When they walked out of the arcade, it was approaching noon.
The rain was already much weaker, but it had not yet stopped.
The sky was shrouded under gloomy clouds, as if veiled in a layer of gray. The foot traffic on the pedestrian street was sparse, with only a few umbrellas weaving through the curtain of rain. The air on the street was damp, mixed with the scent of dust, bringing a slight chill.
The trees by the roadside continuously shed raindrops, and their leaves fluttered in the breeze, rustling as if whispering. The signs of the shops were covered in streaks of rain, the lights rendering the rain curtain hazy and tender.
A tall and a short umbrella proceeded side by side down the street, Erald Sparrow and Xia Liang walking beneath them, montarily silent.
Eventually, it was Erald Sparrow who spoke first, "Is this really okay?"
"How so?" Xia Liang replied with a light laugh.
"You know."
"I don't, actually."
"...Why did you plead for them?"
Erald Sparrow sighed, "At that ti, when you winked at , wasn't that what you ant? To not be too harsh."
Honestly, when she first saw Xia Liang surrounded by troublemakers, even those who were once the "friends" that had nearly hard Xia Liang, her initial reaction was to call the police.
Magical Girls are not the police, nor do they have the duty or necessity to punish ordinary people, but calling the police is sothing everyone can do.
Even if the other party was only a group of minors, Fangting City had a special youth guidance team responsible for punishing and monitoring young people with previous violations.
However, it seed Xia Liang did not wish to do that, which was why she kept hinting at Erald Sparrow at the ti.
Erald Sparrow chose to respect the desires of the concerned party, and in the end, only forced an apology out of the other side. Even the slapping and warnings were done out of Xia Liang's sight because she just couldn't stand it.
With the noisy crowd in the arcade, she didn't ask Xia Liang about her reasons for choosing this at the ti, but now, she needed to properly ask.
"I didn't an that, I was just looking forward to seeing you, Junior, show off your prowess," Xia Liang said in a teasing tone in response to Erald Sparrow's question, but seeing the sowhat solemn and serious look in her eyes, she gradually closed her mouth and the smile faded from the corners of her lips.
The crisp tapping of short boots on the waterlogged ground echoed, leaving only footsteps and breathing sounds under the umbrella.
"...If I have to say it, it's because we're actually all the sa people," she said softly.
"Not loved by family, not accepted by the group, eventually coming together, trying to appear a bit stronger."
"So people gradually go astray, so gradually give up trying. But we're all people who have been abandoned by the group, even by family, once before, and the fear of being abandoned again leads to a communal downfall."
"Sotis, when I look at them, it's like looking at another . If I hadn't t Xiaolu, Junior, Moke, and the rest of you, I might have beco just like them one day."
"It's a strange feeling, isn't it? Like seeing another self who's not been redeed, and even though I know it's futile, I still can't bring myself to be harsh."
Two umbrellas drifted past the street corner, raindrops splashing from their surfaces onto the concrete curbs of the sidewalk.
"But they tried to harm you."
Erald Sparrow calmly replied, "Facing the malice of others, an overflow of kindness will only harm yourself."
"Even so, I still choose to give them a chance because even if it was brief, Li Yaqing had once shown kindness."
Xia Liang said with equal seriousness, "When I was alone, surrounded by rumors, and ostracized and mocked by the other students, she told I was 'cool' and wanted to be my friend."
"If it hadn't been for her at that ti, I might not even be here now; I might have done sothing more impulsive—after all, when I had just lost my parents, I had contemplated suicide."
"If I had ended my life back then, I wouldn't have had the chance to et my junior now."
"So, this is actually a bit of my selfishness, but I'm one-sidedly hoping that she can change for the better."
"It's precisely because we were once 'friends' and pursued 'love' together that I hope her ending will also be one where she recognizes what is right and wrong, finds her way out, and becos happy. If she catches the attention of the Youth Guidance Team, then punishnt is all that remains."
Xia Liang's words seed a bit elusive in the rain, accompanied by lingering thoughts, densely interwoven, leaving behind
"So I agreed, but I will only give them one chance."
Erald Sparrow, with a stern face, looked towards the gradually weakening curtain of rain: "I also hope that the words I left her with will make her realize what can be rewarded and what will face punishnt."
"If they learn the lesson, see the reward but still can't find their way out, then they can no longer bla the outside world. At that step, human nature is the hardest thing to change."
"Just like with a Magical Girl, every Magical Girl is initially selected for her pure heart, but when a Magical Girl starts to do evil and commits sins, we can't excuse her with 'she was once a good child.'
"Good deeds should be rewarded, bad deeds should be punished, even if the world often does not work like this, we should all hold on to this principle."
Eventually, the two of them stopped at an intersection because it was just where the pedestrian shopping street's central driving section was located, a traffic light standing at the junction, halting their steps.
——"Really, you're too serious, junior."
Xia Liang suddenly broke into a smile, "Today is our date, so let's just let this little interlude pass. If this topic sours the good mood we had, that's what would truly make sad."
"It's hardly a 'date,' is it?"
Hearing her words, Erald Sparrow forced herself to relax her brows, took a deep breath, and glanced at Xia Liang: "It's just hanging out together, that word seems a bit out of place for the occasion."
"Eh? But, I seriously consider it a date."
As she said this, Xia Liang moved closer to Erald Sparrow, reducing the distance between them a little more: "You see, going out with soone you have feelings for, visiting places with mories, and even playing the hero—doesn't it sound like the perfect date script?"
"Each word may match, but each concrete concept has been switched out."
Erald Sparrow comnted with drooping eyelids, "What does 'soone you have feelings for' an? Saying 'friend' or 'partner' would be more accurate, wouldn't it?"
"Hehe, but it sounds more romantic when put that way."
Xia Liang chuckled, but then as though suddenly realizing sothing, she looked up at the sky: "Ah, has the rain stopped?"
Erald Sparrow also lifted her head following the border where the umbrella t the sky, and noticed a gap had opened in the clouds, with a bit of sunshine piercing through and illuminating the originally dim streets.
"Before the second half, let's go have lunch first."
Packing up the umbrella, Xia Liang smiled at Erald Sparrow: "Our date today is far from over, isn't it?"
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