Chapter 60: A Meal in the Alley

[What a lavish lunch, indeed.]

Stepping out of the tower, they turned a corner into a narrow alley.

Ling Xing sat on a step in the alley, clutching a cheap, starchy sausage, the cheapest kind available.

To forgo the lavish buffet at the Magical Girl Organization’s internal cafeteria, only to huddle in this gloomy alley gnawing on this…

It truly felt in that moment as if this was their lot in life.

The sickly Nuonuo, with dismal dark circles under her eyes, let out a soft sigh from Ling Xing’s embrace.

“This is called getting you used to life back home early,” Ling Xing said. “This counts as a luxury in our household. If you don’t eat it, fine.”

And she wasn’t wrong.

Until they’d secured supplies a few days prior, the organization hadn’t been able to make ends meet for a long time… Just being able to eat this kind of thing was already a good day.

Ling Xing took an irritated bite of the starchy sausage.

It was good that no one was fighting her for it; there wasn’t even enough for her.

The bread at home? Of course, that was saved for the cutest and greatest Dal. If Chao Wu hadn’t taken a bite that morning and almost dropped it, Ling Xing wouldn’t have even touched that one piece.

[No, I’ll get low blood sugar if I don’t eat lunch…]

However, Nuonuo only voiced a small complaint through their telepathic link, before revealing her fangs and gently biting off a tiny piece from Ling Xing’s hand.

Then, as if utterly drained of strength, she slumped back into Ling Xing’s arms, concentrating on chewing the tiny bit of starchy sausage in her mouth as if facing a formidable enemy.

‘Tch, such a disingenuous one.’

Gazing at the small thing in her hand, which could be finished in two bites, Ling Xing ultimately refrained from taking another bite.

“Munch, munch…”

“……”

Watching Nuonuo’s cheeks puff out as she struggled to chew, like a hamster grinding its teeth, Ling Xing drifted into a slight reverie.

The number of people at home was gradually increasing.

If it were just her and Dal, they could still make do, scrimping and saving to ensure Dal at least got a full meal. But if they were to restart the organization, the issue of food would become a significant concern.

It wasn’t just about the two of them, purporting to be a dark organization; they needed to genuinely reactivate its full functions.

Finding like-minded companions as they once had, and establishing the kind of organization and armaments that could truly stand against magical girls, just as before…

While the realization of all this was still a distant prospect, Nuonuo’s return would indeed be a step closer to fulfilling Dal’s dream.

“Gulp…”

[My jaw aches from chewing… Ugh, thank you for the meal.]

Having merely eaten a bite, the poor, frail girl wore a look of such profound weakness it was as if she were about to ascend to heaven, lying back in Ling Xing’s arms, lost in thought.

It was clear she was accustomed to the daily array of melt-in-your-mouth sweets and rich soups from the Magical Girl cafeteria… Eating just a bite of sausage had her questioning her life choices.

“Not to your taste? This is already above our average home cooking, you know. If you can’t eat even this, you’ll starve once we’re home.”

Ling Xing instinctively flicked Nuonuo’s small head, just as she used to, her fingers tapping lightly against the forehead of the picky eater.

Then, as her fingertips made contact, Ling Xing finally realized…

Things weren’t as they once were.

Their relationship was no longer that of intimate comrades and partners.

The little one who once rested her head on Ling Xing’s lap, who screamed for help while being chased by experimental subjects, who, trembling, would still earnestly try to justify herself while cowering behind Ling Xing — that little one had now become this.

Only after truly observing Nuonuo’s indifferent face, adorned with a band-aid, up close, did Ling Xing truly grasp this reality.

Nuonuo had only returned because she couldn’t remain in the Magical Girl Organization any longer… just as she had once left the dark organization.

They could never return to a past where they trusted, relied on, and risked their lives for each other, striving together.

The atmosphere grew heavy with silence.

Nuonuo and Ling Xing, despite leaning against each other, neither looked at the other. Instead, both gazed distantly into space.

“…Ling Xing.”

“Ah.”

“Don’t force yourself, wouldn’t that be better?”

Nuonuo struggled to twist her body in Ling Xing’s embrace, leaning closer to Ling Xing’s ear, and breathed a whisper so faint it was almost inaudible against Ling Xing’s earlobe.

She took Ling Xing’s hand, which had gently tapped her forehead, letting that palm caress her cheek, and then, little by little… guided it to grasp her own slender, fragile neck, where veins were visible beneath the skin.

‘—Break it.’

Nuonuo parted her lips, but no words could be forced from her exhausted lungs… Even so, Ling Xing could still read her lips.

Words conveyed telepathically lost their weight; thus, even without vocalizing, Nuonuo still formed the words with her mouth.

Her slender neck, as fragile as a flower stem, with just a little force, could be snapped like plucking a flower…

“……”

To obey one’s true heart, to follow one’s true nature.

No need to think of anything, no longer bound by anything.

Unwillingness, resentment, all emotions, all without concern.

Nuonuo’s still-intact eye flickered with a faint pink light.

As a wielder of psychic abilities, she, of course, possessed more than just telepathy.

Guiding emotions, manipulating feelings, triggering one’s true self—

“Hoo… hoo…”

The sickly girl panted excitedly.

‘Ah… to not have to witness the beautiful memories rot and spoil. To carry those beautiful memories, to have her neck snapped by the one she once loved, choked to death in this alley, and turn into a pile of rotten flesh thrown into a dumpster.’

‘Compared to aimless wandering, fleeing, working, and imprisonment, this was the best possible ending.’

“Hoo… ugh…”

The grip tightened.

Her breathing grew heavier and heavier.

Nuonuo’s teeth chattered with excitement, or perhaps her body trembled with fear.

She couldn’t discern which emotion overflowed within her.

In truth, she was very sensitive and afraid of pain; she had never found joy in being hurt.

But… when she was hurt, someone would feel for her, care for her, protect her.

She liked that feeling.

She liked…

“Uh… ugh… gulp…”

Her vision slowly lost focus.

Even as she tried to align her gaze, the face in her sight began to blur.

No sound could be distinctly heard in her ears; only a dizzying ringing echoed.

‘It’s ending, isn’t it?’

‘Those experimental subjects were creations intrinsically linked to her life; after her death, they would naturally lose their vitality.’

‘She had intended to use them as a condition, to coerce Ling Xing into spending time with her, dating her, and then, just as Ling Xing finally began to accept her, to simply snap and die before her eyes, leaving behind only the gift she’d left for Ling Xing in the lab, to make her remember her for a lifetime.’

‘That gift was never meant for Dal.’

‘But truly, she couldn’t bear to see Ling Xing’s hesitation any longer.’

‘Let it be this way. At least the beauty of it will remain.’

“……”

She could no longer make a sound, not even a muffled gasp of suffocation could escape her lips.

Her blurring vision plunged into darkness.

Her already unfocused gaze gradually failed to capture Ling Xing’s outline.

Her consciousness drifted, her body heavy as lead.

In the very end… Nuonuo felt a hint of regret.

But it wasn’t regret about her impending death, rather—

‘Why hadn’t she managed to express her true feelings at the very last moment?’

“I like you.”

‘Yes, that’s it.’

‘That’s…?’

Nuonuo’s consciousness jolted awake from the swirling mist of oblivion.

Her ears, which should have been deaf to sound, caught those words.

Her already closed eyes strained open, wide.

In that blurry vision, she saw Ling Xing’s face, close against hers.