I'm a magical girl in the future

Chapter 134, First "Friend"

Lu Yue was the first friend Su Qingyuan made.

Su Qingyuan can no longer remember what her parents look like. In the time she has clear memories, she lived in a laboratory.

In her memory, there was only the unchanging daily routine and those unpleasant interactions with other children.

Children's interactions can be innocent... but often they can also be fraught with malice.

To be popular, or to be rejected.

Su Qingyuan undoubtedly belongs to the latter category.

She didn't know why she was being ostracized.

Perhaps it was because of the freckles on her face? Indeed, those freckles made her look less attractive, especially among other children, where she would be pointed at and whispered about.

Or perhaps it was her natural aloofness and silence? This made her basically not communicate with others, and naturally made Su Qingyuan the most ideal target.

Malice sometimes doesn't need a reason.

When there is a weak and unresisting individual in a confined space, pressure from all directions will spontaneously converge on her and be vented on her in order to confirm her own existence.

A plate was "accidentally" overturned in the cafeteria, a foot was secretly stuck out in the corridor and tripped her, and a bucket full of water was splashed at her... The children who played these pranks included her peers and younger children.

They all chose Su Qingyuan as their target for bullying.

Su Qingyuan also asked those "uncles and aunts" dressed in white for help.

"Such conflicts are normal between children, as long as no one gets hurt."

"You should try to get along well with everyone."

But what should we do?

They're all used to treating me with malice, so what's the point of trying to change?

All I can do is... bear it all.

Just when Su Qingyuan was about to resign herself to everything, a warm harbor appeared—

"—Are you guys ever going to stop?!"

A reprimand laced with anger.

The owner of that voice was named Lu Yue.

As the most dazzling presence in the lab, she can be described with every positive word—upright, cheerful, confident, and helpful…

Most importantly, her incredibly gentle and optimistic attitude is captivating to anyone who comes into contact with her.

"Ah, Sister Lu Yue..." The girl who often bullied her toned down a bit when she saw who it was. "We were hanging out with her too..."

"You deliberately tripped her up? Is that how you play?" Lu Yue's anger remained undiminished. "Why would you do something like that?"

"This guy is so gloomy and boring..." the girl muttered softly.

"Su Qingyuan just doesn't like to talk. Does that mean she has to be bullied by you?" Lu Yue glared at her fiercely. Faced with Lu Yue's questioning, the girl couldn't refute it and could only leave dejectedly.

Su Qingyuan was stunned by what she saw.

Why would she help herself?

Why would someone like Lu Yue, who is the most dazzling presence in everyone's eyes, notice someone like me huddled in a corner?

Are you alright?

Lu Yue turned around and extended her hand to her.

Su Qingyuan fell to the ground and looked up at Lu Yue. Under the light, Lu Yue looked so beautiful... At that moment, Su Qingyuan felt for the first time the warmth of a safe haven.

Therefore, Lu Yue became her protector.

She would hold her hand and go to the cafeteria together, leaving those who wanted to cause trouble with no way to do so.

During breaks, Lu Yue would stay with Su Qingyuan, and the two would chat. Although there wasn't much to talk about in the lab, and they quickly ran out of things to say, Lu Yue would still stay by Su Qingyuan's side until the lunch break ended.

Gradually, Su Qingyuan began to rely on this warmth. Those groups that harbored ill will towards her also gradually restrained themselves because of Lu Yue's attitude.

However, Lu Yue has her own social network and many friends, so it's impossible to devote all of one's time to her. Occasionally, when Lu Yue isn't around, some people still come to cause her trouble.

For Su Qingyuan, this bit of malice was completely tolerable... After all, she was already very happy to have Sister Lu Yue by her side.

However, a new unease soon arose in her heart—

Lu Yue remained the center of attention. She would greet everyone with a bright smile and share wonderful memories with all her different friends.

What exactly is he to Lu Yue?

Perhaps, it was just a poor wretch who was accidentally sheltered under her overflowing "sense of justice" and "compassion"?

Even if he's her friend... he's probably the most troublesome one among her friends, right?

She didn't dare ask.

Moreover, she was also worried that... if things continued like this, Lu Yue might get tired of her one day.

Even though Lu Yue always maintained the same smile whenever they met, Su Qingyuan couldn't shake off the thought in her mind.

In the days that followed, Lu Yue also tried to "introduce" some of her friends to Su Qingyuan—though it was called an "introduction," Su Qingyuan already knew them within the small circle of the laboratory.

However, Su Qingyuan basically never spoke to them; to her, these people were no different from strangers.

These introductions have indeed been somewhat effective—Su Qingyuan's difficulty in communicating with people has improved considerably.

"Keep it up! Try a few more times and you'll be able to communicate with everyone without any problems soon!" One afternoon, Lu Yue continued to accompany Su Qingyuan during her lunch break and also talked about this.

"Um...I..." Su Qingyuan stammered, "Although...I can talk to Sister Lu Yue and my other friends...they are all very...gentle people..."

"If it were anyone else... I definitely... sob... can I... please stop doing this... communication training...?"

"Don't be afraid!" Lu Yue took her hand and placed it on her chest. "Qingyuan, we can't stay in the lab forever. When we go outside, you'll meet lots of strangers too!"

"If you don't overcome this, you'll have a lot of trouble outside in the future!"

After listening to Lu Yue's words, Su Qingyuan nodded. Although she had never been exposed to the "outside" world, she could understand from textbooks that this was an important part of "social relationships" in the outside world.

"Then...could we...talk to the adults...and ask them...to help us too?"

"Those adults won't do it." Lu Yue shook her head immediately. "They're all a bunch of research fanatics. To put it bluntly, as long as we don't interfere with their experimental data, they don't care whether we live or die."

"But we're different! Because we live here together, we're definitely 'family'!"

"Eh...family?" Su Qingyuan stared blankly at Lu Yue.

"That's right! Family!"