darkness intertwined.

Remained silent for a long time.

Lost in our own world.

Blanc’s first taste was…

The taste of warm sunlight.