Chapter 131: Gift

After school in the past, Yukina always liked to cut through here and then take the bus on the other side of the street.

Compared to the buses that ran specifically for students in front of the school, the buses over there had more of the city’s flavor.

There were no classmates she knew, so she didn’t have to nod and greet people, nor did she have to worry about what others thought or said.

Yukina preferred that feeling of freedom.

However, the bigger reason was that this street had a few shops that sold “Magical Girl Ephnel” merchandise.

Most of the time Yukina came here was spent in those shops.

“I’ve heard rumors that the student council wants to push forward a plan for the school festival… This kind of work is always given to the student council, so we might suddenly get busy at some point…”

Yukina was reluctant to hang up the phone, chatting idly.

She loved listening to Naoko’s voice.

“But… there isn’t a formal, detailed plan for the school festival yet. The upperclassmen who are in charge are still in class. They told me there was nothing special planned for today, so I came back early.”

The air was dim and heavy, and the puddles under her feet shattered into pieces.

“Because I wanted to see Naoko sooner…”

Yukina said, and Naoko’s soft laugh came from the other end of the line, which was very reassuring.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a shop.

It was a second-hand store.

Compared to the elegantly decorated shops in the bustling city center, this one near the school had a more youthful feel.

The walls were covered with various posters, some drawings, uniquely shaped jewelry, and magazine clippings.

Some students would bring their own treasured items here to sell.

In second-hand shops elsewhere, you would mostly find various luxury goods with some sort of significance, but here, where students gathered, the items for sale were concentrated on various interesting collectibles from their school days.

For example, some cards, figures, as well as game consoles, CDs, cameras, and photo albums.

In short, it was all sorts of strange things that had come from students.

In a way, they were things filled with a great deal of sentiment.

What caught Yukina’s eye was a portrait of “Magical Girl Ephnel,” perfectly framed in a photo album.

It seemed to be the work of a fan.

Yukina could tell at a glance that from the hair and skin down to the nails, the entire painting had been meticulously drawn, bit by bit, with nail polish.

The painting was held in the hands of a tall girl.

The girl looked young, not much older than Yukina.

She wasn’t wearing a school uniform, so she didn’t seem to be a student at Tomosumi Girls’ Academy.

She quietly stroked the painting, her fingertips leaving faint water marks on the glass surface, which she then carefully wiped clean with her sleeve before gently placing it on the counter.

Yukina shifted her gaze and took another look at the painting.

There was no price tag on it.

‘Perhaps… it’s just being displayed here. It might be more of a way to showcase or trade collections rather than to sell?’

Because she didn’t have Ephnel’s permission, even a portrait of this quality couldn’t be sold privately.

To be displayed here, the owner must have paid the shopkeeper a deposit.

Yukina didn’t really like this kind of transaction, so she gave up the idea of taking the painting.

In the end, Yukina wasn’t particularly fond of images born from others, existing in their eyes and minds.

She was drawn to it simply because the person in the painting was Naoko.

Without much thought, Yukina turned and left.

After a few steps, she stopped in front of a shop window.

Inside the clean glass door, behind a narrow display rack, a young couple was gently embracing.

They were wearing the Tomosumi Girls’ Academy uniform.

Being of similar height, they didn’t even need to accommodate each other to get close.

They closed their eyes and shared a shy kiss.

Just then, one of them carefully pulled out a gift box.

The expressions on their faces were all captured by Yukina’s eyes.

“Speaking of which, Naoko’s birthday is coming up soon…”

Yonomori Nami came into Ephnel’s room carrying several bouquets of flowers.

She took away the ones that had started to wilt and replaced them with fresh ones.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Due to her eye injury, Ephnel had to avoid using her eyes as much as possible.

Even though her left eye was fine, the subconscious feedback and eye movements would still cause a stabbing pain in her right eye.

A pain that would be unbearable for most people was constantly tormenting Ephnel.

Even if it didn’t show on the surface.

But Yonomori Nami knew that Ephnel was always like this, never showing her pain on her face.

So she hoped to help a little.

Perhaps these lovely flowers could make Ephnel feel a bit better.

“You should take a break. You haven’t rested at all until now, have you?”

“Ah, it’s fine.”

In response to Ephnel’s concerned words, Yonomori Nami just waved her hand.

“This is nothing. You’re the one who needs to rest more.”

Ephnel gave a helpless smile, not committing to an answer.

She couldn’t rest properly at all.

Although she was very tired and wanted to close her eyes and sleep, it wasn’t something the current Ephnel could easily do.

Last night, she had managed to get a light two-hour sleep because Yukina was by her side.

But then she was woken up by the tearing pain in her shoulder, and after that, she couldn’t sleep at all.

Her whole body felt like it was on fire.

Even when she was perfectly still, the intense sensation was constantly tormenting her consciousness.

And with Seiran and the Apostles on her mind, her head was filled with chaotic thoughts.

If she could sleep through all that, she would have gone to sleep long ago.

“Where did these flowers come from?”

“They’re from your fan club, of course. As soon as they heard you were injured, they sent a whole bunch of get-well gifts. Besides these flowers, there’s a lot of other strange stuff. I didn’t bring them here.”

“Is that so? Thank you for your hard work.”

Yonomori Nami let out a weary breath and said grumpily, “Who do you think usually takes care of these things for you?”

Ephnel gave a dry laugh and asked again, “Has the news of my injury spread already?”

“It spread a long time ago. But most of what’s online is just baseless rumors.”

Yonomori Nami paused.

The news that Ephnel was injured in battle had not been officially released, but it had still spread among some people.

Although people didn’t know if the news was reliable, get-well gifts from the fan club had already piled up indiscriminately before the truth could be confirmed.

Of course, the gifts weren’t delivered directly to her room but were handled by Yonomori Nami and stored elsewhere.

Putting aside how gifts were usually handled, Ephnel was currently seriously injured.

If someone took this opportunity to send something with ill intentions, it would be difficult to deal with.

So Yonomori Nami managed the reception and storage of these gifts very strictly and never brought them into Ephnel’s room.

The bouquets of flowers in Ephnel’s room were all personally selected and brought over by Yonomori Nami herself.