Miyana felt her parents had been very strange recently.
This change seed to have quietly occurred just within the past week.
Initially, the changes were subtle.
Her mother no longer sighed and complained endlessly about slight shortfalls in rations or material scarcity as she used to.
This should have been a good thing.
Miyana could thus have more ti to herself, to play with that husky by the garbage pile in the alley.
But when she saw her mother sitting alone in a dim corner, tightly hugging an old cloth rabbit she'd never seen before—one with a missing eye—her fingers gently combing through the sparse fur on the rabbit's ears over and over while humming broken, tuneless songs, Miyana still felt an inexplicable chill.
Her father was the sa.
He no longer worried about tomorrow's food and potential threats, instead becoming obsessed with a rusty, almost immobile clockwork tin soldier. He would spend hours intently trying to wind it up, murmuring to it.
Especially during the silent, deserted late nights.
Miyana always felt soone was watching her from behind.
But outside the window were only the eternal, weak skylight of the wasteland city casting twisted window fra shadows.
The miscellaneous items piled in the corner quietly remained in place, their outlines blurred.
Nothing was there.
But when Miyana lay down again, that bone-chilling feeling of being watched would imdiately return, so clear it made her scalp tingle.
Miyana could even imagine the texture of that gaze... cold, hollow, with an inhuman focus.
Sotis, in this extre silence and fear, she would hear so extrely subtle sounds that shouldn't exist.
From her mother's room direction ca faint rustling sounds.
From her father's corner ca extrely weak, chanical "clicking" sounds, like so rusted gear trying to turn with difficulty on its own without anyone touching it, then returning to silence.
She wrapped herself tightly in blankets, even covering her head, trying to block out that omnipresent feeling of being watched and the subtle sounds.
But that feeling not only didn't disappear, it beca even clearer... as if whatever was watching her was right outside the blanket, pressed close to her, patiently waiting.
The long night seed endless.
Only when the faintest gray-white began to appear on the horizon outside did that omnipresent watching feeling and subtle sounds slowly recede like tide.
Only then did Miyana dare to peek out from under the blanket, her whole body cold, her forehead covered in cold sweat.
She secretly crept to her parents' room. They still maintained sleeping positions, and those dolls quietly remained in their places, as if everything during the night was just her nightmare.
On a certain night.
Miyana chose not to go ho after getting off work.
That "ho" had once been her harbor from external storms—though barren, though full of anxiety, it at least still had her parents' warmth and voices.
But now...
No one at ho seed to care about her anymore.
Miyana had no idea where the problem lay.
She would rather have her parents scold and nag her, because that would an they still cared about her.
Without realizing it, Miyana had arrived at that familiar garbage pile.
Cold night wind blew through discarded tal and dilapidated walls, making sobbing sounds.
Miyana curled up sitting on a relatively clean cent block, hugging her knees, resting her chin on her knees, staring at the ground with unfocused eyes.
So keen intuition directly discovered her.
Subtle footsteps accompanied by familiar rustling sounds ca from behind a pile of broken wooden boards. Then a black and white husky poked its furry head out.
Miyana had nad this husky Polaris.
Polaris seed to imdiately sense her emotional low, that silence so different from usual days.
Polaris slowed its steps, carefully approaching Miyana, tail gently wagging, using its moist, cool nose to touch her drooping hand.
"Polaris... I'm so scared..."
"Mom and Dad have changed..."
Miyana watched with mixed emotions as Polaris actively pushed its big head into her arms, rubbing hard.
"Oh my, stop it, I finally worked up so emotion!"
"Stop licking, stop licking~"
"I really can't do anything about you."
Miyana gradually fell asleep holding the fluffy husky.
Life still had good sides...
○
The night was thick as ink, most areas of the base fallen into slumber. A figure almost rged with shadows silently approached Warehouse No. 3 along the secluded corners of the logistics passage.
"Nyehehehe!"
Pale couldn't help but hum softly.
Suzune really, casually ntioning where the magic stones were stored.
Wasn't that just telling to hurry up and steal them?
As the base's janitor, nanny, and cook, Pale knew the base like the back of her hand.
Coming here was practically like coming ho!
Pale deliberately chose a relatively obvious ventilation opening, making enough slightly clumsy noise for anyone lying in ambush inside to notice, then "struggled" to climb in.
Sure enough, the mont Pale's feet touched the ground, all the floodlights on the warehouse ceiling "whoosh" lit up at once!
"Haha! You really ca! Ember!"
Hoshino Yu's clear voice rang out with undisguised excitent and smugness. She leaped lightly from behind a pile of cargo boxes, her pink twin tails drawing arcs from the movent, the pink magic wand in her hand pointing directly at Ember, who was frozen in place by the light beam, looking at a loss.
Several magical girls quickly surrounded from all directions, completely blocking all escape routes.
Hoshino Yu smiled smugly, walking forward step by step, circling around the frozen Ember, her gaze like examining prey fallen into a trap.
Ember wore a dark purple Gothic dress and black high-heeled leather shoes, hiding her entire face under a huge black hood.
But that proud figure made Hoshino Yu certain this was Ember.
"Hmph! Sneaky guy!" Hoshino Yu crossed her arms, stepping forward with slightly provocative steps, walking around "Ember" in a circle, like admiring a beautiful butterfly caught in a web.
Hoshino Yu could be certain that this ti, Ember wouldn't escape even with wings.
Clever and wise Sister Suzune had long anticipated Ember's appearance.
And this ti, she would absolutely not let Ember escape again.
If Ember didn't explain her purpose in helping magical creatures and witches, teach them how to avoid falling into becoming witches, and help them absorb the accumulated filth recently...
Hoshino Yu wouldn't mind accepting Ember as one of their mbers.
After all...
"Gulp~"
Hoshino Yu also thought this Ember's face was really beautiful, and so...
She'd definitely be comfortable to hold.
"What? Not running this ti?" Hoshino Yu stopped in front of "Ember," slightly raising her chin. Though she might be slightly shorter, her presence was strong. "Or have you finally realized that Senior Suzune's strategy is flawless?"
"Ember" remained silent, her face hidden in shadow under the hood.
"Hey! Traitor!" Hoshino Yu was sowhat dissatisfied with the other's silence, extending her finger with a spoiled attitude, lightly poking "Ember's" shoulder. "This young lady is talking to you! You stole so many magic stones, disturbing the base's peace, and now you can't even speak?"
Hoshino Yu's fingertip could feel the soft texture and terrifying curves under the other's cloak, making her heart inexplicably skip a beat, though she maintained her expression well.
Hmph, damn seductive traitor, once I catch you, I'll definitely get revenge for all the previous teasing and being looked down upon.
"Ember" seed to move slightly but still didn't speak.
"Tsk, boring." Hoshino Yu pouted, seeming to find standing around dull. She suddenly moved closer, trying to see the face under the hood's shadow.
"Are you so scared you're crying?"
"Considering you didn't hurt Aoi and Momo, the punishnt could be lighter."
Hoshino Yu spoke threatening words, but her tone unconsciously softened. Her pink eyes curiously examined the silent "Ember" before her, her gaze unconsciously sliding over the other's breathtaking waist and hip curves outlined by the Gothic dress and her long legs in high heels.
Hoshino Yu unconsciously swallowed.
This traitor's figure was too good.
What did she eat growing up...
Too sinful!
Sinful body!
Seeing the other still had no reaction, Hoshino Yu's temper flared again. She puffed her cheeks and extended her finger again, poking "Ember's" chest wrapped in soft fabric.
"Hey! I'm talking to you! Are you mute?" The soft, elastic sensation from her fingertip made her withdraw her hand like being burned, her cheeks slightly flushed, but she refused to admit defeat. "Don't... don't think staying silent and acting pitiful will work!"
The combat team mbers on the side couldn't watch anymore, all awkwardly looking away.
"Um, Senior Hoshino..." a new team mber couldn't help but speak softly, her cheeks slightly red. "This... isn't this a bit..." She watched Hoshino Yu almost "harassing" that silent "Ember," finding the scene very strange.
"Right," another team mber agreed, looking conflicted. "It feels so weird... shouldn't we just tie her up and hand her over to Senior Suzune?"
They had imagined the capture would be intense, fierce combat, not this current... scene of their captain poking around a suspected dangerous person while muttering strange things.
What if their captain was the suspicious one!
"Shut up!" Hoshino Yu scolded without turning back, though her ear tips were terribly red. "I... I'm breaking down her psychological defenses! What do you know!"
Just as Hoshino Yu was focused on the "Ember" before her...
"Hoshino~ Yu~"
A charming, soft voice pressed close to Hoshino Yu's ear, like a lover's whisper with warm breath brushing her sensitive earlobe.
"Are you looking for ?"
A hand wrapped around her slender waist like a water snake, pulling her entire body back, pressing her tightly into a cold yet soft embrace. Another hand lightly covered her hand holding the magic wand, fingertips seemingly casually resting on her hand, caressing.
The magic power in Hoshino Yu's wand was being slowly absorbed, the pink glow gradually dimming.
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