You call this a love game?

Homura Akemi, who had returned to the classroom after lunch to continue her tutoring, suddenly spoke, her eyelashes trembling nervously.

Bai Yu raised his head and looked at the girl's delicate face. "Is there anything you don't understand?"

Homura Akemi swallowed nervously, her throat bobbing. She glanced around mysteriously, and only after finding that there was no one else in the classroom besides the two of them did she speak softly.

"Thank you so much for saving me yesterday! Without you, I wouldn't have been able to hold on until Madoka and Mami arrived."

As she spoke, Homura Akemi stood up and bowed deeply to Shiraha.

"It's alright, it's all in the past." Bai Yu tugged at the girl's wrist and pulled her back to her seat. "I can't bear to watch Xiao Yan die in front of me."

"..." Homura Akemi was silent for a moment, then looked up at Shiraha with a determined gaze, "I remember Shiraha-kun really wanted to become a magical girl, right?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Bai Yu was a little surprised and didn't understand why she brought this up.

"If I make a wish, wishing that Shiraha-kun would become a magical girl, wouldn't your wish also come true?"

"Huh? There's such a thing?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Bai Yu's eyes, but he quickly calmed down, gently patted the girl's head, and smiled, "I'm very grateful, but it's not necessary. There's no need to waste a wish on me. Xiao Yan, you can just make the wish you want."

“But… I don’t really have any wishes I want to make.” Homura Akemi looked a little disappointed after being rejected, and it seemed as if a pair of invisible cat ears had fallen down from her head.

Chapter Forty: More Real Than Real Gold

"Then think of one, like wanting to eat the most delicious food in the world, having endless money, and being able to easily accomplish anything, whether it's studying or exercising."

"Ugh..." Homura Akemi was not happy with the ideas Bai Yu gave her. She puffed out her cheeks and looked at him with a wronged expression. "But, Bai Yu-kun thinks that way..."

She repaid kindness with kindness; Bai Yujun saved her, so she naturally had to give back in kind.

She has nothing right now and can't offer anything that will satisfy Bai Yu, but this is the only wish she has. She knows that Bai Yu also wants to become a magical girl, so naturally, she wants to fulfill his wish right away.

As for herself... she's completely unimportant.

"Pfft—" Bai Yu couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to poke the girl's puffed-up cheek. "Little Flame isn't thinking about what I'll look like in a dress after I become a magical girl, is she?"

"No, no!"

The girl instantly bristled, her braids swaying like a startled cat's tail.

She would never think that way about her savior, although she was indeed a little curious.

"Of course I believe Homura wouldn't think that way, after all, magical girls can design their own clothes."

"But you really don't need to worry about me. I just want magic that looks cool like Madoka's. It has nothing to do with whether I want to be a magical girl or not."

"Besides, Xiaoyan knows that I'm not without special abilities too."

As soon as the words were spoken, a familiar feeling instantly washed over me.

The entire world turned gray and white in Homura Akemi's eyes, like an unpainted scroll. The noisy sounds and flowing breeze all disappeared, as if only the two of them existed in this world.

This is……!

Homura Akemi remembered that Shiraha had used the same trick to save her and buy her a lot of time, which allowed her to hold out until Madoka and Mami arrived.

"Can you keep this a secret?" Bai Yu leaned forward slightly, put his finger to his lips, and looked at Akemi Homura with a mysterious smile.

goo-dong-

Homura Akemi swallowed nervously, her body instinctively leaning back slightly. The distance between them was so close that all she could see in the boy's eyes was her own reflection. Their breaths mingled and collided, swirling and slapping against her forehead, making her head spin.

Homura Akemi gazed into the boy's clear black eyes. His skin was also incredibly smooth and fair. The fine hairs on his face seemed to stand up slightly with the warm breath she accidentally exhaled. The corners of the boy's mouth curved upwards in a beautiful arc, and his white teeth were faintly visible as he spoke. At this moment, she was no longer paying attention to what Bai Yu was saying.

Looking at those fresh, rosy lips, all I could think about was just how soft they were.

"May I?"

Seeing that the girl did not react, Bai Yu asked again, and leaned forward even further, almost pressing her to the ground.

The girl's waist flexibility was astonishing; her body was tilted at almost 30 degrees, yet she remained stable and did not fall.

"Yes, yes..."

Homura Akemi answered subconsciously, her mind a complete mess, her cheeks flushed red, and her eyes beginning to glaze over.

She gently closed her eyes and slightly pouted, as if waiting for something.

"Great! It's wonderful that Xiaoyan is willing to keep my secret."

The sound was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, instantly exploding in Homura Akemi's ears, and the noise from outside the classroom once again reached her ears.

Watching the boy's body quickly withdraw, and those bright red lips disappear into the distance, Homura Akemi felt a sense of loss, but then she immediately froze.

Wait, what did she just do?!

No, it seems she didn't do anything.

Something seems even more wrong now; she wanted to do it but didn't manage to.

She thought she was going to be kissed, and after some internal struggle (which didn't actually happen), she was all prepared and even agreed verbally, but it turned out to be something else entirely!

Thinking of this, her breath caught in her throat, and her face turned red from her neck to the tips of her ears at a visible speed, looking like a boiled octopus.

Ahhh! ! !

What has she done?!

She must have been seen looking at herself just now!

You definitely saw it, didn't you!

Anguish raged in her heart. Homura covered her face and buried it in the table, too ashamed to face anyone. She even covered her ears, afraid of hearing any noise from Shiraha beside her.

She'll be so embarrassed!

She really should have died at the hands of that witch; otherwise, she wouldn't be in such a sorry state now.

I'm too ashamed to show my face!

Waaah... Mom and Dad, I'm sorry.

In an instant, Homura Akemi's mind was racing with thoughts.

She even thought about taking advantage of the moment to forcefully hold Bai Yu down and do what she had wanted to do but hadn't yet!

Fortunately, the fear and shyness in her heart temporarily suppressed her thoughts, keeping her buried in the table and not daring to look up.

"Found you! Huh? Why is Homura smoking?"

The sound of Madoka Kaname's footsteps came from outside the window, and the girl rushed in with a lunchbox in her arms.

Homura Akemi's head was indeed steaming; she buried her head in her math textbook like an ostrich, and her exposed ears were so red they looked like they could bleed.

Shiraha casually twirled his pencil, glancing at Homura Akemi beside him who was practically bursting with embarrassment. "We're discussing..."

"Magical girls, right!" The pink-haired girl's eyes lit up, and she slammed her lunchbox onto the desk with a 'thud'.

"Mami-senpai said that after school you can come with me to hunt witches. Of course, it will only be Mami-senpai and me fighting. You and Homura can just watch from the sidelines."

"Thank you so much, but won't this be too much trouble for you? Fighting a witch is very dangerous, isn't it?" Bai Yu asked worriedly.

"Of course not! Mami-senpai is incredibly strong!" Kaname Madoka puffed out her chest confidently, as if she were talking about herself.

"What about Madoka? Madoka must be really amazing too."

"Hehehe... It's only a little bit better than that. It's still not nearly as good as Mami-senpai."

Kaname Madoka smiled sheepishly, comparing the distance between her index finger and thumb, leaving a very small gap between them.

"That's amazing! We're in the same grade, and Madoka has already defeated such a powerful monster. I can't help but admire her."

"Eh!" Kaname Madoka couldn't help but feel secretly pleased, but then she became shy again. "N-no, not really... Shiraha-kun is also very good. I don't understand math and English at all."

"It's just that Xiaoyuan didn't try hard enough. Xiaoyuan is so smart, she'll definitely surpass me soon if she studies hard," Bai Yu continued to persuade her. "Besides, everyone has subjects they're not good at. Maybe Xiaoyuan is very talented in a certain area."

"Really?!"

Looking into the girl's bright, expectant eyes, Bai Yu tried hard to suppress the urge to smile and nodded gently.

"Really, more real than real gold."

Chapter 41 Mami-senpai's Wonderful Little Classroom

"Then I'll work hard now!"

Kaname Madoka suddenly braced her hands on the desk, startling Akemi Homura. Homura, her face still flushed, looked at the girl in front of her with a bewildered expression.

"Okay, then go and get your math workbook so I can take a look."

"oh oh."

Then Bai Yu watched as the girl returned to her desk and pulled out an almost brand-new workbook from her desk drawer.

"Please advise!"

With a straight posture and a serious expression, Kaname Madoka handed her workbook to Shiraha, seemingly having truly made up her mind.

"So what score did you get on your last math test?" Bai Yu couldn't help but ask, looking at the answer section of the exercise book, which was mostly blank or marked with corrections.

"Hey~ Actually, I only got 28 points on last week's quiz..." Kaname Madoka covered her face with her workbook, revealing half of her crescent-shaped eye through the edge of the page, "But I got one point higher than Sayaka!"

"Is there a difference?" Bai Yu stared at the girl expressionlessly.

Even if these two, Zhuge Liang and Feng Xiao, were twenty or even ten points ahead, they still wouldn't pass.

What's with this feeling of both pride and shame you're experiencing?

Homura Akemi's absence from school caused her to fall behind in the curriculum. These two sit in the classroom every day and still only get such low scores, even though they look incredibly serious. He has no idea what they are actually learning.

Sayaka could be blamed on her sleeping in and daydreaming all the time, since she doesn't seem like someone who would study seriously.

But Madoka is different. She keeps her eyes on the podium the whole time during class and even tries to take notes. Even so, she only scored one point higher than Sayaka!

Why don't you just go find Sayaka and learn how to guess so high? Don't bother trying, because all that effort won't be as good as her random scribbles.

Homura Akemi is at least a proper middle school student, while Sayaka and Madoka could probably be easily defeated by any elementary school student.

Seeing the girl just chuckling, Bai Yu sighed helplessly and waved his hand, "Fine, starting tomorrow, I'll set aside some time during lunch break and after school for you to tutor each other."

"Yay!" Kaname Madoka grabbed Homura Akemi's hand and cheered.

I don't know if I'm happy to be able to study with my good friend, or happy that we can study and play together.

……

In the afternoon, the school bell rang to signal the end of the school term.

"Sayaka, we're going to study together, do you want to come too?"

"No, no, I'd better go find someone else to play with."

Using this excuse to send Sayaka away, Shiraha and her group arrived at the location Mami Tomoe had mentioned, where she had been waiting for a long time.

"Alright, let's get started on the first lesson of the Magical Girl Experience Course." Mami Tomoe clasped her hands together, a gentle smile on her face, and looked at the two people in front of her, saying, "Are you ready?"

The so-called Magical Girl Experience Course is a teaching class set up for potential candidates who have a chance of becoming magical girls in the future. It helps these potential candidates better develop their abilities and also helps them decide whether or not they want to become magical girls.

Mami Tomoe is the teacher of this class, and the only teacher. She is a veteran magical girl with more than a year of experience fighting witches, and she is more than capable of teaching newcomers.

Of course, the tuition doesn't require 99 Grief Seeds, or even 9 Grief Seeds, or even a single one! All you need to do is successfully graduate from Mami-senpai's mini-class and become a magical girl.

What? You're asking how many outstanding students she has taught?

Although there is only one prospective member in the class at present, under the guidance of our great senior Mami, two magical girls are already able to stand on their own.

As for where to register... just shout—Mami, save me!

Our senior, Mami, will arrive at your side immediately and give you a basic introduction to magical girl knowledge.

Oh, right, the prerequisite is that you have the qualifications to be a magical girl.

So young lady, don't hesitate!

Make a wish to me and sign a contract to become a magical girl!

Keke, get back to business.

Speaking of preparations, Homura Akemi was certainly not completely unprepared. After all, she was going to fight a terrifying witch, a man-eating monster, and she wished she could be armed to the teeth.

However, given her status as a junior high school student and the fact that she knew nothing, there was naturally not much she could prepare.

"Um... I only prepared this..."