"So, the situation is like this… wait." The girl in white said, then paused. "Before we discuss that, shall we exchange names first?"

"O-oh, sure! My name is Kure Kirika." Kirika said, rubbing the back of her head. She still wasn't really sure what was going on. One second, she was trying to go on a walk to clear her head, and the next, she was being princess carried by the girl who had been in her thoughts for weeks. "A-and what's your name? I know we met before, but we didn't really talk that much then, not sure if you remember…"

"Ah, yes. My name is Oriko Mikuni. And yes, I do remember. It's nice to meet you again, although I wish it could be under better circumstances." The girl said, giving her a benign smile. Kirika wasn't sure, but she could've sworn that Oriko was looking for something in her face when she gave her name.

Kirika mentally shrugged. Whatever it was for, it clearly wasn't something that she knew about. And what could such a perfect girl really have to worry about anyways? So she simply nodded. "Well, you saved me, so I can't say I mind. But, uh…" She paused. "Okay, seriously, what in the world was going on in there? It's really bugging me."

The girl- "Oriko," she reminded herself- took a deep breath. "I know that much of what I have to say may seem a bit fantastical, but please, bear with me. This is important." She said. "I am what is known as a 'magical girl'. I made a contract with Kyubey here-" at that she patted the little creature on her shoulder- "to become a magical girl, and fight what are known as 'Witches'- creatures such as the one you observed inside that barrier just now."

"Don't forget to mention the Wish, Oriko!" The little creature said. "That's the important part!"

A look of annoyance twitched across Oriko's face, changing back into a carefully controlled expression almost as soon as it appeared. "Yes. The wish. In exchange for agreeing to join the fight against Witches, Kyubey here oh so generously gives us a chance to make a wish for whatever we may desire."

"Why the sarcasm, Oriko?" Kyubey asked, so sincerely that if it wasn't speaking in a monotone, Kirika would've sworn that it was confused. "Is that not the deal that you yourself decided to take?"

"Yes, Kyubey, it was." Oriko said. "However, wouldn't you say that you were hiding things from me when I contracted?" She raised an eyebrow, looking towards her shoulder. Abstractly, Kirika admired the effort- she knew that she would be pretty intimidated if she had that eyebrow raised towards her.

"Did I hide something?" Kyubey asked. The pasted on nature of its smile was becoming more and more apparent as Kirika watched the exchange. She didn't have the chance to see it within the barrier, but now that there was some more light, she saw that the creature's face hadn't changed even once in the whole conversation.

Unaware of Kirika's growing unease, Oriko continued onwards. "Yes Kyubey, you did. In particular…" She breathed in through her nose, as if to steel herself. "Why did you hide the fact that Witches come from the Soul Gems of magical girls?" She kept her tone steady, but the scowl on her face was clearly visible.

"Eh?" Kirika let out, only to blush in embarrassment as she realized that she had actually said something. Damn it, couldn't she avoid embarrassing herself even one time? She really was useless. "W-wait, Mikuni-san, didn't you just say that magical girls fight Witches? But now you're saying that they become Witches?"

Oriko gave a sad nod. "Yes, that is the unfortunate truth of magical girls that Kyubey tries to hide from his contractees. All magical girls, upon using up their reserves of magic, will become a Witch. I'm not quite sure what benefit Kyubey receives from this, but I've seen it happen." Her mask dropped a little bit, showing a pensive look. "It's… not very pleasant."

"I see, so that's the reason for the hostility." The little rat said. "I was wondering what kind of information you might be able to find out with your powers- it seems that they're as far-reaching as I thought it could be."

Kirika still wasn't quite sure how these magical girls worked exactly, but what she did get made her internally furious. Kyubey was trying to turn someone as regal and kind hearted as Oriko into a being like the monster in the barrier? But what could she do? She couldn't think of any way that she could help Oriko with that kind of thing. Hell, she didn't know that the problem even existed beforehand.

"So you don't deny it." Oriko said, her gaze sharpening. "But please, tell me, why would you do such a thing? And why would you not tell me before I made the contract?" A slight tone of desperation entered her voice.

"Why would I deny the truth?" It said, idly swishing its tail. "As for why we have this system, it is for the purpose of pushing off the heat death of the universe through the utilization of the magic inherent to the emotions of sapient beings. A worthy goal, would you not agree? I don't understand why you humans get so worked up about it. Even you must agree that a bit of trickery is worthwhile in the pursuit of such a goal."

"...I see." Oriko murmured, seemingly shocked into silence. After a moment, she straightened up, and raised her voice to normal levels. "I cannot condone this, however. Things are not so dire that you need to sacrifice millions of girls for the sake of an event due to happen quadrillions of years into the future. You are committing a great crime."

"Is that so? It is simply the logical path to take." Kyubey observed, tail still swishing. "It is necessary to avert this crisis, regardless of when it is due to occur. To say otherwise is to allow a fallacy to enter your logic."

"That is untrue. I-" Oriko cut herself off. "No. I am not here to debate the morality of magical girls with you." She turned towards Kirika, who was slightly shocked by the scale of what was being discussed. "Kure-san. You have heard from Kyubey's own mouth that it intentionally deceives us in pursuit of its own goals. Knowing this, I ask you not to form a contract with it." Her features softened. "Whatever you may think of yourself, it is not worth the price that Kyubey asks you to pay. Please, keep this in mind." Oriko bowed lightly, and turned to walk away. "A good day to you."

"W-wait!" Kirika shocked herself yet again. Would she never learn that good-for-nothings like her were meant to keep their mouths shut? But she had to ask, she would hate herself even more if she met the only person who had ever been nice to her again and then did nothing to try and connect with her. "Mikuni-san, u-um, would you like to be friends? You seem like a very kind person, and…" She trailed off, mentally berating herself. "Trying to make even more of an idiot of yourself?" She asked herself.

Oriko turned back to her, mouth slightly open, which quickly turned into a small smile. "I would be glad of such a thing. In fact, I was thinking… Kure-san, would you like to come to my house for tea tomorrow evening? I'm sure that you have school tomorrow, as do I, but I would be happy if you would come over later in the day. Perhaps at 5?"

And just like that, Kirika's mood skyrocketed back up. To think that such a girl would even be willing to give her the time of day! "O-of course! I would love to! Can we exchange phone numbers?" It turned out that Oriko didn't have a mobile phone, but she got her house phone number, and they parted ways there. Kirika gave a wave as Oriko began to walk away once more, and she was met with a small bow. She walked back towards her family's apartment, a smile stretching across her face.

—

Oriko sighed as she reached her house, quickly entering and closing the door. She didn't even know how to feel anymore now that the excitement of the fight was over. Exhaustion flooded throughout her entire body. It almost made her just want to lie down and never get up again. Oriko had gotten exactly what she wished for, and it turned out that her wish involved seeing the horrible things that would come from her every time she did anything. But she deserved it. Was she not the daughter of a criminal, and a ruthless schemer in her own right? She had misled Kirika about her visions for her own good, but how would she feel about it once she found out that Oriko had seen her in her most delicate moments? And it was only a matter of time until Kirika found out her dirty secret. Everyone knew she was the daughter of Hisaomi Mikuni, the daughter of a thieving politician. What was she even doing?

"Oh, Oriko, I neglected to mention something." The little creature said from her shoulder, breaking her out of her musing. "You picked up that stone earlier, correct?" At Oriko's quizzical nod, he continued. "That is what is known as a Grief Seed. If you hold it to your Soul Gem, it will remove any corruption within." She glanced at her Soul Gem, and with a start, realized that it was brimming with black, a far cry from the shining white that it had been before. Not quite full, but not very pleasant to look at, either. Oriko took the Grief Seed out of her pocket, and held it to her Soul Gem as instructed, watching the corruption flow out of her gem into the seed. Once she finished, she realized that she felt somewhat better than she did before.

"Say, Kyubey…" She started, tone carefully neutral. "Is the name 'Soul Gem' literal? Is the Gem really indicative of the state of my soul?"

"Yes, it is." Kyubey confirmed. "I assumed that you knew already, from your discovery of the origin of Witches. But yes, Soul Gems hold the souls of magical girls within them."

Oriko sighed. She supposed it wasn't that big of a deal compared to the revelation about witches, but it was much too late for this nonsense. "Alright then, Kyubey. I suppose I'll see you tomorrow." After the creature hopped off her shoulder and disappeared to who knows where, Oriko quickly changed and got into bed, escaping from her new concerns into her dreams.