After Ye Xingling returned to her room, she flopped onto the bed, lying face-up on the covers in a spread-eagle position. She closed her eyes, like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.
In that regard, she was exactly like her older sister, Ye Xingyao.
She lay there pretending to be dead for a while, then suddenly sprang upright on the bed like a carp, reaching for her phone—the one that Sister Shiyue had retrieved from Jiang Nan in the bathroom.
‘I really need to thank Sister Shiyue. I don’t know what she said to Jiang Nan, but she successfully got my phone back, so I don’t have to bother my sister to get me a new one.’
In this day and age, recovering data was fairly simple. You could do it yourself at home, but getting a new phone was still somewhat troublesome.
Back when she gave her phone to Jiang Nan, it was because the Magical Girls and her current big sisters could use the phone’s location to find her. When she couldn’t keep an eye on things herself, she would hand herself over to them for safekeeping…
‘After all, they’re my seniors and big sisters!’
Of course, Ye Xingling never expected her two sisters to be so amazing—one soloed a Forest Elf that she had fought with all her might and couldn’t defeat, and the other used magic to neutralize almost all the bombs in the school. Originally, she had been counting on her Magical Girl seniors.
She wondered how Sister Shiyue managed to get her phone back from Jiang Nan.
‘What a twist of fate…’
‘The seniors should have finished dealing with things over there by now. If I don’t report that I’m safe, they’ll be so worried…’
‘I’d better tell them in the group chat that I’m safe and not badly hurt.’
Ye Xingling unlocked the screen and opened the chat app, entering the Magical Girl Society group chat. She skimmed through it. After she had put down her phone and left, Senior Qiluo had given some more safety reminders, followed by the seniors discussing the incident. There was a lull in the middle—probably because they had arrived at the scene and didn’t need to communicate via chat anymore.
At the very end, there were some caring words from Senior Jin Ming, a reply from Senior Yunqie, and news that everyone had returned safely.
Seeing this, Ye Xingling couldn’t help but feel a pang in her nose.
‘These Magical Girls—behind their identities as Magical Girls, they’re all real, living people. Simply because they are my “Magical Girl seniors,” they care about me to this extent…’
She was by no means heartless. How could she not be moved by such pure goodwill from these girls?
Before she became a Magical Girl, they were still strangers. But now, they held a significant place in the heart of the otaku-heavy Ye Xingling.
‘This is what Magical Girls are. Whether in film or in real life, I’ve always admired them—powerful yet mysterious, beautiful yet pure-hearted, silently protecting humanity at all times.’
‘And now, I’ve become one of these girls.’
A smile lingered at the corners of Ye Xingling’s mouth as she typed on the phone keyboard: “Thank you for your concern, seniors! I’m fine now!” Then she hit the “send” button.
Soon, she received replies and greetings from the seniors. ‘Looks like the seniors are watching over me from behind their phone screens too…’
Qiluo: Oh, by the way, I heard from Miss Ye Xin that our little Shuanghua has been promoted to the First Night Grade.
‘Huh? So my big sis already told Qiluo about this? I guess that makes sense. It seems my big sis knows Senior Qiluo and Senior Yunqie. With something like this happening, it’s normal for them to be in contact.’
‘Dammit, it feels like the parents and the school teachers have already conspired together. They knew exactly what was going on with this student, like they’d all been coordinating behind the scenes…’
Qiansheng: Boohoo, even though I don’t know what little Shuanghua went through, please don’t be too sad. Your seniors will always support you…
Jin Ming: That’s not a very joyful piece of good news. But since Miss Shuanghua’s sister, Miss Ye Xin, is here, I don’t think we need to worry about any major problems.
‘Guh… the seniors are completely convinced that I’ve gone through some deeply touching and unforgettable tragic experience, aren’t they?’
Recalling her sister’s words—’Did the seniors go through something similar?’
Qiansheng: That’s true. Little Shuanghua’s sister is Miss Ye Xin. Why didn’t you tell us earlier? Before, I only heard little Shuanghua talk about your brother…
‘Oh no!’
Ye Xingling’s heart skipped a beat. ‘How did I not think of this problem?!’
‘I already knew my big sis was in cahoots with the Magical Girl seniors. Now that they’ve met my “sister,” they don’t know anything about the “brother” I mentioned!’
‘What do I do, what do I do…’
Senior Qiluo seemed very interested in this topic too. ‘Dammit, why are they so into this gossip…’
‘Could I say that Ye Xingyao is a distant cousin I’m not very close with? Or a sibling with whom I have a less intimate relationship? Would that be too unfair to my sister…’
‘What did I even say about my big bro before?’
Ye Xingling was suddenly caught in a mental storm. Whether it was due to quick thinking or her brainpower increasing after reaching the First Night Grade, she came up with a perfect solution!
Shuanghua: Actually, the brother I mentioned is Sister Ye Xin… Usually, she’s always so careless and scatterbrained, and her chest is so flat, so I tease her by calling her my brother.
Shuanghua: When I was on the mission, I didn’t know her identity as a sister yet. I was just suspicious. At home, she doesn’t go by the name “Ye Xin” either…
After this explanation, she barely managed to get through the teasing of the curious seniors, successfully protecting her sister’s cover.
‘I’m such a good little sister!’
She glanced once more at the now-quiet Magical Girl Society group chat after everything had settled down, and couldn’t help but wonder:
‘What are my big sisters doing right now?’
Ye Xingling had always had strong initiative. Though she could be lazy on normal days, once she made up her mind to do something, she would go all out to finish it as quickly as possible.
Slipping her little feet into slippers, she gently pushed open her door and crept over to her sisters’ room, intending to surprise them. But she found that the door wasn’t even closed.
‘Let me see what the big sisters are up to?’
Ye Xingling’s gaze crossed the doorway as she peeked her head in. The next second, she saw a sight that would be burned into her memory forever—so much so that her mind went blank for an instant.
Sister Shiyue was forcefully kissing her sister.
Sister Shiyue was forcefully kissing her sister.
Sister Shiyue…
‘Huh?!’
In Ye Xingling’s stunned gaze, she saw her dear sister’s eyes sweep across the doorway, catch her watching, and then show a flustered, embarrassed look.
“Wow, wow, wow, sis, I didn’t mean to!”