Heart Matters

Were the starry skies of the Otherworld real?

Bathed in the night breeze, Qingyin looked up at the stars, dispelling the heat she had absorbed from lingering too long in the barbecue restaurant as she pondered a question worthy of philosophy.

She walked down a street with only scattered pedestrians, its quiet comparable to midnight in the real world.

Her gaze caught Yuyan, who had left early and was now lingering by the railing around a pond.

Wanting to get to know her student better, Qingyin slowly approached and stopped beside her, leaning against the railing with her.

"Why did you leave early and not go home? Got something on your mind?"

Noticing that Qingyin had appeared beside her, Yuyan relaxed the slight vigilance she had initially raised and answered her question.

"No. I just don't know where to go right now."

"Go home. Or go to the home of the person you secretly like," Qingyin suggested blandly.

"..."

Clearly unwilling to explain her troubles in detail, Yuyan was still caught in indecision.

Continuing to pry would easily make her resentful, so Qingyin casually shifted to another topic.

"Why is your magical girl name Yuyan?" Qingyin finally had a chance to ask what she had been curious about.

"I know someone else named Yuyan too."

"Hahaha..." Yuyan suddenly became a little awkward and answered vaguely.

"I'm not very good at naming things, so I just picked a name I'd heard before."

"When did you become a magical girl?" Qingyin asked next.

"About half a year ago, I think. I don't remember the exact time." Yuyan clearly did not want to talk about that either.

Half a year ago?

Wasn't that when Ye Yuyan quit her job? They also had the same name. Could Yuyan be...

Having considered that possibility, Qingyin immediately dismissed it the next moment.

Who could be stupid enough to use their real name as their magical girl name?

Even with cognitive magic interference and slight changes to one's figure and looks, there would still be far too many holes in the disguise.

No magical girl wanted to expose her real identity for no reason.

With that, Qingyin erased her suspicion and ruled out that unreliable guess with no evidence.

There were many people in the world. Shared names were perfectly normal.

Her own magical girl name might overlap with someone else's name too.

"If you've got something on your mind but don't want to talk about it, then I won't bother you." Qingyin could not be bothered to spend effort prying open a magical girl's heart in such a short time.

Because she wanted to go home and climb the tower for a while.

"Even if I don't know what you're troubled by, when you're faced with a difficult choice, ask your own heart." Borrowing Youyue's words, Qingyin offered a simple consolation.

"A magical girl's heart can't lie to herself. I'm off."

Teenage girls were always prone to melancholy.

Qingyin flew away directly, leaving Yuyan alone with her thoughts.

After returning home, Qingyin took out the items stored inside the Heartglow Stone and casually placed them on the table.

Changing back into his original appearance, Ye Qing raised a hand and sniffed himself.

"I reek of barbecue."

Change of plans.

He casually grabbed a set of clothes from the wardrobe and headed into the shower. He had to get clean before getting on the computer.

As hot water sprayed over him from the showerhead, Ye Qing felt a long-forgotten sense of comfort—the feeling of washing away exhaustion after work.

Ye Qing was reluctant to admit it, but he truly felt that his life had become fulfilling, and he could not help sighing.

Being a magical girl was actually pretty great.

It was a day that was neither too exhausting nor too idle.

He would not become so tired that he questioned life and the future, nor so bored that he constantly relived the past.

When nights like this came, even playing games felt more satisfying.

In high spirits, Ye Qing became the bathroom's king of song and began belting out tunes, greatly extending his shower time.

The moment he stepped out of the shower, however, half of the good mood he had built up was instantly shattered.

"Why the hell are you here this late at night?!" Ye Qing pointed at Ye Yuyan on the sofa with a trembling finger.

"I came back to my own home. Do I need to report that to you?" Ye Yuyan held up the key to the rental apartment.

"Surprised?"

"Too many surprises turn into a little scare." Ye Qing showed no mercy. After carefully looking her over, he said in disbelief.

"Don't tell me you came here without showering."

"Yep. Got a problem with that?" Ye Yuyan crossed her arms.

"Take your dirty clothes home, or wash them by hand yourself!" Ye Qing protested.

"Relax, relax. I'll take them home."

"Really? Last time you said that, you deliberately left your dirty clothes in the basin on top of the washing machine for me to see."

Ye Qing felt that women's laundry habits were excessively complicated.

Underwear had to be hand-washed. Some clothes had to be put into laundry bags before going into the washing machine.

Socks and clothes could not be washed together.

He had never made laundry that troublesome. He just stuffed everything into the washing machine and called it a day.

But whenever Ye Yuyan came over to shower and stay the night, Ye Qing would have to painfully hand-wash her underwear the next day.

Not only that, with Ye Yuyan's clothes added in, he had to wash socks and clothes separately in two loads, which meant hanging laundry out twice.

Painful. Too painful.

"Trust me, trust me." Ye Yuyan grinned.

"Where did you put my clothes?"

"In the wardrobe in my room. Find them yourself. Once you're done showering, let's play an action game."

"Really?!"

Had this blockhead finally gotten a clue?

Ye Yuyan's eyes lit up. No longer lazily sprawled on the sofa, she rushed into Ye Qing's room, dug out the only matching set of underwear she had left there last time, then casually grabbed a set of pajamas.

She dashed into the shower at the fastest speed of her life and thoroughly washed herself from head to toe. Ye Yuyan had never felt capable of being so efficient.

With a blissful smile, she stepped into Ye Qing's room, only to find that it was not the kind of action game she had imagined.

"Sit. We're doing the second half of It Takes Two. Last time you left, and I couldn't clear it alone."

Ye Qing patted the armrest of the other gaming chair in front of the computer. Both controllers had already been plugged in.

Everything was ready.

So it was that kind of action game. She had thought it was that kind of action game.

Greatly disappointed, Ye Yuyan silently sat down.

A computer game was fine too.

After clearing a simple puzzle-solving section and playing for a while, Ye Yuyan controlled her character onward through the level and casually asked.

"Why didn't you look at the messages I sent you?"

"You sent me messages?" Ye Qing opened his phone in confusion, then was immediately shocked.

"Holy crap, you really did!"

Seeing that his reaction did not seem fake, Ye Yuyan pouted, then spoke softly.

"Oh, right. Don't worry about our parents anymore. I asked someone to buy suppressants, and they've already been delivered to them."

You don't have to work overtime asking favors and pulling strings.

You don't have to exhaust yourself until you have no time to read messages.

You don't have to carry everything alone anymore.

You can... rely on me a little.

"Huh? I wasn't worried." Looking slightly lost, Ye Qing said without a care in the world.

"Because I had someone send our parents medicine that can cure Spatial Illness completely."

"Huh?" Ye Yuyan was confused.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Stop saying huh. Let's stay up tonight and beat It Takes Two."

"Aren't you working tomorrow? You clearly don't even have time to check your phone or reply to my messages."

"I didn't check my phone because I was playing games."

How could Ye Qing possibly reveal something as important as the fact that he was a magical girl?

"You bastard! You fucking asshole!"

Ye Yuyan cursed loudly. Yet as she watched Ye Qing focus intently on the game, she could not help feeling a trace of relief.

If he could still lose himself in games, then she could rest easy.