Chapter 15: A Haven Found

As the dust settled on the battle in the abandoned industrial zone, Lin Wan steadily pushed the custom-made metal ‘stroller’, carrying a thoroughly deflated Kazami Jin, as they proceeded silently through the night.

Xia Yue walked alongside them, the atmosphere, unlike the heavy tension of their journey there, now carried an ineffable sense of muted solemnity.

Upon returning to Kazami Jin’s modest apartment, Lin Wan closed the door behind them, sealing off the outside world. Instead of her usual boisterous demeanor, she gently parked the stroller in the center of the living room. Then, she and Xia Yue stood before Jin, who sat with her head bowed, bracing herself for the ‘storm’ to come.

The anticipated harsh reprimand or humiliating ‘punishment’ did not immediately materialize.

A heavy silence permeated the air, carrying a weight that made Jin even more uneasy.

Finally, Xia Yue broke the silence. Her voice, unlike the icy tone she had used in the factory, now held a rare, deep weariness and a lingering fear. “Jin, do you know what it felt like when we saw that Shadow Beast charging at you, and we were entangled, unable to break free immediately?”

Jin’s head shot up, her gaze meeting Xia Yue’s. In those eyes, usually so calm and unruffled, she now saw a clear, lingering worry, and even a hint of… fear? Fear born for her sake?

Lin Wan, too, shed all traces of her usual playfulness. She stepped forward, not rushing to embrace Jin as she normally would. Instead, she knelt, bringing her gaze level with Jin’s, still seated in the stroller. She extended a hand, not touching Jin, but resting it gently on the metal frame of the stroller, her fingertips pressing lightly, turning white.

“Jin,” Lin Wan’s voice was soft, laced with a barely perceptible tremor. “Back then… I almost blasted a hole through my own teammate with my energy gun, just to force my way to you… If anything had truly happened to you, I…”

She trailed off, but a film of moisture clouded her usually bright eyes. This sight made Jin’s heart feel as though an invisible hand had seized it tightly, her breath catching in her throat.

‘So that was it…’ They weren’t angry at her for causing trouble, or annoyed that her unauthorized actions had complicated the mission… They were afraid—afraid she would be harmed.

A bitter, hot rush surged through Jin’s nasal passages and into her eyes.

She had always believed that to them, she was merely a potential threat requiring ‘monitoring’, a toy to be ‘teased’ at will, a ‘possession’ bound by a contract.

She had never imagined that she held such a significant place in their hearts, a place so weighty that it could instill fear in powerful magical girls.

“I-I’m sorry…” Jin’s voice trembled, laced with a sob. This apology, more sincere and filled with remorse than any she had offered before, spilled from her lips: “I truly… truly know I was wrong… I won’t run off again… I’ll be good and stay put…”

Witnessing her on the verge of tears, genuinely remorseful, the last trace of coldness in Xia Yue’s eyes finally melted away. She sighed softly, stepping closer, and gently unfastened the ‘stroller’s’ safety harness, extending a hand to Jin.

“Come out.”

Jin hesitated for a moment, but then placed her hand into Xia Yue’s cool palm. Led by her, she stumbled out of the ‘mobile prison’ on somewhat shaky legs.

The moment she found her footing, Lin Wan, standing nearby, could no longer restrain herself. She abruptly threw open her arms, embracing Jin tightly, almost with every ounce of her strength.

This was not the usual playful, teasing embrace. This hug was filled with the profound relief of having found something lost, and a lingering tremor of fear.

Lin Wan buried her face in the crook of Jin’s neck, muttering, “Stupid Jin! You scared me half to death, you know that?”

Jin stiffened for a moment, but then her body slowly relaxed. She could clearly feel Lin Wan’s slight trembling and the strength of her embrace. Hesitantly, she raised her hands and gently returned the hug, awkwardly patting Lin Wan’s back.

Xia Yue did not join the embrace, but stood quietly to the side, watching with soft eyes. She reached out, not with the controlling touch of before, but with extreme gentleness, using her fingertips to brush away the strands of hair clinging to Jin’s forehead from cold sweat.

“Remember this feeling,” Xia Yue’s voice was soft, yet it clearly reached Jin’s ears. “Remember that there are people who worry for you, who fear for you. So, protect yourself, and don’t make us feel this helplessness again, alright?”

Jin nodded vigorously, and tears finally welled and fell. Not from humiliation, nor from fear, but from a warm current, one she hadn’t experienced in a very long time—the feeling of being cared for, of being cherished—that swept through her entire being.

The so-called ‘punishment’ did not manifest in any humiliating form.

Instead, there was Lin Wan’s stubborn, unyielding embrace, almost squeezing her to the bone, and Xia Yue’s rare, tender touches and words.

That night, Lin Wan, citing her “need for comfort after being frightened,” insisted on staying, even squeezing onto Jin’s not-so-spacious single bed.

She made no further intrusive moves. Instead, like a small kitten seeking security, she held Jin tightly from behind, her arm wrapped around her waist, her even breaths a soft whisper on Jin’s nape.

Xia Yue, though she returned to her own home, before leaving, meticulously checked all the apartment’s doors and windows, and left behind a small device, said to be an enhanced early-warning barrier.

Lying on her familiar bed, enveloped by Lin Wan’s warm body, and feeling the undeniable, protective pressure around her waist, Kazami Jin’s eyes were wide open in the darkness.

There was no humiliation, no resentment.

Instead, her heart was filled with an unprecedented, confusing yet soft sense of security.

She found that she… didn’t seem to dislike this feeling.

In fact, she rather craved it.

The thought of turning the tables and becoming the master, at this moment, seemed to become somewhat blurred and distant.

When the ‘cage’ transformed into a ‘haven’, when ‘coercion’ turned into ‘concern’, her—a timid witch whose sole desire was to hide and protect herself—her future path seemed truly destined to deviate entirely from its anticipated course.

Yet, it seemed… she had no intention of correcting this ‘mistake’.

****

After the harrowing night at the abandoned factory and the subsequent, unexpected ‘orange-flavored punishment’—filled with worry and lingering fear—the atmosphere in the apartment seemed to have been cleansed by something warm, shedding much of its previous tension and wariness, and gaining an ineffable sense of intimacy.

The next day was the weekend. Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a warm glow.

To dispel the lingering gloom of the previous night, and to soothe everyone’s (especially Jin’s and Lin Wan’s) startled hearts, Lin Wan eagerly volunteered to run to the nearby convenience store, returning with a mountain of potato chips, shrimp crackers, chocolates, fruit juices, and various elaborately packaged snacks, which nearly covered the small coffee table in the living room.

“Come on, come on! No thinking today! Just eat, drink, and watch a happy movie!” Lin Wan excitedly tore open a bag of potato chips, crunching loudly, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s.

Though Xia Yue wasn’t as excited as Lin Wan, she uncharacteristically offered no objections.

She sat quietly in a corner of the sofa, picking up a bag of what appeared to be relatively healthy dried fruits and vegetables, nibbling at them delicately, her gaze resting on Jin, who was adjusting the projector.

As Jin looked at the mountain of snacks before her, and then at the two women beside her—one vibrant and lively, the other quietly present—that sense of unreality surfaced once more.

Just a short while ago, she had viewed them as ‘pursuers’ and ‘coercers’ to be vigilantly guarded against. Now, however, they were like… like friends of many years, or even… family?

She recalled the ‘contract’ she had been forced to sign under threat of video, the seemingly excessive yet never truly harmful ‘intimate demands’, and the undisguised worry and fear in their eyes last night…

Perhaps… they were simply inept at expressing their care and… possessiveness in the right way? And that contract, those demands, were merely their clumsy, even somewhat twisted, attempts to bind her firmly to their side?

This thought made Jin’s heart tremble faintly, and a bittersweet, tender emotion spread through her.

The movie chosen was a lighthearted, comedic animation. The three of them snuggled on the sofa, sharing a soft, thin blanket.

Lin Wan reclined unceremoniously against Jin, occasionally bursting into laughter at the film’s antics, scattering potato chip crumbs everywhere.

Xia Yue sat more primly, but her expression was also relaxed, her lips occasionally curving upward at an amusing plot point.

Jin was sandwiched between them, with Lin Wan’s warm, soft body on her left, and the faint cool scent and quiet body heat of Xia Yue on her right. She was fed various snacks, listening to Lin Wan’s uninhibited laughter and the cheerful movie soundtrack, watching the colorful scenes on screen…

A long-lost tranquility and warmth, characteristic of ‘everyday life’, slowly enveloped her. She even momentarily forgot her identity as a witch, forgetting the Shadow Beasts and the battles, feeling only that staying with them like this, at this moment, seemed… not so bad after all.

Time quietly slipped away amidst the laughter and crunching.

When the clock’s hands precisely pointed to midnight, something that left both Jin and Lin Wan utterly dumbfounded occurred.

Xia Yue, who had been sipping her fruit juice, suddenly paused without any warning. The cup in her hand tilted slightly, nearly spilling the juice. Then, under the astonished gazes of Jin and Lin Wan, her icy blue eyes slowly closed, and her body, as if a power-off button had been pressed, naturally—with an almost mechanical precision—softly slumped sideways, towards Jin’s shoulder.

Her head gently rested on Jin’s shoulder, her breathing instantly becoming even and deep.

She… had fallen asleep.

In just one second. From awake to deep slumber, a seamless transition, without any buffer.

Jin: ‘???”

Lin Wan froze for a moment, then covered her mouth, letting out a stifled, explosive laugh that still leaked out as a gasp: “Pfft hahahaha! Here it comes! Ayue’s forced shutdown time! One-second sleep! High performance really is something else! Punctual and efficient!”

Jin’s shoulders were stiff, feeling the weight of Xia Yue’s head and her steady breathing, a mixture of amusement and exasperation washing over her.

She looked down at Xia Yue’s serene sleeping face, long eyelashes casting soft shadows beneath her eyelids. The usual coolness and aloofness had completely vanished in her slumber, leaving only defenseless softness.

So… this honor student magical girl had such a setting? Sleeping precisely on time, no delays?

After she had had her fill of laughter, Lin Wan leaned closer and quietly explained, “Ayue, she’s apparently been like this since she was little. Her biological clock is terrifyingly accurate. She says it’s to maintain optimal condition, so her body automatically enters deep sleep mode when it needs rest. When we used to pull all-nighters playing games or rushing missions together, she’d just fall asleep, rain or shine.”

Seeing Xia Yue in this state, and then recalling her usually meticulous, calm, and composed demeanor, the stark contrast made Jin unable to help but curve her lips into a smile.

She carefully adjusted her posture, allowing Xia Yue to lean more comfortably, and pulled the slipped blanket up to cover her shoulders.

Lin Wan observed Jin’s gentle actions, her gaze softening, and she too quieted, no longer making loud noises. She simply picked up the remote control and lowered the movie’s volume.

In the living room, only the faint dialogue from the movie and the steady breathing of the three of them remained.

Kazami Jin looked at Xia Yue, sleeping peacefully on her shoulder, and then at Lin Wan, who had become docile and quiet so as not to wake Xia Yue. The last bit of resentment in her heart, caused by the contract and the past, seemed to melt away silently and completely.

What witch, what magical girl, what contractual coercion…

At this moment, none of it mattered.

What mattered was that they were here, like family, sharing snacks, watching a movie, and even sharing the same peaceful sleep.

She let out a soft sigh, not of helplessness, but of a resigned, almost sweet serenity.

Let it be this way.

It seemed… there was nothing wrong with it at all.