Ch.9999. Peach Blossom and Vine (9)

“Ahh, it’s so warm. Right, Bine?”

“…Yes.”

“Sigh, really. Looking at you like this, you’re truly so soft…”

“Would you consider changing your mind even now? It might be better if you listened to me…”

“Enough. I don’t want to think about it anymore, sis…”

Ever since she embraced me, we’ve remained like this.

Her speech has returned to its original laziness, and her caressing touch seems to have become a bit more skillful…

“And… I have a favor to ask…?”

“What is it…? I’ll grant most of your requests anyway, sister. As long as it’s nothing strange. No, I’ll even grant strange requests. It must be my karma…”

“Hmm? Really? You mean it?”

“…Seeing you like that makes me not want to grant it anymore… but go ahead and tell me.”

“Well then.”

Yuri made me face her while still in her embrace.

Then she held both my cheeks with her hands, making me look at her.

“You’re forbidden from bringing up this conversation without my permission. I’m being selfish too, you know? Got it?”

“…What do you mean by ‘got it’? Yes, I understand. I’ll do as you say. Today is… your day, after all.”

“Yes, that’s right… Well, I was expecting this… though I thought it would take longer. I even wondered which day of the month I should bring this up… But it’s better for me if it’s resolved quickly, right? Hehe…”

“…If you’re okay with it… I’ll follow your lead.”

“Yes, yes. Hehe… I believe Bine will follow along well… The Bine I know… did that because she’s so full of responsibility. Yes.”

“…I thought we were done with this.”

“This is different. When we go back, you’ll just be my little sister Bine again. Promise? That scary villain in my memory~ doesn’t exist, okay? She’s gone.”

“…Yes. That villain is gone now. Only I remain, defeated, wearing the shell of that villain.”

“Why are you getting all sentimental? Oh, I started it first, didn’t I… Sorry?”

“…”

Yuri said she was sorry and began roughly patting my head.

…She could at least stroke it gently like before, what’s with this rough handling?

“So, is there anything else you want to talk about?”

“Not… particularly.”

“Ah, right. Did I ever tell you how I was able to side with the magical girls again at Eden?”

“…That’s.”

“Well… how should I put this. I just… suddenly had a change of heart. Maybe it was while fighting with our kids. Or maybe when I was captured by the Association again… and interrogated. Anyway, I felt it then.”

“Yes…?”

“While talking with our kids. ‘Felt’ is the right word. That something was strange.”

“…It couldn’t have been strange.”

“Well… I only realized it then. Eden had done something to my mind.”

“I understand they never took any surgical measures.”

“Hmm… no, when the Association examined me, they found traces of something that had been there and disappeared. Traces of something that left a mark, like a wound. It healed, of course… but like a scar, you know?”

“…I don’t know. Anyway, I’ll think about that… yes, separately. My head is already too complicated with previous matters…”

“Yeah. Well… anyway. Is there anything else you want to ask?”

Yuri gave me an opportunity to ask questions.

To be honest, there’s a lot I’m curious about.

Besides that, how… sigh.

“Sigh… No. I think asking more would only be poisonous.”

“Really? Well, if that’s the case…”

After that, we just silently enjoyed the night view.

For me, it was a place of old memories, while for her, it was her current workplace where nightmarish things had happened.

When the wind got cold, we embraced more tightly and enjoyed the atmosphere.

With each breath, the sweet scent of peach blossoms filled my body.

This sweetness felt so heavy, so burdensome.

Whenever I tried to pull away slightly, feeling it was too much for me, she would hold me tighter in her arms, as if unwilling to let go.

Her embrace was very large and soft.

…Soft peach?

By the time most of my vision was filled with her chest, Yuri suggested we head back.

“Well… it’s getting cold for us to stay like this. You’re already taking time off because you’re sick, I shouldn’t make you sicker.”

“…I’m not that sick…”

“That’s enough. Let’s go back. Home.”

We jumped off the rooftop together, holding hands.

This time cradled in her arms like a princess, I returned home.

“Sister… this position is embarrassing…”

“Is it? But I like it. My good Bine will listen to her sister, right? You won’t hit my stomach just because I’m doing this, right?”

“Ugh… why are you bringing that up…”

“Hehe… I’m the only one who has leverage over Bine… hehe…”

“Ugh, really… you’re not the only one who has leverage over me…”

“Oh? Well, anyway. Hehe… let’s stay like this a little longer when we get home? I want to show off to the others~”

“…It’s your day anyway, isn’t it?”

“Is that so? Hehe. Let’s go home.”

* * *

“Sister. Isn’t this too much? This is unfair!!”

“Hehe… it’s my right. Hmm, I could share a little with Arin if you want?”

“…Sigh.”

—

After coming home, I wasn’t doing anything.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say I couldn’t do anything.

When I returned home with Yuri, the other magical girls were already back.

“…Ellie, where did you go?”

“Yeah, I went to the Association briefly with Blanc.”

Come to think of it, I was home all day, but she hadn’t come out at all.

…Sorry, Ellie.

“Why did you go to the Association?”

“It’s nothing. Just… how should I put it. They said they needed to handle some administrative matters. Since I’m still a villain after all.”

“…No way.”

“I’m not going anywhere. They said there’s something additional that needs to be done. They caught the villain Ellie of Eden, and they’re checking how much damage that villain caused to decide whether to erase that identity or not. Something like that.”

“That was possible…?”

“Don’t even mention it… that Blanc went to the Association president and… mmph, mmph?!”

I don’t know what Ellie was trying to say, but Blanc covered her mouth first.

“…Blanc, what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. Ellie, didn’t we have something left to do?”

“Mmph, mmph!!! Mmph!!!”

The last I saw of the silver-haired girl was her back as she was dragged away by Blanc.

“…What was that about, sister?”

“Hmm… I don’t know either.”

“…What was Ellie trying to say?”

“Hmm, Yunseul… I don’t know. Anyway, isn’t it good that she’s not being taken away? That Ellie… she’s practically imprisoned under magical girl surveillance, right?”

“Hmm…”

“And… when she’s out and about, she’s not Eden’s Ellie but the Association scholarship student ‘Kim Soo-yeon.’ That’s how it is. Ellie is kept confined here in the dormitory basement under magical girl surveillance.”

“Something feels a bit strange…”

“Well, you… even if not Marina, you’ve been to prison too.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t really matter. How should I put it. I also… never mind.”

“Hmm… anyway, Bine, you’ve already finished everything, right? And Ellie has been caught now. They’re trying to keep her from being sent to that court. You understand, right?”

“Yes, well… if that’s the case.”

I don’t know exactly what the Association’s regulations are, but…

If it ended well, then that’s good.

However, in a month…

…I’ll think about that later.

That’s what I thought as soon as we came in.

After changing clothes and returning, Arin, Crybaby, Redhead, and others were together in the living room.

Yuri was there too.

“…The way you’re patting your knee like that, are you uncomfortable? Don’t you need to go to the hospital, sister?”

“Come on, Bine. Tsk, you know what I mean, don’t you?”

“…”

With Arin watching too…

How could you, Yuri…

“…Ugh.”

I reluctantly nestled into her embrace.

“Hehe…”

But Crybaby and Redhead seemed surprised for different reasons.

“D-did you just hear that, Hyewon unnie…?”

“What… did Bine just call her ‘sister’…? I heard it too…”

“I, I only heard her call her by name until now…”

“…Yes, I’m going to make her call me sister all the time.”

And Yuri, enjoying her victory, revealed the truth.

“Hehehe… you all can’t be called ‘sister’? Hehe… I made her call me sister in a bet? Even though she swore she’d only call me by name, I hehe…”

“What…? That was possible? I, I should have done that too…”

Hyewon looks regretful.

“That’s impossible now. No one else will be called ‘sister’…! Besides, you Crybaby, you’re the same age as Blanc…! And you Redhead are younger than Blanc! There’s no way you should be called ‘sister’!”

“Bine… that’s why it’s even better.”

…Let’s leave those two perverts alone for a moment.

Arin seems to be upset for a different reason.

“…Arin? Why are you so angry…?”

And her answer was:

“Sister. Isn’t this too much? This is unfair!!”

Yuri childishly hugged me tightly while answering Arin.

“Hehe… it’s my right. Hmm, I could share a little with Arin if you want?”

“E-eek…!”

Arin got angry at that response.

No, why are you using me like this…

“…Sigh.”

Arin, not you too…

“Sister, that’s too much!! Monopolizing is wrong!!”

“Hehe… Arin, today is my day. Hehehe… don’t worry. After midnight today… sadly, Bine won’t be able to call me sister anymore… and she’ll reduce me to an unemployed freeloader. Sob sob.”

Yuri, making fake crying sounds, hugged me a little tighter.

And so, another day comes to an end.

And that day draws one day closer.