Chapter 7: I gave up hope

Step. Step. Step.

The sound of approaching footsteps, filled with ominous intent, echoed through the room in steady intervals.

With each step, fear crept closer, tightening around my throat.

By the time Happy entered my line of sight, my mouth felt like it was restrained even more than when I had been gagged.

Even my screams fled in terror, leaving me with nothing but a trembling body.

Some foolish part of me still clung to the hope that there was a way to escape.

But that was exactly what it was—foolish hope.

The door Happy had entered through was already out of the question.

She hadn’t deactivated her Magical Girl transformation this time.

And more importantly—my limbs were completely useless.

“Sis.“

She knew it, too.

Unlike me, struggling to move a body that refused to respond, Happy’s movements were light—almost effortless.

Her approach was faster than my weak attempt to back away.

Before I knew it, my back hit the wall.

I had nowhere left to run.

Happy sat down right in front of me.

And suddenly—the atmosphere grew heavy.

She was about to force-feed me her love again.

“Yeres Sis.“

“S-Stay away!“

“You shouldn’t say things like that.

First, you should apologize.“

Common sense had no place in a situation like this.

And yet, Happy expected me to follow it.

As if I were the one being unreasonable.

I hated that.

I hated her.

So I tried to run.

The wall behind me blocked my way,

So I shifted my body to the side.

That was a mistake.

No, I already knew—I never should have moved.

“Haah… Do I need to start with the basics?“

“Urk—!“

Happy grabbed me by the collar, yanking me forward.

Her mouth was curled into a smile, but her lips were trembling.

Her eyes reflected two emotions that could never coexist.

Joy and rage.

If one of them was a lie,

Then it had to be the joy.

That smile—

It was just an attempt to mask her fury.

She was truly, deeply angry.

And so, without hesitation,

She slapped me across the face.

Smack.

“A person—”

Smack.

“—who does something wrong—”

Smack.

“—should apologize first.”

Smack.

“Isn’t that right?“

It wasn’t just one slap.

She had no intention of holding back.

With inhuman strength, she kept hitting me over and over again.

Even when my cheek turned bright red, she didn’t stop.

Even when tears welled up in my eyes, even when I begged her to stop, she didn’t stop.

There was only one way to end it.

“I… I’m sorry…“

The moment the words left my lips,

Her hand froze in the air.

It was like magic.

Even the worst beatings hadn’t stopped her,

But those few words had.

“What exactly are you sorry for?“

No—

It wasn’t over.

The conversation had only shifted direction.

Happy was still smiling,

Still mocking me—forcing me to humiliate myself further.

There was no escape.

Pain flared through my swollen cheek as I forced my mouth to move.

“I… I’m sorry for running away.“

“And?”

“And…?“

“Oh? That’s all you’re going to apologize for?”

She didn’t like my answer.

Her hand lifted again.

I didn’t want to lose any more of my pride,

So I frantically searched my memories—

Desperately trying to guess what she wanted to hear.

As I struggled,

Her fake smile vanished.

Her face slowly twisted into something filled with rage.

“Let’s go back to our seat and continue this conversation.”

“W-Wait! I’ll remember!

Just—just give me a little more time!“

“No.”

“You’re already out of time.“

The meaning behind that chair was pure despair.

If I was forced back into it,

She would do something far worse than slapping me.

She would completely break my pride.

I struggled, but it was useless.

Instead—

It only made things worse.

“Oh? You can still move?”

Happy spread her arms wide,

As if preparing to pull me into an embrace.

“Then—come into my arms.”

She was smiling again.

This time, it wasn’t forced.

She was genuinely pleased by my resistance.

“Come on, Sis.”

Even so—

I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Pathetic pride held me back.

Even as my rational mind screamed to surrender,

Some part of me refused.

Or maybe—

The last piece of my broken mind whispered:

“You still have half of yourself left.”

“You can survive this.”

“You still hate me, don’t you?”

Her tone was gentle,

But her words carried an undeniable weight.

“Well, you must hate me—

Since you did all this, right?”

“That means you deserve punishment.”

I didn’t know what the right answer was.

But the remnants of my pride,

The last shred of the former Queen of Darkmoon,

Refused to yield to Happy.

Got it. I’ll bring back a balanced amount of perspective shifts—enough to maintain engagement but without making it overwhelming.

The moment I fell into her arms, I knew I would be completely broken.

My pride begged me to resist.

“What kind of punishment do you want?”

“…I don’t.”

“Don’t be like that. If you’ve done something wrong, you have to accept the consequences.”

What… What did I even do wrong?

“You really don’t know, Sis?”

The way she said it, the way her voice dropped just slightly, sent a chill through me.

There was no right answer here.

No matter what I said, I was going to regret it.

I flinched as Happy stretched out her arms, wrapping one around me.

Her other hand rose slightly, and my body tensed.

Was she going to hit me again?

“Yeres Sis, I’m waiting for an answer.”

I braced myself.

Her hand hovered for a moment…

And then relaxed as she adjusted the frills of her magical girl outfit instead.

That was it?

That’s what she raised her hand for?

She pulled me tighter into the hug.

Even as she did, her voice never stopped pressing me for an answer.

“Is it… because I hate you?”

Her arms tensed for a fraction of a second before loosening again.

“No. That’s nothing to apologize for. That’s only natural, right?”

“…What?”

“I’m a magical girl. You’re the Queen of Darkmoon. Of course, you’d hate me.

I’m not crazy enough to forget that.”

Liar.

You are crazy.

The words almost slipped out, but I bit them back.

Nothing good would come from provoking her.

“I expected you to run, Sis. That’s why I designed this space the way I did.”

She knew I would try to escape.

She prepared for it.

Every single detail.

The walls. The lack of water.

The torture devices.

It wasn’t just to break me.

It was to study me.

A choked laugh escaped her lips as she gazed at me.

She let go of my waist and cradled my face instead.

“Sis, what should I do with you?

Even when you’re full of despair, you’re just so adorable.”

She was enjoying this.

She was enjoying watching me crumble.

132 times.

And not once had I ever felt this powerless.

“Let’s go back to our seat.”

Her hands slid from my face to my back and knees, lifting me effortlessly.

She carried me as if I were fragile, something delicate that could shatter at the slightest touch.

And then she set me down onto the chair.

The same chair I had fought so hard to avoid.

And yet, the moment I sat down, I felt relief.

That realization hit me harder than anything else.

If I was already finding comfort in my restraints, then my pride was already lost.

“This is your last chance.

What do you need to apologize for?”

There was nothing left to say.

Or so I thought—until I remembered something.

The first thing Happy had said to me when I woke up in this 132nd life—

With bloodshot eyes and pure resentment,

She had spat out her reason for being angry.

“…No way.”

“Did you remember?”

“You… You’re this mad… because I said I didn’t want to look at you?”

“Correct, Sis.”

She patted my head as if I had given the right answer.

Then, she pulled out a smartphone and tapped the screen.

A recording played.

[“That was impressive. I’ll back off for now. But next time, I will win!

Just wait and see, Magical Girl Happy!”]

I had never said those words in any of my 132 lives.

Every moment we had shared was a battle to the death.

There had never been a single instance where we had spoken like that.

Happy looked at me with a smile.

“Do you remember? Want to hear more?

This was from when I met you a month after I became a magical girl.”

And that’s when it hit me.

That voice—

It was mine.

But not the me of now.

Not the me who had already received my 100th mission.

This was my voice from before I truly hated her.

Before I had seen her kill.

Before she had truly become my enemy.

There was a time when Happy didn’t kill anyone.

She would defeat my soldiers but never execute them.

And back then, I had appeared before her a few times.

Not to fight—

But to retrieve my subordinates.

Because whenever I showed up,

Every magical girl in the area would rush to kill me on sight.

And yet—

I had never lost to any of them.

Except to her.

“You used to visit me sometimes when I defeated your soldiers, didn’t you?

I was always happy when that happened.

It felt… like you acknowledged me.”

“…You…”

“I know. You think I’m insane, right?

I won’t deny it.

Loving the enemy I was meant to defeat—that is crazy.”

She admitted it herself.

She was insane.

And then, she slowly stepped closer.

“But I’m glad you finally understand why I was so angry.

If you had never remembered…

I don’t even know what I would have done.”

Then, she spoke the most terrifying words yet.

“As a reward for remembering, I’ll heal your body.”

Her fingers wrapped around the wires piercing my hands.

“Endure the pain.”

Her smile was wide, genuine, and filled with nothing but pure joy.