"N-No..."
Yanami Anna's face was full of shame, her voice even trembling slightly:
"You can't reach in there!"
"You still have the nerve to say that." The corner of Izumi Sora's eye twitched gently. He wanted to control his body, but unfortunately couldn't. "You were the one who asked me to help catch the bug just now."
"I-I-I-I-I... I just said it casually!"
Seeing Izumi Sora's right hand reaching further inside bit by bit, Yanami Anna panicked completely. Her pretty face flushed red rapidly, and she hurriedly used her hands to cover her chest:
"I don't need Sora's help anymore, I'll get it out myself!"
It was too late to regret now. He had confirmed earlier when helping Elf take off her silk stockings that once his body accepted a 'command', it had to complete the instruction before it could stop the action.
"Can't stop." Izumi Sora complained. "Even if the end of the world breaks out outside right now, I wouldn't be able to stop."
"W-What should I do?"
Yanami Anna's pretty face flushed to the point of explosion, and she felt so ashamed she thought she was going to die.
Sora can't stop now, his hand keeps reaching inside... the bug is there, no matter how you think about it, it's too terrible!
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do...
While she was thinking of a countermeasure, a knock on the door suddenly sounded.
Knock knock knock.
Yanami Anna jumped in fright. With her attention diverted, her defense weakened, and Izumi Sora invaded successfully.
"Mmm~ Nn!"
The girl's trembling, soft hum instantly echoed in the room, turning the air pink.
Izumi Sora: "..."
An indescribably wonderful touch filled his palm, making his mouth go dry and his heartbeat accelerate.
Izumi Sora really wanted to stop, but unfortunately, his body completely didn't obey. His right hand had already started dutifully searching for the bug.
"S-Sora, don't..."
Yanami Anna's body abruptly tensed, her neck tilted back, her pretty face flushed completely red, almost dripping blood:
"T-That's not the bug..."
Say no more, of course I know that's not the bug!
The problem is I can't stop, alright!
Izumi Sora's feelings were super complex.
Although his body was moving on its own, his five senses were still working normally.
The touch, the temperature, and... in short, he experienced everything perfectly clearly.
Meanwhile.
Sagiri's suspicious voice sounded outside the door:
"Onii-chan, I think I heard a girl's voice?"
Izumi Sora answered while catching the bug:
"You heard wrong."
Yanami covered her chest weakly with one hand, while the back of her other hand blocked her pink lips. Her pretty face was burning hot, and her eyes were misty with tears as she tried hard not to make a sound.
On one hand, it was the shame of being played with; on the other hand, it was the sense of immorality of having Sagiri right outside the door. Under this double attack, Yanami Anna felt so ashamed she wanted to explode.
Sagiri was suspicious: "Open the door, Onii-chan. Let me go in and take a look, then I'll believe you."
Let you in?
Yanami would explode from shame right on the spot!
Izumi Sora outright refused: "I'm still changing clothes."
Sagiri: "What's taking so long to change?"
Izumi Sora: "It's normal, boys take a long time to change clothes."
Sagiri: "I don't believe you."
As they were talking, the doorbell rang downstairs.
Hearing the sound, Izumi Sora quickly said:
"It should be Mahiru and the others. Sagiri, go open the door."
Sagiri snorted lightly: "No, Onii-chan can open it himself."
Izumi Sora brought out his trump card: "I'll buy you snacks tonight."
"T-Then fine..."
Although Sagiri didn't dare to go outside, opening the door was no problem. Tempted by the snacks, she finally turned and went downstairs.
"Phew..."
Hearing the sound of Sagiri's retreating footsteps, Yanami Anna finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes were misty, and even the skin on her neck was tinged with pink. Her voice trembled:
"H-Hurry up and take your hand out..."
Izumi Sora replied in a low voice:
"I haven't caught the bug yet, my body won't stop."
"W-What do we do?" Yanami Anna instantly despaired. "Everyone's going to come up soon."
Why... why did it turn out like this?
I clearly just wanted to come over and tease Sora, why did I become the meal on the plate!
"Steady, don't panic."
Izumi Sora had already thought of a solution and quickly reminded her:
"Anna, catch the bug yourself, then give it to me."
"Eh?" Yanami Anna was taken aback. "We can do that?"
"It should work. There's no other way right now."
"I-I'll try..."
Yanami Anna took a deep breath, enduring the explosive sense of shame. She quickly reached her right hand under her school uniform and successfully caught the six-spotted ladybug that had crawled inside.
"C-Caught it..."
'Inmate Eight' hurriedly raised her right hand.
Seeing the ladybug in Yanami's palm, Izumi Sora's right hand naturally withdrew. His fingers pinched the ladybug, and then he returned to 'standby' mode.
"I-It's finally over..."
As Izumi Sora withdrew his right hand, Yanami Anna's body went limp, and she collapsed directly onto the chair.
Thank goodness no one saw, otherwise I wouldn't have the face to see anyone for the rest of my life!
Knock knock knock.
A knock sounded on the door soon after.
Yamada Elf's crisp voice rang out from outside the door:
"Sora, hurry up and open the door, time to get ready for school."
"I-I'll get it..."
Yanami Anna took a deep breath, holding onto the chair as she shakily stood up. She felt her legs turn to jelly, almost unable to stand firm. After trying hard to take a few deep breaths, she walked over and opened the door.
"Eh, Yanami, why is your face so red?"
Yamada Elf looked over curiously.
Yanami Anna guiltily averted her gaze, stammering:
"Umm... a bug flew in just now, catching it tired me out."
This sentence was true, it just hid the most important information: the bug flew down her collar.
Elf sounded confused: "Why are Yanami's eyes all teary again?"
Yanami: "...Elf, you ask too many questions!"
Angel-sama saw it all but didn't say much. Instead, she looked at Izumi Sora and asked softly:
"Sora-kun, how do you feel now?"
Izumi Sora stood frozen in front of the chair:
"My body still can't move."
Angel-sama gently furrowed her delicate eyebrows:
"Going to school in this state will definitely cause trouble. It seems we have no choice but to ask the teacher for a leave of absence..."
Sagiri put her hands on her hips, originally intending to ask why 'Inmate Eight' was in the room, but upon hearing Mahiru's words, her gaze instantly filled with concern:
"Onii-chan is feeling unwell? Why do you need to ask for a leave of absence to rest?"
"I exhausted too much energy saving the world yesterday..."
Izumi Sora coughed lightly twice, just about to bluff Sagiri, when he suddenly felt his right hand could move again.
"Hmm?"
His body quickly regained its control. Izumi Sora immediately relaxed and looked at Sagiri:
"I suddenly feel better again, I've decided to go to school."
Sagiri: "..."
Seeing Izumi Sora return to normal, the girls breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"It's getting late." Angel-sama's voice was gentle. "Let's hurry to the train station, shall we?"
Gokou Ruri crossed her arms over her chest: "Hurry up, otherwise we'll be late."
"Received."
Izumi Sora picked up his schoolbag, his gaze sweeping over the girls: "Ready to head out."
Their eyes met.
Yanami covered her chest with her right hand and hurriedly dodged his gaze in a panic, completely not daring to look at anyone anymore.
Having shot herself in the foot, 'Inmate Eight' was feeling super resentful right now.
Of course she didn't hate it, but she was indeed somewhat regretful.
Such intimate contact should clearly happen at a more meaningful time and place... I don't want to just casually have it taken away!
"Sagiri, we're leaving."
The girls changed their shoes, said goodbye to Sagiri, and then left together.
The morning passed in a flash.
Lunch break.
Since no one prepared a bento today, they all headed to the school cafeteria to eat together.
Looking at the bustling, noisy students, everyone felt that everything last night seemed like a dream.
"It feels just like a dream."
Yanami Anna said softly with a sigh while eating her pork cutlet bowl:
"I used to occasionally feel that school life was a bit boring, but now I don't feel bored at all."
Izumi Sora looked at 'Inmate Eight': "You have a grain of rice on the corner of your mouth."
Their eyes met.
Yanami Anna's pretty face flushed rapidly. She hurriedly stuck out her pink tongue to lick the corner of her mouth, then guiltily lowered her head to focus on her food.
The accident this morning was simply too shameful; 'Inmate Eight' wouldn't be able to act normal for a while.
"So magic power will self-destruct if it's not purified for a long time." Yamada Elf muttered softly while drinking her juice. "Being a magical girl is actually that dangerous. I'd rather be a mutant."
"Mutants are also very dangerous." Izumi Sora looked at Elf. "So use your ability as little as possible. If you're discovered, it'll be trouble."
"Got it~"
The blonde loli wrinkled her cute nose, her voice charmingly naive:
"Sora is such a coward. Other people would want to rule the world with a seven-second Time Stop, but Sora can stop time for a whole minute."
"While ruling the world is impossible, making a certain someone cry is definitely not a problem."
"Hmph~"
Elf lifted her chin, completely unafraid:
"I'm not afraid."
Shiina Mahiru sat by the window. The bright sunlight streamed in from outside, perfectly falling on Mahiru. From afar, Angel-sama seemed to emit a hazy glow:
"I'm more concerned about those magical girls who haven't met Sora-kun... They must be very lost and desperate, right?"
"Even if Mahiru says that, we can't help them." Elf rested her chin on her right hand, suddenly getting an idea. "How about we start a magical girl mutual aid association?"
Izumi Sora took a sip of his tofu miso soup: "The association you're talking about was founded a long time ago."
"Ehhhhh?"
Yamada Elf looked over in shock:
"When did that happen?"
Izumi Sora complained:
"There's a magical girl club right here in the school. By the way, the members are all male."
Yamada Elf: "..."
The internet is a mixed bag. The probability of finding a real magical girl by casually starting a magical girl association is probably about the same as winning the lottery.
"Speaking of which." Shiina Mahiru turned to look at Kuroneko, her expression quietly turning serious. "Back in the tunnel, did Ruri encounter any ordinary people?"
"Let me think..."
Hearing the question, Kuroneko, who was eating udon noodles, stopped her chopsticks. Pursing her pink lips, she thought seriously:
"I don't think so."
"Although I walked for a long time, I was the only one there from beginning to end."
Angel-sama gently furrowed her delicate eyebrows:
"When Sora-kun escorted Ruri home before, you encountered anomalies in the subway, right?"
"That's right, Ruri was having nightmares all the time back then." Izumi Sora nodded. "We even went to the amusement park together."
Shiina Mahiru bit her lower lip gently and said in a low voice:
"Is there a possibility... that magical girls actually attract each other?"
"Eh, what do you mean?"
The girls looked over in confusion.
"According to our previous speculation, although the method of entering the different space is strict, there must be others who get unlucky. It's impossible that Ruri is the only one who stumbled into it." Shiina Mahiru analyzed seriously. "But Ruri-chan stayed in there for so long and never saw anyone else from beginning to end... No matter how you think about it, it's very strange."
Hearing this, Izumi Sora pondered:
"There are two possibilities. One is that ordinary people actually can't enter, but Anna entered yesterday."
"So the second possibility is more likely..." Angel-sama continued the thought. "Even if ordinary people stumble in, they'll be filtered out after wandering around a bit. Only Ruri, who is special herself, would be left behind."
Mahiru exhaled softly, stating a fact everyone was reluctant to face:
"There might be many types of anomalous events. It's possible that someday in the future, an anomalous event will suddenly come knocking on our door."
"..."
Everyone fell silent.
After acquiring a special ability, there was no option to give it up; they could only take it one step at a time.
"Cross that bridge when we come to it." Izumi Sora's expression remained normal. "Keep eating."
"That's right." The plate in front of Yanami Anna was already empty. "The future might get worse, or it might get better. The most important thing right now is to finish the food in front of us. Wasting food is not allowed."
"..."
The rest of the half-day passed peacefully, and nothing happened.
In the blink of an eye, it was 7:30 PM.
Izumi Sora was playtesting the game when the phone charging nearby suddenly vibrated gently.
Picking it up, he saw a message from Mahiru:
"Sora-kun, the night is beautiful today... Do you want to go running in the park?"
Since the Sports Festival ended, the two hadn't gone night running in the park. Rounding up, it had almost been a week.
Izumi Sora thought of the side effect that could erupt at any time and simply agreed:
"Wait for me at the door."
"Okay."
"..."
Changing into a tracksuit, Izumi Sora told Sagiri he was leaving and quickly pushed his bicycle out the door.
Unsurprisingly, Shiina Mahiru was already waiting eagerly at the door.
"Sora-kun, good evening."
The girl's gentle and serene voice drifted into his ears with the evening breeze.
Under the bright streetlights, Mahiru had already tied her shoulder-length hair into a high ponytail. The ponytail, full of youthful vitality, swayed gently in the evening breeze.
"Good evening." Izumi Sora pushed his bicycle to Mahiru's side. "Since we're early today, let's run an extra two kilometers."
"Okay."
The two got on their bicycles and headed to the nearby lakeside park.
It was already early summer.
Riding bicycles through the now-empty streets, the cool evening breeze blowing against their bodies felt exceptionally comfortable.
There are super many rules for riding bicycles in Japan, and one of them is that riding side-by-side is not allowed. Angel-sama naturally wouldn't do anything illegal or undisciplined and obediently followed behind Izumi Sora.
Looking at the boy's back ahead of her, Angel-sama's gaze was full of tenderness.
During the day, everyone was by Sora-kun's side. Only the night was their exclusive alone time.
From now on, unless it rained, they would go out running every day.
The journey was silent.
The two quickly rode to the lakeside park, parked their bicycles, and familiarly walked into the park.
"Sora-kun, let's do some warm-up exercises first." Angel-sama reminded softly.
"Riding that far feels like a warm-up already." While complaining, Izumi Sora warmed up with Mahiru. His gaze was suddenly attracted by a group not far away. "...What's that?"
Not far away, a running group was holding a banner and celebrating happily. Izumi Sora looked over curiously and quickly read the content on it.
"Congratulations to five people in the group for qualifying for the Tokyo Marathon... That is indeed worth celebrating."
The Tokyo Marathon uses a lottery system to select participants. The winning rate for Japanese applicants is around ten percent. Winning a spot truly tests one's luck.
"Tokyo Marathon..."
Looking at the text on the banner, Shiina Mahiru gently bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, her expression quietly turning complex.
In her memory, that woman was a running enthusiast and had participated in the Tokyo Marathon before. She wondered if she would sign up again this year...
Izumi Sora turned to look at Mahiru. Seeing Angel-sama staring blankly, he asked softly:
"Is Mahiru also going to sign up?"
"I..."
Shiina Mahiru parted her pink lips, complex emotions suddenly welling up in her heart.
If she signed up for the Tokyo Marathon, would she run into that woman?
"Your face suddenly looks a bit pale... Are you feeling unwell?"
Izumi Sora reached out his right hand and gently rubbed the top of Angel-sama's head with concern.
"I'm fine." Feeling the warmth of Izumi Sora's palm, Shiina Mahiru's gaze quietly turned resolute. She tilted up her pretty face, "The Tokyo Marathon only happens once a year. If I could participate, it would definitely leave a memory I'd cherish for a lifetime..."
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
Shiina Mahiru could clearly hear her own heartbeat quietly accelerating. However, she didn't evade it. With a slightly blushing pretty face and a clear gaze, she looked at him:
"I... want to participate in the Tokyo Marathon with Sora-kun."
I want to create beautiful memories that I can cherish for a lifetime.
"Even if Mahiru says that, we have to register first..." As Izumi Sora spoke, he took out his phone. "The race is on a weekend? And today is exactly the last day to register?"
Hearing this, Shiina Mahiru quickly pointed to an empty bench by the lake:
"Sora-kun, let's hurry over there, sit down, and register."
"Let's try."
Seeing Mahiru so expectant, Izumi Sora naturally wouldn't be a buzzkill. He walked to the bench with Mahiru, they sat shoulder-to-shoulder, then took out their phones and began registering.
The Tokyo Marathon is one of the six major marathons globally. It is very famous, and runners from all over the world register.
Now it's all online registration. After filling in basic information, there's a simple questionnaire asking about running experience, personal best times, physical health, etc.
After quickly filling out the information, the next step was the lottery time.
"Mahiru, ready to draw?"
Izumi Sora looked at Angel-sama beside him.
"Sora-kun, wait for me." Shiina Mahiru looked down at her phone. "Almost done filling out the info. We'll draw together."
"Okay."
Waiting a moment, Mahiru quickly finished filling out the information.
"Sora-kun, ready to draw, three..."
"Two..."
"One..."
The countdown ended, and both of them simultaneously pressed the draw button on their phones.
A spinning clock icon appeared on the phone screens. Shiina Mahiru widened her eyes, holding her breath in tense anticipation.
A few seconds later.
Notifications popped up on the screens simultaneously. Unfortunately, one was accepted, and the other was not.
"It seems my luck is a bit worse, Mahiru has good luck." Seeing the message on his phone, Izumi Sora didn't take it to heart. With a ten percent winning rate, failing the draw was normal. "We'll cheer for Mahiru when the time comes."
A ten percent probability, failing the draw is very normal.
"..."
Shiina Mahiru gently bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth. She looked at the message on her phone but didn't speak.
Running the Tokyo Marathon alone would definitely be very lonely, wouldn't it?
Moreover, during the Tokyo Marathon, I might run into that woman... If I really do run into her, I want Sora-kun by my side no matter what.
"Phew..."
Shiina Mahiru took a deep breath, her gaze quietly turning resolute.
For an ordinary person, once the lottery results are out, even if they regret it, there's no way to reverse it.
But I can.
I just need to rewind time, and we can definitely reach a future where we both pass the registration.
Shiina Mahiru suddenly reached out her right hand and, feeling ashamed, covered Izumi Sora's eyes.
"What's wrong?"
Izumi Sora asked in confusion.
"Sora-kun, don't move. A bug landed on you, I-I'll catch it for you..."
Shiina Mahiru's heartbeat quietly accelerated. While guiltily making an excuse, she leaned forward and got closer.
As long as I cover his eyes, it doesn't count as a kiss!