How many years had it been since I left Mitakihara? Ten? Fifty? A hundred? I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

Though I'd stocked up on enough Grief Cubes to last me a while, it made no sense at all to have returned. My worst memories came from this place, and it beats me why I decided to come here. This was the place where once, a long time ago, I let my friends die. Whether it was due to selfishness or stupidity, the mistake were my own, and I screwed up badly. So badly that I thought I would never come back.

And yet here I was, coming back home for the first time in a very long time.

It was kind of pointless though, coming here. Looking at the city now, it apparently changed quite a lot in all this time, such that it was barely even recognizable.

Briefly letting my gaze move throughout it, I tried my best to make out familiar things. The overall glass designs had stayed, but electromagnetic roads were all around them in the air, torpedo-like cars lacking wheels zooming across them. There were advertisements everywhere as well, displayed directly in the air without any need for screens. The roads on the ground, however, remained the same, though the bizarreness of watching everyone ride bicycles on them was enough to make me suppress a giggle.

As for the buildings, there was no trace of the middle school I used to go to, and it looked as though the hospital I used to visit had grown quite a few floors, decorated the exterior, and even changed its name. I briefly entertained the possibility that Kyousuke might still be living in this city somewhere, but quickly crushed it after clenching my fists. With that violin talent of his, he must have gone international by now.

And even if he wasn't, I couldn't bear to meet him. How could I ever, after what I'd done?

I slowed my breathing, trying my best to calm down. Less than an hour in, and I was already feeling guilty, how stupid.

Just like me, the world had changed. But unlike me, they had grown up and advanced, while I remained frozen in the body of a fifteen-year-old girl. If there was any comfort in this, it was that I could still grow out my hair, which I did. I'd done my very best to separate myself from the image of that idiotic, naïve little b—

My thoughts were interrupted as my Soul Gem glowed a light blue, signaling that a concentration of dark miasma was gathering nearby.

The last time I met Kyubey, it was on a cruise-liner in the middle of the ocean at night. He was telling me that a joint operation to eliminate all witches in the world had succeeded, and that the magical system had been updated to make up for this. Now, instead of witches, they had to fight the demons which were born from the negative feelings of mankind, and that magical girls now had different properties based on a new power. Though when he offered to 'update' me, the way he put it pissed me off so much that I impaled him with several swords before he could even finish.

He never appeared again after that. Figured that would happen.

"Doesn't look like it's thick enough," I remarked upon reaching the source; an old, abandoned building, looking the same as it did many years ago without anyone having bothered to improve it. Along this side of the city, there were very few electromagnetic roads, and it was late afternoon as well, so there was no point in hiding.

While there were shades of darkness within the windows, in such small amounts, there wouldn't be many Cubes to get. After a bit of time, the miasma would thicken even more, and then there would be enough demons for them to try and attack human beings. They typically came in groups, though every now and then a particularly strong one would appear and assume command of all the others. In any case, the more humans they managed to attack, the more numerous they become and the bigger their Grief Cubes get, which was why it was easier for me to wait until then.

But just as I sat down on the roof, my attention was caught as what appeared to be an ordinary girl on the ground transformed out of nowhere into a short crimson kimono dress and rushed in without a second thought. What an idiot.

Getting up, I had my body engulfed in light, which when gone revealed a blue outfit with a white cape, as well as a katana in my right hand. I promptly cut a hole into the surface below and dropped down into the miasma, wherein the inside was filled with images of unique artworks and illustrations. The demons responsible for this barrier looked like stickmen with wings, and there were only about three.

As I dropped down, I saw the magical girl from earlier carrying a halberd against those demon. What was she even doing? This few couldn't even amount to half the energy a Grief Seed could, by comparison. As she sent what looked like talismans out at her opponents, probably hoping to immobilize them, I aimed my sword forward with the intention to help her. Then, with a single throw, all four pieces of paper were cut through, and their owner having a shocked expression.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" I asked her, landing onto the ground.

Taking this as an opportunity, the trio of fiends shattered the nearby window and escaped out through it, the barrier dispersing into rundown walls as they did so. The girl looked distressed as they did, and then turned towards me with a frustrated look. Now that I had a clear view of her, she had shortly-cut red hair with eyes to match, her gem fashioned as a bracelet around her wrist. I couldn't help but think that her appearance looked vaguely similar with another person I used to know, but I waved it away.

"Who are you?!" The girl yelled back, running towards me, but froze in place with her neck inches away from my blade. With that, I continued.

"Can't you tell? There weren't nearly enough demons to drop Grief Cubes, for you or for me."

As if angered, she backed away and gripped her stylized halberd tightly with both hands. "But if I leave them be, they could hurt someone!"

"Yeah, that's the point. You wait for them to do that and grow bigger," I explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world, pulling my sword back and stabbing it into the ground. Maybe I should've brought some chocolate before I came here, since I had a feeling that this was going to get pretty boring. "That's how you get enough Grief Cubes. A tree won't grow any golden apples if you cut it down."

"So are you saying we should just let the demons kill people?!"

I shook my head in a disinterested manner, and turned my head towards her. "You have some really messed up ideas, kid. Haven't you ever heard of the food chain? They still teach that kind of stuff in school, right?" My feet began to move forward, and hers began to step back in uncertainty as I approached. "It goes like this: demons eat weak humans. Then we eat those demons. It's a law of nature, you know. Just the order of things."

By the time I was done, I was standing directly in front of her. She looked utterly disgusted, and I couldn't help but wonder if I really like that when I was younger. I must've been really, really stupid if that were the case.

"You..." She wasn't sure what to say, but gritted her teeth in annoyance. "You're—"

"Wait, don't tell me you're going to give me that crap about 'helping people' and 'justice'?" I asked while coming even closer, cutting her off. "Is that really why you made a contract with Kyubey?"

"What are you trying to say?!" Unable to take it anymore, she swung her halberd forth and I casually blocked it with my blade. I didn't even have to use any real effort to hold the weapon back, and I could probably throw her into the wall behind with nothing more than a light push.

I sighed. "Give it a rest, kid."

Frustrated, she tried to press on, but the force she exerted wasn't nearly enough against me. It was truly, honestly pathetic, how weak she was, but at the same time, kind of amusing. I stayed in my position while holding her off with a single hand, but after a little while, I got bored. I really should bring a bar of chocolate with me next time something like this happens.

"You think you're just playing around, don't you? What a nuisance," I stated bluntly, and stayed true to my thoughts by sending her flying into the air with a light push, ultimately crashing straight into the concrete wall, before falling back down and hitting the floor face-first. As if to make it final, I threw my blade over and had it plunge into the ground inches away from her neck, before turning around. "Now go cool your head elsewhere or something."

I suppose I'd had my fun. This was enough for now, and I'd rather avoid doing pointless things next time. Everything over and done with, I nonchalantly headed for the entrance door.

"Who would ever…listen…to you?!"

Hm?

Glancing over my shoulder out of curiosity, it looked as though the magical girl was forcing herself to move, trying to crawl towards me while dragging along her halberd. She looked to be in great pain. Yeah right, good luck with that. I can't help but wonder how many bones you broke, and how much you're making worse the damage dealt. If she had some kind of healing power like me, then that might've helped her, but by the looks of it, she didn't.

"Hey, kid. You won't recover from that for at least a week or two, so give it up," I pointed out, and opened the door in front of me—

"Who…are you, anyway?!"

I smiled.

"Sayaka—Miki," was my reply.

It must've been the first time in years that I spoke that name. Heh. Did she really have to go that far to remind me of my past?

A feeling was starting to grow inside of my chest. Something I couldn't ignore. Somehow, even though we just met, I knew instinctively that I wouldn't be able to leave her alone. Because it was my duty.

Was that how she felt about me, I wonder?

Though I didn't realize it at first, a single tear ran down my cheek as I left the building.

Author's Note:

Yo! I'm not exactly sure how this started, but I think it's after wondering what would've happened had a certain blunette accepted Kyoko's apple. To my bafflement, not a single fanfiction or anything of the sort has popped up detailing that.

Honestly, I felt like I wanted to write about that, but I already have other fanfics to work on first (drafts done, I just need to stop being lazy), so I did a one-shot about a possible future instead.

Don't expect an expansion for this, sorry~ It's supposed to be symbolic in nature, so.

Yeah, I know it's short, but thanks for reading it!