"Ya haha~ What do you think a girl would do, inviting someone to such a secluded place? Homura-chan. It's a love confession, of course~ You know, our cute Yoshino fell for you the first time she saw you. The way you shielded her from the classmates' gazes back then seemed so tall in Yoshino's eyes, and your handsome and charming appearance made Yoshino instantly fall in love."
Thinking of the memory of Homura Akemi always secretly keeping an eye on Madoka Kaname, Yoshinon, in a mischievous mood, interrupted Yoshino and spoke first.
"To prove her determination, Yoshino can even share her most secret notebook with you~ The one carrying all her daily thoughts and secrets. I think you'd really want to know what's written inside, wouldn't you?"
"What!?" Homura Akemi, who had been expressionless, widened her eyes upon hearing Yoshinon's words, and at the same time turned to look at Yoshino, as if she was trying to read right through her thoughts.
"Ugh! There's nothing to see! Homura-chan is really looking too intensely!" Noticing Homura Akemi's gaze, Yoshino pulled her schoolbag tightly against her chest and shouted at her. Even though she knew Homura Akemi couldn't possibly read her mind directly, her gaze was too sharp. Seeing the intense focus in the other party's eyes, it felt as if all her private thoughts had really been seen through.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Yoshino, I didn't mean to." Seeing Yoshino's embarrassed and angry expression, Homura Akemi couldn't maintain her indifferent facade. Seeing her almost tearful expression, she could only turn away and not look at her. She didn't realize that her reaction just now had revealed a lot, but she was too emotional to notice.
Her mind was filled with Yoshinon's words just now… Yoshino's private thoughts and secrets.
In previous timelines, Homura Akemi, who had eliminated Witches with Yoshino, knew that Yoshino was a girl who kept her true feelings deeply hidden inside.
Why did Homura Akemi know so much about her? Hehe~ Couldn't she just stop time? It was a very simple matter; she could observe Yoshino's habits or protect her from afar without being noticed. With her time-stopping ability, she didn't need to do anything loud to pay attention to the people she cared about. To be honest, Yoshinon's words just now did move her.
"Hey~ Homura-chan… No, Homura. Have we met somewhere before? I feel like your reaction is as if you've known me for a long time, but I don't have any memory of meeting you." Just as Homura Akemi was lost in thought, Yoshino's soft voice came, bringing her back to reality.
"Yoshino-chan…"
"Don't call me so formally, Homura." As Homura Akemi was about to turn around, Yoshino hugged her from behind, burying her head deeply in her back.
"!!?" Feeling Yoshino's soft body and that familiar scent, Homura Akemi's body immediately became incredibly stiff, not daring to move.
Yoshino's situation was also not good. Hugging Homura Akemi so suddenly without confirming their relationship, she also felt it was very inappropriate. But with Yoshinon and the others in her mind egging her on, she finally made up her mind to do this to Homura Akemi.
According to 'Goodness', her actions seemed to be… throwing herself into someone's arms? No, that doesn't feel right, it feels weird.
But Homura Akemi's abnormal state was detected by them, so targeting Homura Akemi's weakness in dealing with 'female charm', they had Yoshino deliberately give her some 'benefits' to find out what they wanted to know.
Now it seems, this trick is unusually effective.
After being hugged by Yoshino, Homura Akemi's hand wanted to grab the small hands around her waist, but she worried about Yoshino's aversion and pulled it back.
"Didn't you call me Yoshino just now, Homura? If you really know me, you should know that I am a girl with special abilities. Your affairs cannot be hidden from me. I can feel that you have something in your heart that you haven't told me. If possible, I hope you can tell me. Don't bear all of this alone, okay? Tell me everything you know, and we'll face it together."
"...Sigh~ It's like this again. How many times has this failed? I can't even remember anymore. This must be an idea those people inside you came up with, right?" Homura Akemi sighed helplessly, her tone no longer cold, but rather a complaining voice.
"People inside me, Homura, you really know…" Yoshino said, somewhat surprised. She had never told Homura Akemi about the existence of others inside her. This meant that she had indeed appeared in Homura Akemi's previous timelines, and Homura Akemi knew many things about her.
"Yes, I know. I know everything about you, Yoshino. Use Tenth Bullet (Yud) on me. You will understand everything you want to know." Pulling away the hands from her waist, Homura Akemi turned around and smiled at Yoshino.
"Indeed, you know that Tenth Bullet (Yud) has the ability to transmit the past of the target it hits. But if you do that, everything about you will be known to me. Is that really okay?" All privacy would be known to Yoshino, and all her weaknesses would be in Yoshino's hands. Wouldn't that make people uncomfortable? (Hmm! Even her innermost thoughts would be known.)
"It's okay, this isn't the first time. When I knew you had this ability, every time I was seen through, I would let you use this method to understand my affairs. Over time, I no longer had that kind of mindset. Hehe~" She let out a faint chuckle. The first time Yoshino knew everything about her, she was shy for a long time. But with more occurrences, she got used to it.
"If the person who knows is Yoshino, I have no objection. After you understand everything about me, you will definitely know the reason why I do this. Although I'm a bit worried that the amount of memory is a bit large, Yoshino. You might be surprised after knowing my secret."
"...I understand." After countless reincarnations, Homura Akemi's memory volume was indeed very large. It was like the endless August in Haruhi Suzumiya. Homura Akemi had been living a cycle of waking up from a sickbed, Madoka Kaname's death, and then reincarnation, over and over again for an unknown number of times. She wondered how she endured it.
Under Yoshino's control, her right eye transformed into an antique golden clock. The short hand, representing the hour hand, appeared in Yoshino's right hand, absorbing the black aura emerging from the number 'ten' on the clock that appeared behind her. Finally, she aimed the short hand in her grasp at Homura Akemi.
"Bang!"
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