“You little fool, do you really like piling unnecessary burdens onto your own frail shoulders?”
Ye Xingyao gently tapped her little sister’s forehead until she begged for mercy, then finally stopped.
It was only then that the Star Elf girl realized something was off—when she was still playing the role of “big brother,” she had never done such relatively intimate movements…
But why did this feeling of being able to tease her little sister with physical actions without any pressure feel so satisfying and secretly delightful?
Should she, as an older sister, really bully her little sister with such a clear conscience?
Whatever, how could this be considered bullying her little sister? This was her own way of helping her sister break out of her psychological trap!
“Ow!”
Ye Xingling grabbed her restless hand discontentedly, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at her older sister with a hurt expression.
‘Why is it that even after turning into an older sister, she’s still the same! If anything, she’s even worse! This is not the sister I wanted—I refuse to accept it!’
“You’re not going to tell me that magical girls should protect defenseless ordinary people, are you?”
Ye Xingyao looked at her sister with a half-smile. She had no solid basis for saying this, but given her friendship with the other magical girls and her sister’s occasional naive, hot-blooded way of thinking, this guess had to be pretty close.
“Guh…”
Ye Xingling let out a single unwilling but truthful syllable. Seeing her sister’s annoyingly smug, victorious grin, she turned her head away in embarrassment.
“Sigh, didn’t your lovely predecessors ever tell you that growing as a magical girl requires shouldering some incredibly profound experiences? Do you think this is some kind of invincible superpower that will naturally develop when the time comes, or that you can just train hard and eventually reach the peak?”
Ye Xingyao crossed her arms and shot back without mercy.
“Wake up, girl! Beneath the glamorous appearance and overwhelming power of a magical girl lies only a scarred and battered maiden heart…”
As she spoke, she plopped down right next to her sister, reached out, and patted her shoulder, speaking with the air of a buddy sharing life wisdom.
“Then… did the predecessors go through something like that too?”
Hearing this, Ye Xingling set aside her awkwardness and looked seriously into her sister’s eyes.
“Not necessarily the same as yours—they certainly have their own unique experiences. Since they didn’t tell you, that just means it’s one of those unspoken rules magical girls don’t share with their juniors.”
After listening to her sister’s words, Ye Xingling’s mind conjured up images of her predecessors, one after another.
‘They… also went through countless events before they could grow…’
A trace of melancholy flickered in the girl’s star-blue eyes. Gradually, her heart began to waver.
If she could barely endure even this—was she really still suited to being a magical girl?
“I didn’t say all this to discourage you. Don’t make that pitiful face…”
Seeing her like that, Ye Xingyao put on an “I knew it” expression, shrugged, sighed, and reached out to mess up her sister’s hair.
“I told you—you’ve grown up. Within your capabilities, you can decide what you want to do. Your sister Shiyue and I will support you too. That goes for being a magical girl as well.”
“If you want to be a magical girl, go for it. I’ll just ask you to protect yourself. If you go through something and feel down, you can always come talk to us. You still have two good older sisters.”
“Ah, I’m bad with words and can’t say anything fancy. Anyway, that’s the gist. It was only after Xiaoyue knocked some sense into me that I finally realized.”
With that, Ye Xingyao looked up and smiled gently at the white-haired girl watching them fondly. The latter nodded with great satisfaction.
Ye Xingling savored her sister’s words, stayed silent for a long while, then spoke timidly:
“So… you support me continuing to be a magical girl?”
‘That’s right, wasn’t my biggest fear just that even the people closest to me would look at me with the same strange eyes as everyone else?’
At that thought, Ye Xingling’s eyes shone with unprecedented brightness.
As long as her sisters and predecessors supported her, it seemed other people and things weren’t worth worrying about anymore…
“I guess so.”
Ye Xingyao nodded reluctantly.
‘Who knows what that girl thought of to suddenly get so happy. But as long as she can figure it out on her own, it’s worth all my talking.’
“Hehe, Xiaoyao is being tsundere again.”
Yi Shiyue, who had been watching the two sisters from the side, covered her mouth and giggled. They were still bickering as always—and caring for each other as always.
Over these two weeks, their lives had changed dramatically. They had discovered the hidden identities of their loved ones in the shadows. But those sensitive roles and incidents hadn’t changed their relationship.
If anything, they had made their bond even stronger.
“Sis… in my current state, is it still okay for me to go back to school?”
Ye Xingling’s mindset shifted quickly. With her active mind, she began imagining her future life and suddenly realized that if she returned to school, some observant classmates might figure out her identity.
And those familiar yet unfamiliar classmates’ strange gazes… she didn’t want—no, she absolutely never wanted to experience that again.
“Oh… that really is something to think about.”
Obviously, Ye Xingyao had thought of that too. She pinched her chin and made a troubled expression.
Transfer schools? That was simple, but not really a good solution. Her little sister would still have to face the same kind of people. If a similar incident happened, it would only pour salt on her wounds—treating the symptoms, not the root.
‘Is there a way to have some people I can trust stay by my little sister’s side, growing together with her…’
Ye Xingyao pressed her temples. Somewhere in her mind, she felt a flash of inspiration—but she couldn’t quite grasp it.
“Ring ring ring—”
“Oh, a phone call. I’ll go get it.”
An old-fashioned, pleasant ringtone sounded. Ye Xingyao stood up and walked toward where her phone was. She had left her coat in her sister’s room when she came back.
She reached the phone and saw the contact name—”Sister Hongye”!
‘Crap! I forgot to report the situation to Qiluo and Sister Hongye!’
“Sister Hongye, is something up?”
Ye Xingyao answered the phone, putting on a sweet, innocent-sounding voice like a cute young girl.
“Hmph, if you still have the energy to fool around, I guess I don’t need to worry.”
Hearing the commotion on the other end, Sister Hongye let out an obvious sigh of relief.
“I already got the full story from Qiluo. Sorry, I was called in to help the Council of Elders, so I couldn’t come to assist you right away.”