Bai Xiaoxiao's Obsession

Jinghai District.

After leaving the teahouse, Hell quickly found a blind spot where no cameras could see her and undid her transformation in an alley.

He returned to his "crime scene" and found the bicycle he had left there. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, good evening."

Mo Zhen turned around in confusion and saw Scarlet Spider, dressed in a skintight battle suit, hanging upside down from a shabby billboard.

"You're... Scarlet Spider?"

Although Mo Zhen already had a guess, he wasn't entirely certain of the other person's identity, so he had to keep up the act.

"Ahem, yes, that's right. It's me." Scarlet Spider coughed twice and landed lightly on the ground.

"I was passing by, so I came over to say hello."

"I also wanted to ask why you were at the White Horse Nightclub."

That was a lie.

Scarlet Spider hadn't been passing by at all. He had gone out of his way to visit the police station, checked the surveillance footage, and found the last place Mo Zhen had appeared.

Then he reconstructed what had happened there and lay in wait.

Seeing this, Mo Zhen sighed, sounding a little aggrieved.

"So... Mr. Scarlet Spider, are you going to take me to the police station? Or do you suspect I'm connected to the gang too?"

To avoid exposing his identity, he decided to strike first.

Come to think of it, ever since he had grown accustomed to his identity as Magical Girl Hell, he had developed a natural talent for acting.

Sure enough, Scarlet Spider shook his head repeatedly.

"No, no, no, don't think that. I definitely don't suspect you. Really, I swear. I just wanted to know if someone had kidnapped you and taken you there."

He could never have suspected Mo Zhen. He was simply worried and puzzled as to why Mo Zhen had been at the nightclub.

Mo Zhen fell silent for a while, as though recalling what had happened. After a moment, he spoke slowly.

"That day... I ran into the Crimson Flame Gang here. They were going to threaten me."

"But then a gray-haired girl suddenly appeared in the alley. She killed the Crimson Flame Gang members and asked me to do her a favor: go undercover at the nightclub and investigate the superhero codenamed Edward."

Since things have come to this, I'll put the blame on myself for now.

Scarlet Spider held his head. "You agreed to do something that dangerous for her?"

Mo Zhen: "..."

"Because I'm really short on money, and I heard the temporary jobs there paid well, so I went."

Scarlet Spider felt an immediate headache coming on and paced back and forth. He badly wanted to take off his mask and come clean to Mo Zhen, and only managed to restrain himself with great difficulty.

He suspected that Mo Zhen still hadn't given up on becoming a superhero and wanted to save up money to take part in more experiments.

Scarlet Spider took a deep breath before looking at the black-haired, blue-eyed boy again. "Don't do anything like that again. It's dangerous, do you hear me?"

He hesitated. "If you really need money... you can come to me. I earn a lot, and I can lend you some."

With that, Scarlet Spider took a sticky note and a retractable pen from a hidden pocket in his suit, quickly wrote down a phone number, and handed it to Mo Zhen. "This is my number. Remember it!"

He couldn't reveal the truth outright, so he planned to find a way to keep Mo Zhen settled for now. That way, he would at least know what Mo Zhen was up to.

Mo Zhen took the number and fell silent again.

Scarlet Spider shot a strand of webbing at the building ahead. "If you run into danger again, remember to contact me right away!"

With that, he swung out of the alley.

"That guy... no wonder he has so many fans."

After watching him leave, Mo Zhen folded the note in half and put it away. He couldn't help thinking there was a reason Scarlet Spider was so popular.

His sense of responsibility was just that strong, and so was his sense of justice.

After checking the time, he got on his bicycle and rode home.

Fortunately, Dad was away on a business trip today, and he had already messaged Mo Xiaochuan from the nightclub, so it was fine for him to come home late.

Passing the night market pedestrian street, he stopped his bicycle and went into a chain dessert shop.

Meanwhile, at home.

Bai Xiaoxiao held her phone, her chat with Mo Zhen open on the screen. She typed line after line, changed and deleted them, then deleted and changed them again, but she could never bring herself to hit send.

She had learned from Mo Xiaochuan that Mo Zhen had something to do today and would be home late.

But for some reason, Bai Xiaoxiao couldn't shake a feeling of unease. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

She really wanted to message Mo Zhen and ask if he was home yet, but she felt a little embarrassed, so in the end she remained conflicted, staring at the chat screen.

The girl hugged her pillow and buried her face in it, her grayish-white hair disheveled and her eyes misty. She was sleepy, but she just couldn't fall asleep.

She stared at her phone screen and muttered, "Idiot..."

She couldn't help opening her chat history with Saionji Kirika.

The conversation had taken place during the lunch break after Saionji Kirika had spoken with Mo Zhen beneath the tree that day.

Wuhua: "Xiaoxiao, maybe you should take the initiative to improve your relationship with your brother. He really cares about you."

Wuhua: "You care about him too, don't you?"

Bai Xiaoxiao: "But... it's not that easy..."

Wuhua: "Do you remember why you wanted to become a magical girl?"

Bai Xiaoxiao: "Why...?"

Of course she remembered.

Three days earlier.

This was Bai Xiaoxiao's own story, from the night before Mo Zhen set out for the New Continental Europe Alliance.

When school ended that day, Bai Xiaoxiao didn't go home. She wanted to find somewhere to clear her head by herself.

It was in this park with an unfinished building, overgrown with ivy and moss, where Mo Zhen used to bring her to clear her head.

It held memories of the three siblings.

Playing hide-and-seek, camping, playing Legends of the Three Kingdoms, eating barbecue, watching the stars, and finally squeezing into one tent and falling fast asleep.

After taking a year off and returning to school, Bai Xiaoxiao could no longer fit in with her class. She had no friends and no hobbies.

Her withdrawn, indifferent personality also made her classmates afraid to approach her.

Throughout that year, she always sat alone at her desk, doing her homework and preparing for the next day's lessons.

Before she knew it, Bai Xiaoxiao had reached the roof of the unfinished building. Looking down, she could see the moss-covered concrete below.

The girl gathered her skirt and sat gently on the edge of the roof.

As the wind blew over her, she closed her eyes and kept thinking how wonderful it would be if Mom were still alive. Her brother surely wouldn't be angry with her either.

Ever since she had told Mo Zhen "I hate you" two years ago, Bai Xiaoxiao had regretted it.

She had been too immature back then.

Her brother had already been exhausted during those three months, yet he had still had to look after her through her depression.

But if she apologized now, her brother probably wouldn't accept it. He might even hate her for apologizing so late.

"What is there to apologize for? I told you I don't care about you."

What if, just what if, he didn't forgive her after she apologized? What would she do?

Bai Xiaoxiao didn't dare imagine it. Just thinking about it made her heart ache unbearably, as if a thorn were buried inside it.

She was unwilling to accept that outcome, and even less willing to accept the fact that her brother might no longer love her as much as he used to.

If only... everything could start over.

Bai Xiaoxiao thought gloomily.

She no longer dared hope that Mom could come back to life. She only wanted to say sorry to her brother on that rainy night.

Suddenly, a thought she could hardly suppress began to grow and spread rapidly in Bai Xiaoxiao's mind, even making her breathing quicken.

She opened her eyes again and looked at the ground below.

If I died...

Would my brother be sad?

Perhaps if she died, her brother would forgive her for what she had said to him, and then... love her and care for her again, just like before.

The moment that pitiful, twisted thought appeared, it filled Bai Xiaoxiao's chest like a flood bursting through a dam.

"Let me help you."

Just then, a childlike voice suddenly rang out.

A pair of slender, pitch-black arms suddenly appeared behind Bai Xiaoxiao and shoved her hard.

"Ah!"

Bai Xiaoxiao's pupils contracted. When she looked back, she saw only a figure engulfed in black shadow slowly dissipating.

Wh-what was that?!

Smack!

At the crucial moment, a dark-purple figure rushed over, grabbed Bai Xiaoxiao by the arm, and pulled her up.

"Y-you're...?!"

Bai Xiaoxiao sat sprawled on the roof of the unfinished building, dust clinging to her sailor uniform.

She looked in surprise at the girl wearing a dark-purple formal dress.

Nightingale wiped the cold sweat of fright from her forehead. "That scared me to death. Good thing I got here in time."

As she spoke, a miniature sickle emerged at her fingertips. She turned it gently between her index finger and thumb, and amid boiling purple magical power, the blade transformed into a giant scythe.

A magical girl...?

Bai Xiaoxiao stared blankly at the sight.

Meanwhile, a figure full of resentment appeared again in front of the two of them.

"How strange."

Nightingale had her back to Bai Xiaoxiao, and her voice held a hint of curiosity.

"Your magical power fluctuations have clearly reached the awakening threshold, so why haven't you awakened? Is it because of something weighing on your mind?"

As Nightingale swung her scythe and fought the witch, she continued speaking.

"Although I can't truly understand how you feel, I hope you won't make a decision that you, and your family even more, will regret."

As she spoke, Nightingale's scythe cleaved through the figure. With an explosion, the witch that had been lurking in the area and enticing others to commit suicide was utterly destroyed.

"Phew... finally got it."

Nightingale breathed a sigh of relief, her scythe crashing heavily to the ground.

"Oh, right." She turned around, about to say something more to Bai Xiaoxiao.

But suddenly, Bai Xiaoxiao saw a pair of slender, pitch-black arms shoot out of the shadows behind her, reaching for Nightingale's neck.

"Come play."

The childlike voice rang out again.

It's not the same witch!

The moment the little purple cat heard the voice, cold sweat broke out on her back and her fur nearly stood on end. She instinctively raised her scythe and swung it behind her.

But it seemed she was a step too late.

As the eerie arms were about to touch Nightingale, Bai Xiaoxiao's emotions reached their peak.

Whoosh!

An arrow made entirely of water vapor struck the arms behind Nightingale in an instant, freezing them solid in midair.

Nightingale's scythe struck its target as a result, smashing the arms to pieces.

As she retreated at once, she caught sight out of the corner of her eye of the white-haired girl beside her, who had fallen to her knees, drained by casting magic.

She exclaimed in surprise, "You transformed!"

The staff in the girl's hand was still coated in frost.

Bai Xiaoxiao took small, quick breaths and looked down at the pure-white Gothic dress she was wearing, still finding it hard to believe.

This was the first time she had used a Magic Cursed Technique, and she never succeeded again afterward.

Nightingale remained on guard for a while, and only after confirming that the witch's presence had completely dissipated did she look at Bai Xiaoxiao, who was sitting on the ground.

She walked over, took Bai Xiaoxiao's hand, and pulled her up, gently congratulating her. "Congratulations, you really did it."

"I...?"

Bai Xiaoxiao still found it hard to believe.

There had been no elaborate ritual, nor any earth-shaking resolve. She had transformed simply by acting on instinct.

Nightingale nodded and turned to look at the night sky. "I've heard that the birth of every magical girl is destined."

"And when they lose their goals and dreams and become consumed by the pursuit of power and their obsessions, they fall and become terrifying witches."

The stars shone brightly in the sky.

The hem of Nightingale's dark dress swayed gently in the wind, like a violet in bloom, resplendent yet restrained.

Holding her scythe behind her back, she turned to Bai Xiaoxiao and asked with a smile, "What about you? What was your reason for becoming a magical girl?"

"I..."

Bai Xiaoxiao looked at her, the thought buried deepest in her heart on the verge of pouring out.

"I want none of it to have ever happened!"

At those words, Nightingale's smile vanished from her eyes, and her deep violet pupils abruptly contracted.

For she saw the terrifying, almost twisted obsession within Bai Xiaoxiao.