This time, I'm not even in my bed when time resets – I'm sitting at my desk, the computer already woken, although the document has not yet been created. The time on the taskbar is six minutes past six. That clinches it, then. Homura's power is not a fixed checkpoint. Most likely, it's a fixed duration that's turned back. Furthermore, the duration is an exact multiple of twelve hours, since it was six minutes past six in the evening when time was turned back. My previous guess was forty-six days, but with this new information, I can revise it to forty-five and a half days. Ironically, I now think I must've been wrong about the discrepancy between the previous two timelines, since I woke up in my bed both times; to think that an imagined discrepancy would've proven to be real!
I make a new document and input all the information I can remember from previous loops, including what I reviewed just before heading out to fight Walpurgisnacht as well as all the new information from the previous loop. I think I might have missed a few details, but hopefully I didn't input anything that's actually wrong. Once I'm finished, I check the time again… thirteen minutes past six. I add one more note, that if possible I should try to delay the next jump until quarter after six. If I'm right, that means these notes will still be intact next time I return. I read over them one more time to make sure there are no obvious errors though.
Next, I try scrying on the others. It looks like I missed Homura's big resolution moment, for she has already taken out her braids and is no longer wearing glasses. At the moment she seems to be talking with the doctor about her discharge. Then I check up on Hijiri, but there doesn't seem to be anything interesting going on with her – she's getting ready for school as if it's a normal day. I'm about to close off that vision when something a little unexpected happens.
"Onee-chan!?"
One of Kanna's younger twin sisters looks up in surprise as she enters the kitchen.
"Oh! Kanna-chan, are you feeling better?" her mother asks. "You really had me worried… are you ready to talk about it now?"
"Judging by that uniform, I guess you'll be going back to school today," her father adds. "I'm sure your teachers will be pleased… but have you kept up with the handouts?"
Kanna shakes her head. "No and no… I'm sorry, kaa-san, tou-san, but it's not something I can talk about… and I guess I'll do the homework later."
"Well, if you've managed to work through it yourself, then that's good too," her mother says. "But you know I'm always here if you need me… was it something that happened at school?"
Kanna shakes her head again. "It wasn't anything to do with school."
Before settling down to eat, she takes out her phone and composes an email.
"I have Umika's analysis magic, so I can tell you're watching, Miss Taylor. Cut that out. I'll contact you again later."
I decide to honour her request. The email enters my inbox almost a minute after the vision ends, and I check to see if she added anything else at the end.
"I have Umika's analysis, so I can tell you're watching, Miss Taylor. Cut that out. I'll contact you again later, once I've decided what I should do. Thank you for everything you've done for me."
But what I learned from that brief vision is that she had been skipping school on previous loops. The fact that she chose to return to school today seems like a good sign to me. Come to think of it… I wonder if she actually has friends at school… based on Nico's wish, she should probably have at least one, right? But she asked me to butt out, and it's not exactly important information, so I decide not to peek on her again for now.
Next, I check if Remi seems to be behaving any different than she has before. I can't see anything that seems out of the ordinary, though. Does that mean she failed to communicate with her past self? Or did I just check at a bad time?
Now that I've seen Hinata Kagari in a vision, I'm able to scry on her too. She seems to be lazing around in a small apartment… that doesn't really help me find her, unfortunately. She too is skipping school, so I give up watching her after a couple of minutes.
Then I head down to breakfast. Unlike the last two loops, I don't warn the sisters about Itzli, for reasons. Instead, I just eat breakfast and depart with them as usual.
As school comes to an end, I send a telepathic missive to the three of the quartet who attend this school.
«Everyone, I have something important I'd like to talk about. Could we all meet up?»
Elise and Komachi immediately glance at me, then nod. I join them on their way out. Claire joins us by the exit, and we head out.
"Should I email Hiyori-chan about this?" Komachi asks. "Or will we all pick her up together? Also, what's this all about, Ashley-chan?"
"I'd rather not say it twice, so please be patient," I say. "There's actually several things. And I intend to head for Mitakihara Middle School anyway, so we may as well meet Hiyori-chan there."
They fall silent for a few minutes, then start engaging in idle chatter as we head for the middle school. I however remain silent, pondering what exactly I should say to them when the time comes. It feels like no time at all before I spot the front gate to Mitakihara Middle School, with Hiyori standing out in front and waving.
"Hello! Everyone's here today!" she says, surprised. "Is something up?"
"I have something I'd like to tell you all," I say. "This isn't a good place… let's go to the hill behind the school."
Hiyori blinks. "Eh? W-why there? It's rumoured to be haunted…"
"You'll see when we get there," I say.
We start heading around to the back of the school.
"I've never seen any ghosts there myself," Elise says. "But there certainly are a lot of weird rumours about it… like the rumour that people actually died after desecrating those graves…"
I nod. "Yeah, I heard that rumour from you before."
"Eh? From me? This is the first time I've mentioned it though…" Elise says, looking confused.
I leave her statement unaddressed as we hop over the fence and make our way up the narrow trail heading to the peak. Then, after about a minute of walking up the slope, I stop and turn to face them.
"I'm going to say a lot of things that might be hard to believe," I say. "So please bear with me, okay?"
"Come on, you should know we trust you by now, Ashley-chan," Komachi protests. "Why wouldn't we believe you?"
"I get that you trust me, but even so, I think you'll find this hard to swallow," I reply. "Feel free to ask questions. Some of the things I'm going to say can even be demonstrated, if need be."
"Stop beating around the bush and get on with it," Elise snaps.
I nod. "Right. The first thing is… time has been turned back, more than once."
Elise blinks at me.
"Uh, what does that mean?" Claire asks.
"It means that I've been through this day more than once," I reply. "A month and a half from now, a very powerful witch named Walpurgisnacht will arrive and devastate the city. I've fought her twice already. The first time I had Hiyori-chan at my side, and the second time, all four of you were there, and both times we had a number of other allies as well, but even so the battle was hopeless."
"Are you saying there's no way to beat this witch!?" Komachi gasps. "That can't be!"
"No, I'm not saying that," I say. "I'm only saying I've failed to beat her twice. I'm confident there is a way… I just haven't found it yet."
"Yeah, of course there is," Hiyori nods confidently. "There can't be an unbeatable witch…"
"But you're seriously expecting us to believe that time was turned back?" Elise asks. "That's a little too far-fetched, don't you think?"
"See? I figured you'd find it hard to swallow," I say. "Don't worry… it's fine if you don't believe me."
"Do you have any proof?" Komachi asks.
"Um… other than things I know as a result, not really?" I say. "Hmm… oh, maybe there is one thing. There's a magical girl that Kyuubey doesn't know anything about. Maybe that'll suffice as proof? She's the one who turned back time, and she'll transfer to Mitakihara Middle School soon."
"Um… okay," Hiyori says. "I'll keep an eye out for her."
"I wouldn't recommend approaching her yet, though," I add.
"G-got it…"
"Now then, on to the next thing," I say. "There's a witch hiding behind the public pool near the high school. She doesn't seem to lure many people in, but she's strong. You won't be able to beat her alone, and even if I were to help you, I can't promise you'd all survive. You can keep an eye on her, and save people if she does lure some in, but please, don't try to fight her. The labyrinth looks like a theatre."
"You're saying this witch is too strong even for you?" Elise asks, and I nod. "Alright, then I guess we'll be cautious."
"Alright… that's the easy stuff out of the way," I say. "The next thing I wanted to talk about is a terrible truth that Kyuubey has been hiding from you."
They all blink at me.
"A… terrible truth?" Komachi asks. "What the heck?"
"There's two parts to this," I say.
I transform my soul gem into gem form and hand it to Hiyori. Though startled, she readily takes it from me.
"I'm going to demonstrate the first part before I explain it," I say. "It should be a little easier to understand that way, and also easier to believe. I ask you not to move until I'm out of sight. Once I'm out of sight, count to twenty and then follow me. Oh… I don't think this'll happen, but if you see me collapse, you can follow immediately."
"Huh? Why would you collapse?" Hiyori asks, confused.
But instead of answering, I break into a run up the hill. About thirty seconds later, I feel the sense of dissociating from my body, just like I did when I demonstrated the same thing to Remi and Kazumi. I manage to scry on the quartet, and they do exactly as I said – counting out loud to twenty, then hurrying after me. Of course, they find me collapsed on the ground.
"Ashley-chan!?" Hiyori gasps, kneeling beside me.
"I-is she okay?" Komachi asks. "Does she need healing?"
"Eh? I think she's not even breathing…" Hiyori says.
But thanks to Hiyori's proximity with my soul gem, I manage to regain control of my body after a couple of seconds and open my eyes. It seems to be difficult to speak though, for some reason.
"I'm… I'm fine," I say. "Soul gem…"
Hiyori presses it into my hand, and it suddenly becomes easier to control my body. I sit up, gasping for breath a little.
"W-what happened?" Hiyori asks.
"Do you need healing?" Komachi asks.
Elise and Claire are also kneeling on the ground, looking concerned.
"I'm fine," I said. "I just sent my body outside the control range."
Everyone blinks at me.
"The hell're you talking about?" Elise snaps.
"A magical girl can only control their body within a range of a hundred metres," I explain. "The soul gem is your true form. Since Hiyori-chan was hanging onto me, my body collapsed after I got a hundred metres away."
Hiyori blinks. "O-oh… I get it," she says. "But that means…"
"…our bodies are what, just puppets?" Elise asks.
"You could say that," I say.
"I mean, that's not so bad," Elise admits. "It's not like we ever put our soul gems down, right?"
"Sometimes I leave it on my desk while I sleep though," Komachi says. "Maybe I shouldn't do that…"
"Basically, the soul gem is actually your soul," I continue. "When you make a wish, Kyuubey extracts your soul from your body and turns it into a gem… and it gets worse. You already know that something bad will happen if your soul gem fills up with grief, right?"
Elise nods. "I'm not too clear on exactly what, but yeah, we know we need to keep it purified."
"You turn into a witch," I say.
"C-come again?" Elise says.
"When your soul gem fills with grief, it transforms into a grief seed, and a new witch is born."
"Y-you can't be serious…" Elise gasps. "Tell me you're just making this up…"
I shake my head.
"It's true… I've seen it with my own eyes, several times. I've even seen each of you four turn into a witch at least once."
"Time has been turned back, you said…" Komachi murmurs.
"So you're trying to tell us we've actually been killing magical girls all this time!?" Elise shouts.
I shake my head. "It's not like that… a witch doesn't retain the personality and memories of the original magical girl. It's more like…"
"Zombification?" Elise says.
"Yes, or as I was going to say, it's a form of death that just happens to leave behind a monster. In my view, killing the witch is an act of mercy. If I were to turn into a witch, I'd want someone to kill me as soon as possible. But I have no plans to let that happen. If it comes to that, I'll crush my own soul gem first… which by the way is literal suicide. Still, as long as there's hope, I'm confident I'll be fine."
"As long as there's hope…" Hiyori muses. "Yeah… it's not like knowing this changes anything, right?"
The others look at her in astonishment, and she hurriedly continues.
"I… I mean, we did get our wishes granted and gain these awesome powers, right?" Hiyori says. "And even though he didn't explain why, Kyuubey did warn us not to let our soul gems become completely black!"
"I think you're giving it a bit too much credit with that last one…" I say. "It wants us to become witches."
"W-well, still…" Hiyori says. "He did warn us… and like Ashley-chan says, it's not like witches are conscious anymore, right? They're more like… like… like vengeful spirits… so I don't see how this new knowledge changes anything about what we do…"
"If you'd known before you made a contract, Hiyori-chan," Elise asks. "Would you have still made your wish?"
Hiyori considers the question. "W-well… I can't say that I would have… but I can't say I wouldn't have…" she says. "It's really hard to say what I might have done but I guess… I probably would've put it off awhile longer but eventually made a wish anyway…"
Claire nods. "Yeah… I see what you mean," she says. "I think… I would've tried talking to Mom and Dad, but… in the end, I probably still would've made my wish."
"Well, I would've died if I didn't make the wish," Komachi muses. "So I guess I would've still made a wish… but maybe a slightly different one."
Elise becomes very interested in the ground for a few minutes, while the others all look at her expectantly.
"I guess…" Elise says finally. "In my case… I would've toughed it out for another month or two… and then if nothing had changed, I probably would've made the same wish. Or, actually, I might've wished for onee-san to come back to life instead… every so often I wish onee-san were here with me."
It's almost the same as the last time when they found out the truth. I'm glad I decided to tell them.
"So you're really okay with all this, Hiyori-chan?"
"Well… I wouldn't say I'm okay with it," she says. "Kyuubey still deceived us, and I'm really mad about that… but I don't think I regret my wish."
The other three nod in agreement.
"Well, that's good," I say. "Sometimes when you regret your wish, you can lose your power entirely. That would be pretty bad."
I decide not to mention Kyouko this time.
"Now, there's one more thing I wanted to show you," I say.
I get to my feet and transform.
"You should be ready to fight," I add.
They all transform too, and we head up the hill until we reach the gravestone.
"There's a rather nasty myth about this gravestone," Elise remarks. "A lot of people died, apparently…"
"Yes, you told me last time," I say. "Get ready."
I lean down and give the gravestone a shove.
"W-wait a second, what are you doing!?" Elise protests. "If you know the myth, why would you—"
"I'm not sure if it crossed your mind," I interrupt her. "If magical girls turn into witches… if witches can't exist without magical girls… then why do magical girls even exist? Without witches, why would the first magical girl ever make a contract?"
The dark miasma rises up from the ground as I speak, slowly attenuating the sunlight glaring down from the cloudless sky.
"Um… because they wanted their wish granted?" Claire says. "That's the whole point, right?"
"True," I admit. "But which is more fishy… 'Please become a magical girl and fight witches for me, and I'll grant you a wish in return', or 'I will grant you any one wish, no strings attached'."
"Ah… the second one does seem more fishy," Hiyori admits. "Though I'm sure someone would still do it… and they'd only need one, right?"
I nod. "That's true, I guess. But the incubators – oh, that's Kyuubey's real name, because they incubate witches – the incubators are supremely rational beings. Although we humans aren't, I think at first they would have treated us as if we were. Therefore, giving us a reason to fight is important… and here you have it."
A number of wraiths loom through the miasma. Elise gasps.
"I-it's the white giants… just like the myth! Ashley-chan… what the hell have you done!?"
"I'll explain later," I say. "We need to defeat them first. You're magical girls, so you should be fine. Watch out for their beam attacks."
"R-right!" Hiyori nods.
Hiyori grips her harp and plucks out some dissonant chords, blasting through the nearest two wraiths.
"W-what the heck!?" Elise gasps. "They're not even that strong?"
"Try your drain ability, Komachi-chan," I suggest. "See if it's any different from draining a witch."
"H-how did you… no, never mind," Komachi says.
She and Claire grip their weapons and rush forward, slashing at the feet of the nearest wraiths and then leaping into the air to attack their knees. Elise summons a horde of miscellaneous winged monsters, which swarm the heads of nearby wraiths. Hiyori continues to strike them down with her sonic blast as well. I simply stand and observe.
The wraiths aren't totally outmatched – they blast chunks out of the hill with their beam and knock down whole trees with their fists, as they did when I fought them. There are even a couple of moments where it looks like someone is about to die, and I ready my sword to save her, only to realize that she's managed to just barely dodge… or in one case, when Komachi was prone on the ground and couldn't dodge the fist slam, she raised her naginata and sliced the fist in half.
I wasn't timing it, but I'm sure they defeated them all in under two minutes. Once the wraiths are all gone, the miasma begins to fade, restoring the landscape that was damaged by the battle. The quartet gathers around me.
"So… are you ready to explain yourself now, Ashley-chan?" Elise asks.
"Yeah," I say. "Those giants… I call them wraiths. The first magical girls must have fought them instead of witches. Based on what I've gathered, they form naturally from accumulated emotional energy that builds up in populated areas. However… witches also consume that same energy, thus preventing wraiths from spawning."
"So how is it that they spawned here and now?" Elise asks.
"They dropped something that looks like a grief seed, too," Komachi says. "Also, it still feels disgusting to drain them, but it's not as bad as a witch."
She shows off a couple of grief cubes, and I nod.
"Those are basically grief seeds," I say. "I call them grief cubes to distinguish them from the type that comes from witches. There should be a bunch of them scattered around, so we should gather them all up."
"Explanations first!" Elise insists.
I push the gravestone a little further open and peer inside. There's only one leftover grief cube in there this time, but I snatch it up and show it off.
"I believe this is why they spawned here," I say. "These cubes full of grief were left here a long time ago, but something about the way the tomb was sealed prevented wraiths from spawning from them. The seal was broken just now, as well as that other time in the legend, which allowed them to spawn. I suspect there's also some sort of barrier around this hill that keeps witches out."
"But there's no way this tomb is as old as the first magical girl," Elise says. "That would have to be before this could even be called Japan!"
I nod. "Yeah, this island is a bit special… I won't get into the details right now, but suffice to say that the conditions were right for wraiths to spawn here in the Edo era. The cubes must have been placed here then, sort of like a time capsule."
"Not a very nice time capsule," Elise mutters.
Hiyori suddenly gasps. "W-wait a second… if everything you say is true… then the whole system breaks down! Magical girls compete for grief seeds because they need them to survive… and they can't just exterminate all the witches, because without witches they'd turn into a witch themselves once they can't get any more grief seeds… but if these grief cubes can be used the same way as a grief seed…"
"Oh? You've hit the nail on the head, Hiyori-chan!" I say. "Yeah… there's no reason to allow witches to exist at all. If we fought wraiths instead, and always teamed up to defeat a witch if one appeared, then life would be much better… I bet magical girls would tend to survive a lot longer, too. We might even be able to live for hundreds… even thousands of years. That said, not all wraiths are as weak as these, according to my information. There are stronger types as well. Dying in battle is still quite possible."
"This is… really a lot to take in," Claire muses.
"Even so… assuming it's true, I'm glad you decided to trust us," Komachi says.
"Yeah, thanks for confiding in us, Ashley-chan," Hiyori agrees.
"By the way, what we've talked about today… you can't tell Kyuubey any of it," I say. "Promise me? You'll have to dispose of the spent grief cubes with him, but don't say anything more than necessary."
The four of them nod in unison.
"Yeah, I won't tell him," Elise says.
"Me neither," Claire says.
"Of course we won't," Komachi says.
"Now… let's gather up all those grief cubes," I say.
When checking up on Homura the following morning on my way to school, I'm met with an unexpected surprise. She's in her school uniform, carrying her schoolbag and walking along, as if headed to school. She draws some glances from passers-by, no doubt because she looks a lot prettier when she drops the braids and glasses. She doesn't look quite like the Homura I remember from the anime, though – her demeanour still seems a tiny bit on the shy side… she's not as confident.
I turn off the vision since there's nothing interesting going on, but once I've settled down in the classroom, I check again. Now she seems to be at the school office, doing transfer papers or something. Or, she has just finished them? She pushes them to the staff member on duty, who turns to a computer screen for a moment.
"Yes, you will be in Ms Saotome's class," she says. "She should be here any moment…"
Right on cue, Madoka's homeroom teacher, Ms Saotome, shows up.
"So this is the new transfer student?" she says breathlessly. "I wasn't expecting her until the end of next week…"
"Um, my recovery was… better than expected," Homura explains. "And um… I was… looking forward to… to going back to school… so they said I could start right away."
"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," Ms Saotome says cheerfully. "Come, right this way."
She leads the way to the classroom.
"Just wait outside for a second, okay?"
Homura nods, and the teacher steps inside. What follows is her signature rant on a guy who complains about how eggs are cooked. Once she's finished letting off steam, she calls Homura in, and the girl enters.
"This is Miss Akemi Homura, who will be joining us from now on," she says. "She's been sick for awhile, so she might be a little behind, but I hope everyone can get along with her!"
When Ms Saotome hesitates on the spelling of Homura's name, Homura takes the marker from her and finishes it. Then she turns and bows slightly, locking eyes with Madoka for a second. The pink-haired girl lets out a tiny gasp.
It's around then that my homeroom teacher starts taking roll, so there's no real reason to continue watching. I roughly know what will happen next, and the details I don't know shouldn't really matter. The rest of the day passes without any remarkable developments. I do check on Homura as classes get out, and it looks like she's somehow managed to work her way into Madoka's friend circle already. That's actually unexpected… I thought she would keep her distance from Madoka. I suppose it makes more sense that she wouldn't immediately give up on being Madoka's friend, though. The jaded Homura of the anime is the product of repeated failures, over and over and over again.
The next day after school, I once more send a telepathic message to the others.
«So um, Claire-chan, could I ask a favour?»
Although I'm specifically talking to Claire, I include Komachi and Elise in the conversation too.
«What's up?» she asks.
«It's about Inui-chan,» I say. «I need to get to her as fast as possible to prevent her from turning into a witch.»
«Oh, is that why you're asking me?» Claire asks. «I'm certainly the fastest of the four of us. Hmm… okay, sure, I'll help you. Meet me on the roof.»
«What about us?» Komachi says. «Is it something where you'd need backup?»
«I can't carry more than one person,» Claire says. «Sorry.»
«I won't need backup to save her,» I say. «All I need is to make sure her soul gem doesn't get any more tainted, or in the worst case, use a grief seed. However… she'll probably need healing too, so it'll helpful to have Komachi-chan around, and it can't hurt to have extra backup in case we need to fight someone.»
«In that case, we can just catch up to you a little later as soon as possible,» Elise says. «What's the destination?»
«The alleyway beside the hospital,» I say. «On the left-hand side of the main entrance, I think.»
«Got it!» Elise says.
I finish packing up and hurry up onto the school roof. Claire is there before me, and she turns with a smile.
"That was fast," she says. "So, the hospital, right? Climb on."
She transforms and turns away again, and I blink.
"Eh? Is this gonna be a piggy-back ride?" I ask.
"Isn't that the best way to carry someone?" Claire asks, glancing back.
"I thought we'd just hold hands," I say.
"I won't be able to go at my top speed like that," Claire says. "Hurry up, there's a time limit, right?"
"R-right…"
I open a vision on Inui as I hop on Claire's back, hooking my legs and arms and around her. It's a little awkward because she's smaller than me in pretty much every dimension, but I guess that doesn't matter for a magical girl.
"Hang on tight," she says. "And try not to choke me."
Claire activates her magic and leaps off the roof with such speed that I'm almost jerked off her back. The rush of wind past my face is… I think it's comparable to what I used to feel when driving on a country highway with the window down. Compared to this, that mad dash in the last timeline is nothing. That was like an Olympic sprint; this is more like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. It seems like I may have grossly underestimated Claire's speed.
Inui's conversation with the Sleepwalking Spectre goes pretty much exactly the same as I remember from the last two timelines. If there are any differences, they're too small for me to notice. Then the battle gets started, the same as before.
"DIE!" Inui shouts, blasting Yu with her pink flames.
"Whoa!" Yu gasps, casually leaping into the air
Yu transforms in midair, donning her creepy clown-like outfit with the horn. She grips her stilettos and uses the force of gravity to drive them into Inui's left arm and right shoulder. Inui unleashes another blast of flame, but Yu just casually cartwheels aside, avoiding it entirely. Without giving Inui even a second to recover, she darts in to stab her, but this time Inui barely manages to dodge. As Yu slips past the dodging Inui, she even has the sense to try and club Yu over the head with her wand, but it seems Yu has anticipated even that, for she rolls in mid-lunge, the wand only barely grazing her cheek.
The fight continues in a similar vein for a minute or two, but as before, Inui is completely and hopelessly outmatched. Yu is able to land nine out of ten attacks, which means Inui is somehow better at dodging compared to the last time I watched this fight, yet she hasn't been able to hit Yu even once, that minor graze notwithstanding. By the time the rush of air comes to an abrupt end as we arrive, Inui is covered in stab wounds that would have killed any normal person. Some of those wounds should have been fatal even on their own.
"Looks like we made it in time," Claire says. "But… that's the Sleepwalking Spectre, right? Are we going to fight her? I doubt we can beat her, especially without the others…"
"Uhh… I'm not sure," I admit. "My plan was to show up after she left and heal Inui, but… you were even faster than I anticipated."
We're on the roof of the hospital, and I can see Yu and Inui fighting below, so there's no point in keeping the vision going. I hop off Claire's back and transform, watching the battle.
"I refuse to lose here!" Inui screeches. "If I can't even defeat you, I'll never be able to fight on equal grounds with Ashley-chan! You're going down!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Yu says. "Careful there, you could hurt someone with all that fire!"
"That's the fucking point, you moron!" Inui screams. "Why don't you stay still for a moment so I can roast you alive!?"
I summon Teddy Mk II and start to charge my ultimate attack. It won't do any good right now, but perhaps if I time it right… at the same time, Inui activates her own charm magic, forcing Yu to stop moving. Wait… why didn't she do that earlier? It would've saved her a lot of trouble… or no, come to think of it, it probably wouldn't've made a difference. Yu's body is extremely resilient, and I bet she doesn't even feel pain, so probably the only way to actually defeat her would be to destroy her soul gem. I'm not even sure the charm effect actually works on her – it's possible she may just be immune to it. If not immune, she's certainly at least resistant.
"Have a taste of my ultimate attack!" Inui bellows. "Heart-throbbing Passionate Inferno!"
Yu is engulfed by a pillar of pink flames that should be enough to kill pretty much anyone, but I already know that's not going to work. It's difficult, but I can barely make out her outline within the flames as she jumps. I unleash my own ultimate attack at her, and my glittery beam intersects the pillar of flames.
"Claire-chan, as soon as Komachi-chan comes in range, make sure she knows where we are," I say.
"Of course."
As Inui's pillar of flames clears, it reveals Yu lying on her back on the ground. I'm tempted to jump down and kill her right then and there, but something tells me she'll recover before I get there and still manage to dodge.
"D-did I… win?" Inui pants.
Almost immediately after those words exit her mouth, Yu hops up and stabs one of her stilettos through Inui's throat, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Inui blinks in shock.
"H-how!?" she gasps, somehow managing to talk despite her injured throat.
Although Yu's outfit is scorched, she herself doesn't seem to be injured at all. Is she just literally immune to damage or something crazy?
"What? You didn't think a little fire would be enough to kill me, did you?" Yu asks. "That was barely any warmer than a heating table…"
Inui gapes at her. "Y-y-you're… insane…"
Apparently deeming her unworthy of further response, Yu powers down and grumbles a little as she turns away.
"Geez… what a pain," she grumbles. "At this rate she'll probably turn into a witch and I'll have to fight her again."
Then she runs off, leaving Inui just lying there. That's my cue to jump down from the roof. I land a short distance from Inui and kneel beside her. Startled, she blinks up at me.
"Ashley-chan… I'm sorry," she says. "I failed… I failed to protect Sho-kun… what am I going to do!?"
She props herself up, panting heavily and bleeding profusely. Her skin is deathly pale, no doubt from the extreme blood loss. I can see her soul gem approaching its limit, so I decide to try and inject a little hope.
"Hang in there, Inui-chan," I say. "Help will be here at any moment. We'll have you all healed up as good as new in no time."
Right as I'm saying that, Kyuubey pops out from somewhere to rub salt in the wound.
"Itsumi Inui," it says. "You're in rough shape. Did you fight the Sleepwalking Spectre?"
Inui turns to stare at it.
"K-kyuubey…"
"Even with your powers, you couldn't stop her, could you? She doesn't listen to common sense or reason. She even has an incredible ability to survive and persevere. If you weren't being targeted by her personally, you should have given up."
The incubator pauses for a few more seconds, but Inui seems to be unable to muster a response. I feel a little incensed at how it's totally ignoring me here.
"There is nothing I can do to help you now," Kyuubey says. "Your wounds would be fatal to a normal human, but your emotional state is even worse. Even though we're next to a hospital, it's already too late – human doctors won't be able to save you."
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched," I retort. "I brought a grief seed."
"Ah, I see," Kyuubey says. "I thought you would have already used one if you had one."
I take out one of my grief seeds, getting ready to use it. If possible, I'd like to save it for after she's healed, because I'm a little worried what might happen once the full reality of her wounds hits her after being purified. There's some evidence that magical girls can die from wounds that would be fatal to a normal person, likely because just the thought that they've received a fatal wound can in itself cause the soul gem to crack. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but as long as her soul gem isn't at its limit… I won't take that risk. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like Inui has fully processed the severity of her wounds, so I need to keep her talking…
"Well… I don't care," Inui mutters. "There's no point in continuing to live… not without Sho-kun… please, kill me, before I…"
"Don't say that, Inui-chan!" I say. "Surely there's more to your life than just Sho-kun! Frankly, he doesn't deserve a sweet, pure girl like you! And we can get revenge on the Spectre. I have a few ideas on how to defeat her."
Inui blinks. "A-ashley-chan… th-that's great and all but… what's the point if I still can't have Sho-kun?"
Her obsession with that man is abnormal. I'm pretty sure it's nothing supernatural or anything but still…
"Even if you don't have Sho-kun, you have me," I say. "I'm here for you."
Inui begins to cry, silent tears running down her face.
"I… I know… but the one I wanted… the one I wanted was Sho-kun!"
Despite our conversation, her soul gem isn't clouding up as quickly as I'd expected. It's still very close to its limit, but it appears to be almost stable at this point. I lean down to awkwardly, gingerly give her a hug, keeping an eye on her soul gem with my clairvoyance.
"I know," I say. "I know you wanted Sho-kun… it must be so awful to have a one-sided love that will never be returned…"
"Sho-kun was the only thing I had," Inui sobs. "He was… he was everything to me… and yet… and yet… Ashley-chan… you've been so kind to me… even though you thought I was just a nuisance…"
"H-huh? How'd you know I used to think that!?"
To my surprise, Inui manages a tiny giggle.
"Oh come on, Ashley-chan! It was so, so, so super-obvious! I'd be shocked if anyone missed it! You're really bad at hiding your feelings, you know?"
"I-is that really true?" I wonder.
I don't think I'm so bad at hiding how I feel, at least when I really put my mind to it… or am I giving myself too much credit? Or is Inui just really good at reading people and assumes that something obvious to her would be obvious to everyone?
That's when Komachi rounds the corner at a run, transforming as she does so.
"I'm here!" she shouts. "Where's the patient? W-whoa! Oh my god, it's a wonder you're still alive!"
I back off a little as Komachi kneels beside her and begins to use her healing magic. While she's working on that, Claire, Elise, and even Hiyori join us in the alleyway.
"Huh? How'd you get here so fast, Hiyori-chan?" I ask.
"I was closer in the first place," Hiyori points out. "When onee-san emailed me about the situation, I ran over as fast as I could."
Slowly but surely, Inui's wounds start to close up. Once the worst of them are healed, I lean in and use the grief seed to purify Inui's soul gem. All that grief is drawn right out, returning it to its usual bright teal shine… although it seems like it wasn't perfect. There's still a little bit of grief in there, probably less than five percent. The grief seed is spent, of course, so I toss it to Kyuubey, who catches it as usual in the compartment on its back. As if it had just been waiting for that, it then turns and trots off out of the alleyway.
"Say, Ashley-chan," Inui says. "Do you know? Is it true?"
"Hmm? About what?" I ask.
"That magical girls will… turn into witches."
"Oh, that… yes, I knew, and it's true. Did you find out just now, or did you already know?"
"I… sort of suspected there was something," Inui says. "So when the Sleepwalking Spectre said that… it just sort of clicked…"
"You're surprisingly calm for someone who just found out," I say.
"It doesn't really matter," Inui says. "Sho-kun's probably dead by now… nothing really matters anymore. He was the only thing I had… no-one at school likes me, either… I have nothing left…"
"Nothing at all?" I ask. "You really have nothing to live for besides Sho-kun? No-one you talk to at school?"
"W-well… that was true," Inui admits. "There's a couple of girls I talk to at school, but they're not friends… they badmouth me behind my back and everything. But… I have you now, Ashley-chan… just now, when I thought I was going to die, my only regret was that I wouldn't be able to say goodbye to you… but then you showed up."
"You don't have any family?" I ask.
"Just Dad," she says bitterly. "He doesn't care about me one bit. And… and he comes home drunk a lot and… beats me."
I blink. "W-whoa, I never realized you had such an awful home life," I say. "I'm sorry…"
"Why are you apologizing?" Inui asks. "It's not your fault that Dad's a drunk. It's not even your fault that you didn't ask me about it. If you had asked, I never would've told you anyway…"
"Um… you said he beats you," I say. "Is… does he do anything… worse?"
Inui shakes her head.
"Maybe he would, if he had the chance," she says. "But I give as good as I get… plus he passes out before anything can happen."
"Whew!" Komachi gasps. "Okay… that should do it, I think. That was a lot of work… how the hell'd you get so many wounds?"
"It was the Sleepwalking Spectre," Claire says.
Komachi gasps. "Oh god, not her again! Is she attacking magical girls too now?"
"That's not quite it, but… I think it's time she was dealt with," I say. "Komachi-chan, how's your soul gem?"
Komachi looks at it and blinks. "W-whoa, looks like I used quite a bit of magic… but don't worry, I've got a grief seed here somewhere."
She pulls one out and uses it, purifying her soul gem. There's still another use or two left in that seed, too, so she puts it away again.
"How about you, Claire-chan?" I ask.
"I didn't use that much magic," Claire says. "I'm okay."
"Right… let's go after the Sleepwalking Spectre," I say. "She's been killing people for weeks, and now she attacked Inui-chan just for trying to protect one of those people… sure, the people she kills might be mostly terrible people, but that doesn't mean she has the right to kill them."
"B-but um… how do we even find her?" Inui asks. "She's long gone now, right?"
"Yeah… hmm," I say.
As I consider the situation, I look around to make sure Kyuubey hasn't returned, since this is something I'd prefer not to talk about in its presence. Fortunately, it's nowhere to be seen… I figure it has gone to see either Nagisa or Yu.
"I think there's a very high chance that Yu will come back to the hospital," I say finally. "I have reason to believe that one of the people she's looking for is there, and if I know Kyuubey, it'll tell her about that person."
Inui blinks. "Huh? Why would Kyuubey do something like that?" she asks. "I thought he disapproved of the Spectre killing people…"
"Normally it does, yeah," I nod. "But it also wants to create more witches. The person I'm thinking of has a daughter who's a magical girl. Her death could cause her daughter to turn into a witch."
"H-how do you know all of this?" Inui asks.
"That's a secret for now," I say. "Just in case Kyuubey is eavesdropping."
Komachi looks around. "Huh? He was even here just a minute ago…"
"Guess it had somewhere else to be," I shrug.
I check in on what Yu is up to and find her standing over a man's corpse. He's been stabbed through the chest, and I recognize him from Inui's pictures. Kyuubey perches atop a dumpster, looking at her.
"You have killed another one," it says.
"He was a bad man," Yu says. "Very bad. Did you need something from me?"
"Not really," Kyuubey says. "I just noticed that one of the targets on your list is currently in the hospital."
"Oh? Which one?" Yu asks.
"Momoe Saki."
"Oh! Thank you very much!" Yu says.
I close off the vision and take a few deep breaths to stave off the urge to vomit.
"A-are you okay, Ashley-chan?" Inui asks.
"Y-yeah… looks like you and I were both right, Inui-chan," I say. "Yu just killed Sho-kun, and now she's coming back for Momoe Saki."
"So what'll we do?" Komachi asks. "We could save this Momoe Saki, right?"
"Well, we could, but it's not like she deserves to be saved," I say. "I'm not like Yu… I wouldn't say she deserves to die and then go and kill her. But it also doesn't feel right to go out of my way to save her life… plus, she has a terminal disease, so she'd probably die even if Yu didn't find her."
"Huh, a terminal disease," Komachi muses. "I had something like that too… and I wished for a cure. So, I bet I can fix her up."
"But how much magic will that take?" I ask. "Is it safe? There's no point trying to heal her if you'll use up your magic and become a witch."
"Th-that's true," Komachi says. "Actually, you have a point… I have a general idea of how much magic it might take, and it's a lot…"
"I think I can probably keep Yu from attacking her," I muse. "If I just point out she'll die anyway, then she might back off… and if we recruit Momoe Nagisa as well…"
"There's another problem," Elise says. "If we're going to fight the Sleepwalking Spectre, we need to find a place where we won't do too much damage…"
"Right, we don't have anyone here who can generate a labyrinth," I say.
"Eh? Is there a magical girl who can do that?" Inui asks.
"There is!" Komachi says. "We met her one time…"
"I suspect it's something any magical girl can learn," I say. "But it also seems to be a pretty uncommon ability…"
Dammit, I should've asked Kazumi how she did it before… but now time has been reset and she won't know anymore… and we're running out of time.
"The hospital roof?" I suggest.
"I don't really think that's a good place," Claire says. "It would be visible and people would see…"
"Yeah… you're right…" I sigh.
"Even so, it's a good starting point," Elise says. "If we can lure her to the roof, maybe we can convince her to fight us somewhere else. The only problem is that she's impossible to reason with…"
"I think if we make it clear that we want to fight, it should get through to her," I say. "Fine… it's not a good plan, but since we can't think of anything else, let's just go with that. I'll lure her out, and meet you on the roof. How does that sound?"
Five heads nod, and then those of them that weren't already transformed do so and wall-hop up to the hospital roof. Meanwhile, I power down and head out of the alleyway to enter the hospital by the main entrance. As I go, I check on Nagisa with my clairvoyance. She seems to be waiting for an elevator, and as I look around, I spot her with my real eyes. That's strange… the time frames don't seem to match up. We must have spent five or ten minutes just discussing the Sleepwalking Spectre… was she just waiting here that whole time? Was she actually waiting for something when Uhrmann spawned in the previous timeline? This is starting to make my brain hurt…
Well, whatever. I walk up behind her, and the elevator chooses that moment to open, so I slip in with her. She blinks at me. She is carrying a box, the sort of flimsy cardboard box commonly used to hold cake or pastries.
"Oh, it's you," she says. "What are you doing here?"
"It might sound strange, but I'm looking for Yu."
"Huh… I don't think you'll find her here though," Nagisa says.
"You might be surprised," I say. "Isn't your mother on her list? Maybe she realized she's here."
Nagisa blinks at me. "How did you know all that? Can you read minds? Or see the future or something?"
"Something like that," I say. "My name is Ashley Taylor."
"Eh? You're introducing yourself now!?"
"Well, I neglected to properly introduce myself last time we met," I reply.
"Yeah but Kyuubey named you," Nagisa points out.
"Oh, did it?" I say. "I'd forgotten. So um… are you going to introduce yourself too?"
"Why should I?" Nagisa retorts. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, anyway."
"Good question," I say. "But you're not the type of person to do what people say, right?"
She looks at me suspiciously. "Fine then. Momoe Nagisa. You happy now?"
"So Nagisa-chan, what'll you do if Yu kills your mother?" I ask.
Nagisa shrugs. "That won't happen. Mom can only die because I chose not to save her with my wish."
"Is that so…"
The elevator doors open, and Nagisa steps out. Of course, I follow her. After about ten steps, she spins and points at me.
"Why are you following me!?"
"Didn't I say already? I'm looking for Yu. I thought your mother's room would be a good place to start."
She looks at me suspiciously, then spins and stalks off.
"You're not coming in!" she says. "If Yu's not there, then leave!"
"Sure," I say. "I'll do just that."
We come to a door with Momoe Saki's name on it, and Nagisa opens it without knocking. There's no-one there, and she turns to me triumphantly.
"See? She's not—"
At that exact moment, we hear the sound of shattering glass, and Nagisa spins to face the window opposite the door. The Sleepwalking Spectre is kneeling there, fully transformed. The two of them stare at each other for so long that I feel obliged to break the silence… once I've checked the room with my clairvoyance to make sure Mrs Momoe is still asleep.
"Well, looks like I was right," I say.
"Looks like you were," Nagisa grumbles. "Yu… what are you doing here?"
"Oh, it's Nagisa," Yu says. "It's nothing special. I just discovered that this woman is on my list, so I have to kill her."
"You can't!" Nagisa says. "She's my mother!"
"Ah… is that so?" Yu says. "But she's a bad person. You'll be better off if she's dead."
"I don't care!" Nagisa says. "You can't kill her!"
"What Nagisa-chan is trying to say," I add, "is that she's already almost on her deathbed. She doesn't have long to live."
"Oh… is that true?" Yu asks.
Nagisa nods.
"Hmm… well, she is your mother, Nagisa, so I suppose I can wait a few more days to see if she kicks the bucket on her own. Hmm… let me see… how about three days?"
"Five!" Nagisa says.
Yu shrugs. "Sure, whatever… but if she's not dead five days from now, I'll come back and kill her then. Is that a deal?"
"Whatever!" Nagisa grumbles. "Just go!"
"Wait!" I say.
Yu looks from Nagisa to me.
"Ah, I remember you," she says. "You were the one who kept getting in my way when I was trying to fight that witch. What do you want?"
"My name is Ashley Taylor," I say. "And I challenge you to a duel."
Yu tilts her head. "That's such a pain… can we not?"
"No," I say. "Even if you refuse, I'm going to come for you whether you like it or not."
"I'm a very busy girl," Yu says. "I don't have time for these stupid little squabbles."
"Really? Well, I have plenty of time to attack you every time I see you. Is that more or less of a pain than duelling me today?"
"Hmm… I suppose you have a point," Yu says.
"Miss Taylor, are you going to kill Yu?" Nagisa asks.
"Well, I won't rule out that possibility," I say.
"Hmm… Yu, are you going to kill Miss Taylor?" Nagisa asks.
"If she refuses to back down, then I might," Yu says.
"If you accept my duel, Yumeno Yusa, then follow me," I say.
Yu blinks. "H-huh? That name… is it supposed to be mine?"
"Of course," I say. "You forgot, right?"
"Maybe," Yu says. "I still don't remember. That name doesn't sound familiar at all."
"That's too bad," I say. "You lost everything when you made your wish… your former lover, Kei, must be feeling very disappointed in you."
Despite her claim that she remembers nothing, this actually seems to ruffle her. She has never shown much emotion in the time I've known her, but now she actually frowns a little.
"Who is… Kei…?"
"Ah, so your lover's name is familiar?"
"I don't know," Yu says.
"Just come with me," I say.
"Ugh, this is such a pain," Yu says. "Fine, I'm coming."
She powers down and steps out of the room, following me as I make my way back to the elevator. We step in, and I set it to go to the roof. As we go up, I watch Nagisa through my clairvoyance. She heads over to sit by her mother's bed, leaving the box on a nearby table, and just watches for a little while. Suddenly, Nagisa's mother stirs.
"Nagisa, are you there?" Mrs Momoe says.
Without a word, Nagisa stands up and turns on the lights, then fetches the box and returns to her seat.
"Nagisa…"
"I brought you a cheesecake," Nagisa says.
"You're always so nice to me, Nagisa," Mrs Momoe says.
Nagisa opens the box and serves the cheesecake. She even brought a fork. Her mother takes one bite, blinks, then practically wolfs the rest down.
"Mom, it was delicious, wasn't it?" Nagisa says.
"That was the best cheesecake I've ever tasted," Mrs Momoe says.
"You're going to die, Mom."
Mrs Momoe gasps. "W-what? Have you been talking to the doctors!?"
"They all said you're going to die," Nagisa says.
"Stupid doctors, talking where you can hear…" Mrs Momoe mutters.
"But that's not why you're going to die," Nagisa says. "That cheesecake."
Mrs Momoe blinks. "You're not telling me it was poisoned? Nothing that delicious could be poison."
"No, it's not that," Nagisa says. "I made a wish. I could've wished to save you, but instead I wished for that cheesecake."
"Stop talking nonsense," Mrs Momoe says. "Wishes aren't something that can be conveniently granted."
"It's true," Nagisa says. "That cheesecake was the most delicious one you've ever tasted, because I wished for it."
She blinks at her daughter. "Even if I were to believe that, why would you do such a thing?"
"Because you ignore me, Mom," Nagisa says.
"W-what are you talking about?" Mrs Momoe says.
"You ignore me," Nagisa repeats. "You hate me. You push all your problems on me."
With every sentence, Nagisa's voice grows a tiny bit louder.
"What? H-how could I ever hate you…?"
"You do hate me," Nagisa says. "You shout at me for no reason. You push all your problems at me. You ignore me. So that's why I decided not to save you. You're going to die because I chose not to save you."
"Stop with this nonsense," Mrs Momoe snaps.
"I refuse!" Nagisa shouts. "I'm not going to hold myself back anymore! I won't listen to you anymore, or to anyone! I'm not going to do what anyone asks me to do anymore! From now on, I'm going to act only for myself!"
"Nagisa!" Mrs Momoe says. "I didn't raise you to be such a spoiled brat!"
"You never raised me at all!" Nagisa retorts. "You ignored me and pushed all your problems on me! You hit me for no reason! You locked me in my room just because you were angry at Dad! You didn't even bother to feed me some days! Mom, I hate you!"
This is bad… maybe I should've stayed with Nagisa longer, but it's too late now. The elevator has finally reached the roof, and I step out with Yu following. If I'm lucky, perhaps we can finish Yu off before Nagisa's soul gem is overwhelmed…
Mrs Momoe glares at her daughter. "You… you ungrateful child!" she screams. "Get out of here this instant! I don't want to see your face again!"
"Fine then!" Nagisa shouts back. "I don't want to see yours either!"
And with that, she turns and stomps out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Oh?" Yu says. "Your friends are all here too… I thought you said you wanted a duel?"
Inui and the quartet are waiting for us on the roof. They all glare at Yu as she makes her appearance.
"I'm going to get back at you for what you did to Sho-kun!" Inui shouts.
"Ugh, it's you again," Yu groans. "Why couldn't you have just turned into a witch… although that's also a pain…"
"I was the one who saved her," I say. "This girl happens to be my part-time partner in battle."
"Ashley-chan!?" Inui gasps. "Y-you thought of me as… as a partner?"
"Oh, is that so?" Yu says. "I didn't realize you knew each other."
"Alright, let's get this over with," I say.
I transform and summon both Teddy Mk II and my sword.
"This is such a pain," Yu says. "Do we really have to do this?"
"I already explained that," I say. "I refuse to back down, and my friends aren't going to either. Yumeno Yusa… it's time for you to be reunited with your beloved Kei."
Yu blinks. "Reunited you say…"
At that moment, a barrier starts to form around us, and the quartet gasp almost in unison.
"H-huh?" Elise says. "Is this barrier your doing, Ashley-chan?"
I look around at the forming labyrinth, and my heart sinks. I recognize this place.
"No… this isn't my doing," I say. "It looks like Momoe Nagisa turned into a witch after all…"
"Then we should go kill her," Yu says. "We're magical girls, so that's what we do, right?"
"Yes, that's what we'll do," I say. "After we're finished pounding you into the ground. You'd better prepare yourself."
I start giving telepathic instructions.
«Hiyori-chan, use your distraction move! Inui-chan, try to use charm at every opportunity! Elise-chan, try to swarm her with mobs so she can't dodge as easily! Komachi-chan, if you manage to so much as scratch her, use drain! Claire-chan… if you can think of any way to slow her movements with your electricity, then do it! She has the advantage in speed and reflexes, so we need to do everything we can to take that advantage away!»
Then without waiting for a response, I set Teddy to start charging for an attack and leap in, swinging my sword. Komachi and Claire also leap in, swinging their weapons, and Inui summons her flame whip.
"You're mine!" Inui shouts. "Look only at me!"
It's not much, but that shout causes Yu to hesitate for just a moment, allowing Komachi to graze one of her arms.
«I managed to drain a bit!» Komachi says. «It's not much, though…»
Inui cracks her whip, blocking Yu as she attempts to retreat, and I dive in for a thrust. However, Yu avoids it by twisting her body instead, leaving me off-balance. Stupid… I shouldn't commit to my attacks so much. Maybe I'm not entirely in my right mind here at all.
"Look at me!" Inui shouts. "I'm over here!"
Again, Yu hesitates for just a moment, and Claire manages to get in a glancing blow. I'm almost certain of it now – Yu has a resistance to the charm effect, but she's not immune. Perhaps if Inui and I hit her at the exact same time…
"You're not going to transform?" I ask. "Just gonna dodge? You're really not taking this seriously at all, are you…"
If she's so good at dodging, not transforming actually gives her an advantage – it's harder to target the soul gem in ring form, after all.
"It's just such a pain," Yu says. "But you're right… if I don't take this seriously, I could die."
She transforms, brandishing her stilettos. That's when Hiyori and Elise finish their setup. As Yu charges at me, the bewitch takes effect on her, and I find it easy to dodge her attack.
"Huh? What happened?" Yu wonders. "Oh… is it magic that redirects attacks or something? Well, that sort of thing won't work for very long though."
Then she's swarmed by a horde of strange creatures that seem to consist of a head, feet, and arms sticking out of a roughly spherical construction of bark. They attack with ordinary sticks, and Yu dodges by jumping into the air, only to find herself swarmed by what look to be tengu instead.
"What is this?" Yu wonders. "These creatures don't seem like familiars…"
She lands again, and the three of us once more lunge for her.
"Look at me!" Inui shouts. "Just look already!"
Now Yu has almost nowhere to dodge, and yet she still manages to contort her body in a way that almost avoids all three attacks at once… but I manage to scratch her with my sword. I glance at Teddy Mk II.
«Inui-chan, my charm attack is ready. Let's combine our attacks next time.»
«You mean with connect?» she asks.
«Exactly… you can connect to me, and then I'll shoot her while you charm her. Or I could connect to you, if you have a good way to attack her.»
Inui cracks her flame whip, once again cutting off Yu's path of retreat in one direction, and this time she even manages to graze Yu's ear.
"Ow! That hurt!" Yu protests. "What is wrong with all of you!?"
«I think you should connect with me,» Inui says suddenly. «When you connect, the charm effect is transferred, but when I connect, I don't think it is. If we do that, I think we can triple the charm effect, with your ultimate, my charm call, and my ultimate boosted by your connect. Let's do it now.»
Oh right, she has a good point there. It seems quite plausible. I back off from the melee combat, stowing my sword away and heading over to slap Inui's palm, evoking the signature flash of a connect skill's activation. Then we both shout out our ultimates together. The others also back off a little, no doubt because Inui's telepathy was transmitted to them too.
"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!"
"Heart-throbbing Passionate Inferno!"
Once again, my glittery beam and Inui's pillar of pink fire intersect, engulfing Yu in the combined magic. Then Inui adds the third layer of charm on top.
"I'm over here!" she shouts. "Look at me! You're mine!"
Without even considering my own safety, I dive right into that pillar of fire. I can just barely make out Yu's silhouette within the flames, and she doesn't seem to be moving. I pull my sword out again and thrust, aiming for her head… but just as I come in range, the charm wears off and she jumps. Because of that, my sword impales her through the chest instead. The impact carries the two of us out of the pillar of fire, and I end up on top of Yu, gripping her throat with my free hand.
"This… isn't over," Yu gasps. "I… won't die… from something… like this!"
Inui rushes over to glare down at her.
"No, you might not die from something like that," she retorts.
She leans down to grab that horn on Yu's forehead. At the base of the horn is Yu's soul gem, and she tears both of them right off, exposing Yu's face. She grips Yu's soul gem in her hand.
"But this… this you will die from!" Inui shouts.
"No… don't… I still haven't… killed all the bad people…" Yu gasps.
Then Inui crushes Yu's soul gem in her hand, and Yu jerks once and lies still, her transformation cancelled.
"I can't believe we did it," Inui gasps, collapsing to her knees..
"Me too," Komachi says. "I almost thought the Sleepwalking Spectre was invincible…"
"It's not over yet," I say. "We're still in a witch's labyrinth, right?"
The familiars haven't been bothering us, but that's only because Elise's summons have been keeping them at bay. I can see quite a few familiars swarming around the edges of this room.
"I… I don't think I can fight anymore," Inui gasps. "I'm sorry…"
"Well… I think I can defeat the witch with Miss Tomoe's help," I say. "That is, assuming she comes… since we're here, there's a chance she won't show up…"
I check with my clairvoyance, but it seems my worries were in vain.
"Oh, she is in the labyrinth," I say. "Then all I need to do is meet up with her. In fact, she may even be able to handle the witch herself… but I want to make sure. If the rest of you are tired, you can make your way out of the labyrinth."
"Y-yeah… I think I'll do that," Elise says. "Who else is with me?"
"I'll go," Claire says.
"Me too," Inui says.
"I'm going with Ashley-chan," Hiyori says.
"I'll accompany you too, Ashley-chan," Komachi says.
So we split in half, with one group heading out of the labyrinth while I and the Hayashi sisters head deeper in. As we're searching for the witch's chamber, I see Mami enter it. That's not good… we're almost out of time! Last time, she was saved by Madoka, but that's not going to happen this time – Madoka hasn't yet made a contract in this timeline, thanks to Homura's interference.
But it seems that we were pretty close too. As Mami is fighting Charlotte's first form, I finally spot the door to the witch's chamber.
«Hiyori-chan, get ready to blast the witch with a sonic attack as soon as we enter,» I say. «Otherwise, there's a very good chance Miss Tomoe will die.»
«G-got it!» Hiyori says, gripping her harp.
I kick the door down just in the nick of time. Charlotte's first form is defeated, and Mami turns in surprise as we enter.
"Oh my, what a surprise," she says.
As she speaks, Charlotte's second form comes out, the black snake ready to chomp down on her head, but Hiyori strums a dissonant chord, blasting the witch back. Mami gasps and hops aside.
"W-whoa!" she says. "You saved me, Miss Hayashi!"
"Do you need some help, Miss Tomoe?" I ask.
"Well, I would never turn down the offer," she says.
But it looks like she doesn't actually need our help. The only reason Charlotte was too much to handle was because of the trick that caught her off guard. Once she's aware of the second form, she fights as gracefully as ever. Of course, the three of us help her, but I can't shake the feeling that we weren't needed.
When Charlotte is finally defeated, Mami snags the grief seed and the labyrinth collapses, leaving us on the street in front of the hospital. Elise, Claire, and Inui run up to us.
"Ashley-chan!" Inui says. "I'm glad you're safe!"
"Me too," I say.
"Thank you for the help," Mami says. "I am afraid I cannot do much to repay you, but it was appreciated. I will try to think of something."
"Don't worry about it," I say. "I just happened to pop in at the right moment. It's nothing you need to repay me for. Oh… but you're welcome to hunt in this area from now on – Inui-chan has decided to team up with me."
"Are you sure?" Mami asks, and I nod. "Well, if that's what you want, then I will honour your wish." She bows. "Until next time."
Then she powers down and heads off, with Inui shooting a glare at her receding back. The Hayashi sisters and I power down too; the others had already done so.
"Why is she always so snooty?" Inui grumbles. "It bugs me so much…"
"I don't think she's snooty," Hiyori protests. "That's just the way she talks…"
"Inui-chan… what are you going to do now?" I ask.
"I…" Inui trails off. "I… I don't want to go home," she says. "I want to stay with you, Ashley-chan…"
"Well, I'm not sure if Mrs Hayashi would be okay with that," I say.
"We can ask her," Komachi says. "It can't hurt… all we have to say is that we'd like to take in a friend who ran away from home. I bet she'd do it."
"I'm not sure," Hiyori says. "But I agree it can't hurt to ask."
"If Mrs Hayashi won't do it, I can ask my parents," Claire suggests.
"Me too," Elise says. "If Mrs Hayashi won't do it. My place should really be a last resort, to be honest."
I look at Inui. "Are you sure you don't want to go home?" I ask. "I don't mean to stay, just… there's nothing at home that you'd want to bring with you?"
Inui falls silent for a few moments.
"There are a few things," she admits. "And Dad shouldn't be home for a few more hours… so let's go right now!"
"We'll head straight home and ask Mom," Komachi says. "I'll email you with her answer."
"Alright!" I say. "Let's go!"
Inui leads me to a small, poorly-maintained apartment building. She enters a code to unlock the front door, then goes up one flight of stairs and unlocks her apartment with a key. I blink at the mess inside… it's like no-one ever cleans up in here. It's even worse than my apartment was in my previous life – there are piles of trash in the corners, unwashed dishes in the sink, and flies buzzing all around. Inui ignores it all, stepping carefully through the mess to reach one of the bedrooms, and I choose to follow her. Unlike the main living room, her personal quarters are surprisingly neat and tidy, but also rather sparse. She grabs several things and stuffs them into her schoolbag – spare clothes, a few plush toys, assorted knick-knacks, and some manga. To my surprise, I spot a familiar title amongst them.
"Oh? Are you a fan of Phantom Thief Magical Kirin, Inui-chan?" I ask.
"I wouldn't say I'm a fan," Inui says. "But I like it, sure."
She doesn't seem to have the latest volumes though… perhaps she just couldn't afford them or something?
"Alright, I think this is good enough," Inui says.
In addition to her school bag, she's filled a second identical bag with more stuff.
"This is more than I expected," I say. "Not that it's a problem…"
"Oh, I should also write a note to Dad," Inui murmurs. "Just gimme a sec…"
She grabs a pen and a sheet of paper from somewhere and writes on it in large letters.
"Don't bother looking for me. ∼Inui∼."
"That's pretty terse," I point out.
"It's not like he'll actually read it," Inui shrugs. "It's just a way of showing that I wasn't kidnapped or murdered, really."
"Huh… you're thinking ahead…"
"I suppose so…"
Inui shoulders her schoolbag, and I take the spare bag. Unfortunately, unwelcome company arrives at just that moment. I hear the front door slam open as Inui steps out into the living room. A man in a business suit lurches on, leaning against the wall and clearly struggling to stay on his feet.
"Inui-chan, your daddy is back!" the man announces. "We gotta… we gotta celebrate his return! Yes, come to daddy!"
"Shut up, Dad," Inui says. "I've had enough of you!"
"How dare… how dare you talk… back to your… your dear ol' daddy!" he says, probably trying to shout but not quite managing it.
He lurches forward and grabs Inui by the shoulders. She averts her face, no doubt repulsed by his breath. Heck, I can even smell it from here.
"After daddy did… so much stuff for you… so much stuff… yesh, all sorts of stuff… thish is how you… how you… you…"
Suddenly he burps, and Inui flinches. A second later, the man's fist is raised, swinging down at his daughter. It's as if she recognized the burp as telegraphing violence… but I won't let him. I step forward and grab his arm before the blow lands, and he blinks at me as though he'd only just noticed me.
"Who… who th'hell are… whaddaya think you're doing?"
"I won't let you hurt her again," I say firmly.
Inui blinks at me, relaxing a little. "Ashley-chan!"
"She ish my daughter, I'm telling ya! Mine and… and no-one else's!" the man slurs. "I can… can… right! Like that! I can do what I wanna… anything I wanna… yesh, just like that, y'see?"
"Inui-chan, use your charm," I suggest.
Inui blinks at me in surprise, and then nods.
"Dad! Look at me! I'll comfort you!"
The man blinks and freezes up.
"H-huh? Say that again… think I got wax in my ears…"
Releasing her father's arm, I grab Inui's hand and we get the hell out of there. Of course, being charmed, her father is unable to even try to stop us… not that he could've succeeded if he tried, but it would've been a pain. I pull Inui outside and close the door.
"You really weren't kidding about him," I gasp. "Wow… that was… that was something else… he gets drunk this early in the day?"
"You ain't seen nothing," Inui retorts. "That was Dad on a good day. Well, apart from the early hour… maybe the office had a drinking party to celebrate something."
I shudder. "I don't even want to imagine what he's like on a bad day…"
As we head out from the apartment building, I check my email and find a message from Komachi saying that Inui is welcome to stay for at least a few days.
"Well, seems like you can stay with the Hayashi family at least for a couple of days," I say. "We'll see how it goes from there… how does that sound?"
"Y-yeah… thanks a lot, Ashley-chan," Inui says. "L-let's go."