Wish Upon a Ghostory

by Pentalithia

Inspired by the special units in Magia Record, this aims to be a retelling of the Bakemonogatari series shifted into the Madoka universe. None of the main characters of the Madoka franchise are slated to appear in this story. Since it's a Magical Girl story, the primary viewpoint is shifted to the girls instead of Koyomi.

2. Launch of a Memory Pyre

Laura lounged around on a large desk that was probably meant for the teacher's use, kicking her legs in boredom. Although the past few days had contained more interesting events than usual, the boredom in between the excitement was still killing her. And of course, where there was boredom, the suicidal thoughts crept in as always. What was the point of continuing to live on, anyway? Why not just crush her soul gem right now? She took it off her finger, turning it over, glaring at it… stuffed it in her fist, and…

That foxy face came to her mind once more, and she couldn't carry it through.

Kuzunoha… she had barely known the woman, so how had she made such an impression on her? She had spoken with her, very briefly. She had fought a witch alongside her. And apart from that… all she had were the tales she'd heard about the fox, long after they had parted ways.

Perhaps that was it. The tales fascinated her so much that she wanted to ask Kuzunoha how much of it was true.

The sound of approaching footsteps reached Laura's keen ears, and she sat up and slipped her ring back on her finger where it belonged, turning towards the source of the sound. It was almost a full minute before the owner of those footsteps entered the room, and she let out a groan, for it was not her newfound thrall but instead that strange sorcerer, for lack of a better term.

"What've you got there, young man?" she asked.

"Your other leg," Meme said.

He dropped the duffle he was carrying on the ground, and she hopped off the desk and hurried over to peer inside. Sure enough, her leg was there, carefully wrapped in cloth.

"Right… you'll get me new clothes again, won't you?"

Meme shrugged. "What's in it for me?"

"How about a kiss?" she suggested.

"Sorry, I'm not really into that sort of thing," Meme said. "Well, we'll just say your previous payment covers it, shall we?"

"Sure…"

He turned to leave as she tore off the shift that was the only thing covering her, reaching into the bag to withdraw the leg and hold it close to her, curling up on the ground in the fetal position.

The rumours of Laura's powers were much exaggerated, after all. She didn't have any kind of transformation magic, for starters. Although she'd learned healing magic out of sheer necessity, it wasn't the sort of thing that could allow her to alter her form and absorb the flesh of her severed leg. No… she was relying on the innate tendency of a magical girl's body to approach her ideal form. Since the leg shared her DNA, given a chance the magic would absorb its mass into her body. Laura had in fact learned a degree of control over the power in her long life, so she was even able to make it happen faster than it usually would.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there – probably at least an hour, maybe two, maybe even more. She didn't move a muscle until she heard those footsteps once more, and when she got up, she was taller. A quick examination of her body suggested she appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen now – that is, about the same age as that boy.

Meme tossed a dress into the room without looking, and she deftly caught it and slipped it on in one fluid move.

"Perfect," she said. "So… I can still trust you'll do what you promised, right?"

Meme shrugged. "I don't promise anything except the exact phrasing," he said. "But… yes. I'm a man of my word, after all."

"It might be a little sad, but it's better for him to live as a human," Laura said.

"I'm more surprised you even thought of it," Meme said. "Normally one would assume that ontological inertia holds."

"I think it's just my instinctive understanding of my magic," Laura said. "I just know that any direct thralls would lose their power if I died. I don't know why it works that way… I just know it does."

"What about indirect ones?" Meme asked. "Does your death put an end to all vampires worldwide?"

"I seriously doubt that," Laura retorted. "I can't be certain, however."

"So if you're wrong… do they die? Or just stop being vampires?"

"Beats me," Laura shrugged. "Why does it even matter?"

"Well, because if they died, I'd have to back out of this plan," Meme said. "I can't have a genocide on my conscience."

"Oh…" Laura nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I get what you mean… but you see, when a thrall uses its powers, it doesn't affect my soul gem at all. So…"

"Hmm… I don't think that proves anything," Meme said. "But I have to admit, it'd be a little too sad if you can't die solely because all your descendants would perish along with you. So I guess I'll take the gamble. That is… as long as you still want it."

"Alright… then I'll be counting on you."

---

It was strange. Tsubasa had already decided she definitely wanted to become a magical girl once she could think of a wish. As long as there was no urgency… as long as she could make her wish whenever she was ready… there had been nothing to shake her decision. Even the vaguely ominous warnings from Heart-under-Blade, Miss Dramaturgy, and Episode had done nothing to change her mind.

But now, when she had convinced herself that making a wish was the only way to resolve her situation without bloodshed… suddenly, everything changed. What was the point of making a wish, anyway? It's not like there was anything she wanted… other than to get out of her step-parents' house, and she could do that when she graduated anyway, so there was no point wishing for the inevitable. A miracle? Did she even have any personal troubles that required a miracle to solve? She couldn't think of anything.

Her mind was drawing a blank. She repeated the word "wish" over and over in her head, yet not a single concrete wish occurred to her. Not even something stupid like… like… well, there were no examples to give, because she couldn't even think of something stupid to wish for.

The time limit was up before she realized it. Her captor seized her by the neck, and she opened her eyes to see Koyomi standing there, a panicked look on his face. Tsubasa clawed at the man's hand, trying to loosen his grip, but to no avail.

"Araragi-kun, I'm sorry!" she gasped. "I—"

But the man squeezed even tighter, cutting off her voice as he lifted her bodily above the ground. She struggled to get free, but to no avail. She felt her mind starting to grow fuzzy from the lack of air.

"It seems like you really are in trouble now."

Kyuubey leapt down from some unseen perch to land on the head of that man, who didn't seem to notice his presence at all. The creature peered down at Tsubasa, who couldn't even look up at him – she could only see the creature from the corner of her eye.

"What do you want with her!?" Koyomi shouted.

"Nothing, as long as you don't move," Guillotine replied quietly. "I may possess no crazy powers like you or that woman, but I'm quite well trained. Killing one ordinary girl would be a piece of cake."

Koyomi stared at the man in the priest's robes, opening and shutting his mouth as if he were trying to speak but the words would not emerge.

"Are you ready to make a wish now, Hanekawa Tsubasa?" Kyuubey asked. "It would be a shame to lose a magical girl with such potential. If you cannot speak, we can communicate by telepathy."

Tsubasa tried it. She tried forming her thoughts into speech and just… projecting it… although she had no idea what she was doing.

«Can you… hear this?»

"Indeed I can," Kyuubey said.

There was no more time to think. She had to do it, now. Otherwise, it would be too late.

«Then… make me into a magical girl!»

"What is the wish that will make your soul gem shine?" Kyuubey asked.

Desperate for power, Tsubasa said the first thing that popped into her head. Ultimately, her true goal was simply to become a magical girl. It didn't even matter what she wished for as long as she got power in return.

«I don't care!» Tsubasa said. «I just want to be a magical girl so I can get out of this fix! I want to forget it all!»

"Your wish is to erase all your memories?" Kyuubey asked.

No, that didn't sound right. She didn't want to forget how she felt about Koyomi. She didn't want to forget her meeting with Hitagi. There were a lot of things she did want to forget, but there were also some precious memories she didn't want to lose. Above all, she wanted to erase her low self-esteem.

«Not everything!» she replied. «Just the things I want to forget! Let me forget how weak I am!»

"Understood," Kyuubey said. "Before we begin, I will give you a word of warning. As soon as you have become a magical girl, I would advise you to transform immediately. Otherwise, this man could kill you before you get a chance to do anything."

The conversation with Kyuubey had taken far less time than it would have if vocalizing it, no more than thirty seconds all told. Koyomi finally managed to get some words out.

"You call yourself human!?" Koyomi shouted.

Then he took a deep breath and addressed her. She opened her eyes upon hearing her name, startled.

"Hanekawa, don't worry," he said. "I'll save you."

Just as he said those words, Kyuubey hopped off the man's head, extending his ear appendages to plunge into her chest. She let out a slight gasp of pain, drawing the man's attention, and his eyes widened.

"No… you can't be serious!" he gasped. "Right under my nose!?"

Newfound strength flowed into Tsubasa, the strength needed to force his fingers apart and get free of his grip. She wasn't sure how to explain it, but it felt like a huge weight had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders. She felt as free as a bird.

"No, Koyomi-kun!" she said.

Guillotine aimed a punch at the newly-formed soul gem that was floating into her hands, but Kyuubey interposed his body into the attack, taking the brunt of the blow and allowing her to seize the gem in her hand.

Out of a corner of her eye she saw the corpse of Kyuubey falling to the ground, lifeless. From the reactions of both Koyomi and Guillotine, it seemed that whatever power he used to hide himself from others was cancelled out with his death, allowing them to see the corpse.

"This time, I will be the one to save you!" she shouted.

And with that, she transformed. Her hair reformed into her signature braid, and she now wore a red dress with a frilly pink and purple skirt, a pink shawl, and black fishnet tights. There was also a bell at her throat, but it was fake – although it resembled a bell, the interior was not hollow but instead filled with some sort of crystal.

Tsubasa aimed a kick at Guillotine, but he dodged, just barely, by going into a backwards somersault.

"Dangit," the man grumbled. "Here I thought I was just gonna exterminate a vampire, and now I have a newbie magical girl to deal with too. This day just keeps getting worse and worse…"

Tsubasa summoned a glass bottle with flames bursting out of the spout and threw it at him. It shattered and exploded on impact, sending glass shards flying in all directions. However, Guillotine somehow managed to avoid the flying glass by throwing up what appeared to be a fine netting, which caught the shards before they could reach him.

"I don't care how your day is going," Tsubasa said, summoning two more of her fiery cocktails. "I can't allow you to continue. Koyomi-kun! Let's flank him!"

"Eh!?" Koyomi gasped.

It seemed the boy had been so shocked at her transformation that he'd just been standing there gaping. Tsubasa rolled her eyes.

"It means a pincer attack!" Tsubasa said. "You come from one side and I come from the other!"

"Oh! Right!"

"As if I'd let you!" Guillotine retorted.

He whipped out a fine thread from somewhere, snagging Koyomi and tripping him up, but then Tsubasa flung her cocktails right at the thread, and Guillotine was forced to dodge as the thread was severed. Koyomi leapt to his feet and lunged forward, placing the man between the two of them.

"Now what!?" Koyomi shouted.

"Just attack him!"

Tsubasa called up a ring of flaming torches, spinning in the air, and pointed.

"Now! Shampoo Fire!"

While she rained the torches down on Guillotine's position, leaving only Koyomi's approach free, he charged right into the thick of the inferno and swung his fist at the man. However, Guillotine ducked the punch and swiped at Koyomi's legs, sweeping him off his feet again. Tsubasa then leapt in and landed a kick on the man's side, sending him flying a good thirty metres before he landed on the ground, bouncing twice before coming to a stop.

"Did… did we get him?" Tsubasa asked.

"I… I think so," Koyomi said.

He stepped up beside her as she watched anxiously for signs of movement. When the man didn't stir, she approached cautiously to get a better look. He still didn't move, so she gingerly nudged him with her foot, causing him to roll over.

"I think he really… eh!?"

Just as she was about to conclude him down for the count, she saw him twitch out of the corner of her eye and leapt back… and not a moment too soon, as he kipped up and nearly managed to put a foot in her face.

"Dammit, you witches and your enhanced reflexes," the man grumbled as he landed on his feet. "I was sure that would work…"

"Is this guy even human!?" Tsubasa asked.

"That's rich coming from a monster like you," Guillotine retorted. "Normally I'd let you die off on your own, but you've gotten in my way, so I'm not going to hold back. It's time for you to die, filthy witch."

"So rude," Tsubasa muttered. "Koyomi-kun, let's take him down."

She summoned two more cocktails and threw them at the man, then followed those up with another two while the first two were still exploding, throwing the second pair on a higher arc. As Guillotine ducked below the dying embers of the first pair, the second pair struck the ground just a little behind him, throwing him off balance and propelling him forward through the air. That was when Koyomi leapt in to meet him with his foot, smashing the man's head in. This time it seemed to have worked – he landed on the ground with a very nasty-looking head wound.

Even so, the two of them watched the man warily for almost a full minute, until Meme stepped out from the shadows, slowly clapping his hands.

"Well, well, well," he said. "This went well beyond my expectations. I'll admit I wasn't sure if you'd be able to beat Guillotine, but I hadn't factored in your girlfriend. It never even crossed my mind that she could make a contract."

She felt a wave of happiness that the man would assume she and Koyomi were dating, but she suppressed it. It wasn't exactly true, anyway. Not yet, at least.

"So… does that mean we won?" Tsubasa asked. "Actually… he's not… dead… is he?"

Meme knelt by the man and checked his pulse.

"Well… he's not dead yet," he said. "As long as he gets treatment, I expect he should be fine."

"Then I'll call an ambulance!" Tsubasa said, powering down and whipping out her phone.

"Whoa there," Meme said. "You're really going to call an ambulance for someone who was out to kill you? You know he hates magical girls as much as he hates vampires. Anything that's an affront to God, really."

Tsubasa tilted her head, frowning a little. She didn't like that statement one bit.

"Are you saying magical girls are an affront to God?" she asked.

Meme shook his head. "No, I'm saying him and his employers believe that," he said. "It's up to you whether you want to believe it yourself. No-one can force you to believe in God. Anyway, let me call the ambulance. You get the arms back to the old hag."

"Right!" Tsubasa said. "But uhh… where are they?"

"It's alright, I've got them," Koyomi said.

She looked and saw him hefting a duffel bag that must have been left near the scene.

"Then let's go!" she said.

She seized his hand and broke out running, forcing him to run too in order to keep up. They headed up three flights of stairs without even stopping to catch their breath.

"You know, I get the feeling that I should be gasping for breath by now," Tsubasa said. "So, where's Heart-under-Blade now?"

"Well, you're not the only one who feels that way… anyway, last I saw she was on this floor."

"Right…"

Koyomi took the lead, heading through the corridors to one of the many abandoned classrooms. Heart-under-Blade turned as they entered. Her body had grown even older since Tsubasa last saw her, and it now looked as though they were both about the same age.

"We've got your arms!" Tsubasa announced.

"Oh?" the vampire said. "I was worried another vampire hunter had found me somehow, but it was just the little kitten."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tsubasa asked.

"You haven't noticed yet, huh?" Heart-under-Blade said. "Magical girls can sense each others' presence."

"O-ohhh… wait, but why am I a kitten?"

Even though she said that, Tsubasa didn't think she could sense Heart-under-Blade's presence. Maybe she just didn't recognize it for what it was…

"I just thought you seemed like a kitten," Heart-under-Blade said.

"You… just thought…"

"Well, don't just stand gawping in the doorway," Heart-under-Blade demanded. "Hand over the loot!"

Koyomi strode forward to hand over the bag, and she reached in to extract the arms, stuffing them down the neck of her dress and crossing her arms to hold them in place.

"Perfect!" she said. "Now all I need is a grief seed and I should be back to top form."

"A grief seed… say, I could probably get you one," Tsubasa said.

"No, don't trouble yourself over me," Heart-under-Blade said. "I've got enough magic to hunt one down myself now, as long as I'm careful. Besides, you probably can't afford to share even if you wanted to."

"What'll you do if you run into another magical girl?" Tsubasa asked.

"I suppose… I'll run away?" Heart-under-Blade shrugged.

"What if you run into Episode-chan or Miss Dramaturgy?" Tsubasa asked. "Or… even that Guillotine guy? Although I don't think he'll be coming to for awhile…"

"Well… you do have a point," Heart-under-Blade admitted.

She slipped the ring off her finger and transformed it into gem form, examining it. Tsubasa blinked. It was almost totally darkened, with just a few splotches of brightness showing through, perhaps about five percent at best.

"Um… isn't that… really bad?" Tsubasa asked.

"For a newbie like you, it would be," Heart-under-Blade said. "If you got this far you'd be a goner. But me… I can handle it. I think I could pull off my ultimate attack at least once with this much… though that wouldn't leave me much to spare."

"Um, I have a question," Koyomi said. "Wasn't the purpose of retrieving your arms to restore your power?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Heart-under-Blade asked. "Getting my arms back doesn't give me any additional power… it just means less of my remaining power needs to be put towards regeneration. So it was still totally worth it. Without getting these back, I wouldn't've had enough power for even one ultimate."

"Um… you're a vampire… so wouldn't you get some power back if we gave you some blood?" Tsubasa suggested.

"That's a very generous offer," Heart-under-Blade said. "But I need blood infused with soul in order to draw magic power from it. A normal human's soul is spread throughout their body, but that's not the case for a magical girl or a vampire. In other words… I would need to find someone else and convert them."

"Th-that's no good…"

"Which is why, I'll just head out and fight a witch myself," Heart-under-Blade said.

"But I told you—"

"That's just a risk I'll have to take," Heart-under-Blade said. "There's a pretty good chance the hunters have already skipped town, though, so I'm not too worried."

"Ah… you have a point," Tsubasa said. "When I ran into Episode-chan, she did say something like that…"

"And that priest is dangerous, but he shouldn't be able to find me in a labyrinth," Heart-under-Blade added. "While Dramaturgy is the least worrisome in the first place. She doesn't have any feelings for me… it's just a job to her. The other two probably hired her for backup."

"Um… I just have a few more questions," Koyomi spoke up. "I feel a little lost here… you're a vampire, right, Kiss-Shot?"

"The label fits," Heart-under-Blade nodded.

"What is a magical girl?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Heart-under-Blade asked. "A girl who uses magic. Although, some magical girls manage to grow up and become women who use magic, but they're still called magical girls."

Koyomi blinked. "Huh? From the way you said that, it sounds like it's not very common…"

"That's because it's not," Heart-under-Blade said.

Koyomi looked at Tsubasa.

"Um… are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"Eh? Um… it's really not very common?" Tsubasa asked.

"Yeah, most magical girls only last a few years at best," Heart-under-Blade said. "There are also quite a few who only last a few days… or even a few hours. But you don't seem like you'll be one of those."

"Uh… yeah… I hope not," Tsubasa said. "I'm totally new to this though…"

Heart-under-Blade sighed.

"Fine," she said. "I'll take you with me. You there, my servant, get us some snacks and stuff to celebrate."

"Eh? Can't I come with you?" Koyomi asked.

"You'd just be dead weight where we're going," Heart-under-Blade said. "You'd go into a trance and probably get in our way, and we'd have to haul you out anyway. Only magical girls are immune… or at least resistant."

"So… you're a vampire and a magical girl?" Koyomi asked.

"In fact, you could even say I'm a vampire because I'm a magical girl," Heart-under-Blade said.

Although it had been slow and subtle enough to pass unnoticed if not focusing on it, Heart-under-Blade had been growing over the course of the conversation and now closely resembled her appearance when they had first met.

"Uhh… okay, I'll go get those snacks," Koyomi grumbled. "Looks like you're back to your original body, so I guess it's enough reason to celebrate."

"Yes, you do that," Heart-under-Blade said.

Koyomi turned to leave the room, and then Heart-under-Blade extended a hand to Tsubasa, who ventured forward hesitantly. But at that moment, Kyuubey appeared, apparently hopping in through the window. Tsubasa gasped.

"Huh!? Kyuubey? I thought you were dead…"

"I would not die so easily," Kyuubey replied. "Losing one body is immaterial. More importantly, are you aware of what this woman is?"

"What on earth do you want with me?" Heart-under-Blade asked testily.

"It has been quite some time since we last spoke, Laura," Kyuubey said. "No, I hear you are calling yourself Heart-under-Blade these days? How long has it been? Around two hundred years?"

"Don't ask me," Heart-under-Blade retorted. "I bet you know the exact number anyway, so why are you asking?"

"It is my observation that such meaningless talk makes humans feel calmer," Kyuubey said.

"Well, coming from you it just sounds creepy," Heart-under-Blade said. "So? What the hell do you want?"

"My business today is with Hanekawa Tsubasa," Kyuubey said.

"Um… what do you want?" Tsubasa asked.

"Are you aware of what this woman is?" Kyuubey asked.

"Um… she's… a vampire… and a magical girl…" Tsubasa said hesitantly.

"That is not what I mean," Kyuubey said. "She is the type of person to create a great disturbance. If you associate with her, you could end up in danger. That would be very unfortunate for me."

"…the heck are you talking about?" Heart-under-Blade asked. "What disturbance?"

"Did you not destroy a shrine in this area some time ago?"

"Oh right," Heart-under-Blade said. "I guess that did happen, but it's their own fault for daring to build a shrine on top of his grave."

"U-um, when did that even happen…?" Tsubasa asked. "The only shrine I can think of that was destroyed around here is during the Russo-Japanese War… that old one near the park…"

"That was probably the one," Heart-under-Blade said. "But it's not like I make a habit of that kind of thing."

"I don't think I need to worry about that, Kyuubey," Tsubasa said.

"Very well," Kyuubey said. "If you are certain, then I will drop the topic. You can let me know if you wish to discuss things at a later time, however."

With that, he scampered out the door and vanished. Heart-under-Blade once more held out her hand to Tsubasa.

"Um… what's that for?" she asked. "Do we need to hold hands?"

"I hunt witches from the sky," Heart-under-Blade said. "So if you're coming with me…"

Tsubasa blinked. "Ah! You can fly!? Could I fly too?"

"Probably not," Heart-under-Blade said. "Although, you might be able to learn. I don't think I can teach you, though."

So Tsubasa took the vampire's hand, and Heart-under-Blade transformed, donning a pink frilly knee-length dress with white petticoats, horizontally-striped purple and white knee-high socks, a pale pink bow tied at her back, an orange ring-shaped gemstone at her throat, and a purple bow atop her head. She also grew large demonic wings emerging from her back. Tsubasa giggled a bit.

"I wouldn't've expected you to wear pink," she said. "It doesn't seem to match your image somehow…"

"I agree," Heart-under-Blade said. "But I have no control over this… it was set when I contracted, and as far as I know, it can't be changed."

She slid a window open and leapt out, dragging Tsubasa along and flapping her wings to gain altitude. They soared over the city for several minutes. Tsubasa was surprised that she felt no fear at all from being so high up in the air – only exhilaration. She looked around at the city laid out below them, picking out familiar locations here and there.

"Can you sense those magical signatures below?" Heart-under-Blade asked. "There are quite a few… I lost count around thirty."

"Um… I'm not sure how to sense them," Tsubasa said.

"It's easier if you hold your soul gem in your hand… but make sure not to drop it," Heart-under-Blade said. "And don't squeeze too hard, or it'll crack. Though you'll feel the pain long before that happens."

"Got it…"

Tsubasa changed her soul to gem form and gripped it gingerly. Heart-under-Blade was right about one thing – she could somehow feel the touch of her fingers upon the gem, like invisible arms embracing her. It wasn't painful, though.

"Okay… now what?"

"You're looking for something like… how should I explain it… oh, there's that thing called radar, right? It's something like a radar ping… I think. I don't actually know how radar works, but I've seen it in movies…"

"I think I get it," Tsubasa said.

She examined her soul gem and tried to focus on the idea of a radar ping. After a few seconds of concentration, she found she could sense it… a pulse every now and then, as though they had passed over something emitting some sort of intense waves. And once she was aware of the sensation, she found she could spread her awareness out. As Heart-under-Blade had said, there were quite a few presences down below in the city. They weren't all equal, however. Some seemed more powerful than others. Most of them had an unpleasant feel to them, but a few seemed comparatively pure.

"I think I can feel it," she said. "So um… which one will we attack?"

"Well, a few of them are magical girls," Heart-under-Blade said. "Their presence has a different feel, so you should easily be able to distinguish them. There's no point in attacking a magical girl, and in fact we should probably avoid them as much as possible, because they might decide to attack us. Many of those presences are familiars, which are useless to us, because they don't drop grief seeds. So basically… I'm looking for a witch that's not near any magical girls…"

"I see… what's a familiar?"

"It's a witch's minion," Heart-under-Blade said. "Sometimes they leave the labyrinth of their witch to find humans and draw them in."

"Um… wait, doesn't that mean they're dangerous too?" Tsubasa asked. "We should be taking them out as well, right?"

"You can't really afford to think that way," Heart-under-Blade said. "Especially when you're at the end of your rope, like I am now. Besides, most of the familiars will die if you just defeat the witch anyway."

"Ah… I see… you're desperate right now, so you need to focus on the more dangerous prey…?"

"Something like that," Heart-under-Blade said. "We usually get grief seeds when we fight a witch, but familiars don't drop anything. Right now, we need a grief seed above all other considerations."

They continued soaring across the city for a minute or two in silence.

"Oh… I found a good target," Heart-under-Blade said suddenly. "There are two witches approaching each other… if we're lucky, maybe we can bag both of them."

"Okay… then let's go," Tsubasa said.

Then she let out a scream as they went into a dive, plunging straight into a labyrinth that looked like a strange tree-lined path with a picket fence. There were huge sunflowers poking over the fence, and massive dragonflies buzzing away high up in the trees. Some of the dragonflies seemed to spot them as Heart-under-Blade landed nimbly on the ground, and they turned to dive-bomb the pair of them. Tsubasa immediately transformed and threw cocktails at them, which exploded on impact and destroyed them in the ensuing flames. Just before that happened, she got a glimpse of one of the dragonflies' faces, which looked like a mask carved to resemble a human face.

"There's often a lack of depth in labyrinths," Heart-under-Blade grumbled. "It really messes with depth perception…"

Probably attracted by the explosions, a pack of signposts had now appeared and surrounded them. Heart-under-Blade summoned a pair of swords that didn't seem Japanese in design, though Tsubasa couldn't've pinpointed their origin, and cut down several of the familiars. Tsubasa backed her up with her cocktails, flinging them at the signposts behind them and any that were further away. She soon discovered that the exposed brain atop the signpost was the familiar's weak point, meaning a strike there would usually one-shot them. Although they could move around pretty fast, meaning that a direct hit was difficult to land, Tsubasa's explosions with their flying shards of glass never failed to strike down at least one familiar.

They didn't just fight in one place, of course. Bit by bit, they progressed forward through the labyrinth, with Heart-under-Blade leading the way. Eventually, the path they were following opened up into a clearing, and a new strange creature became visible.

"Looks like we found the witch," Heart-under-Blade said.

The witch herself was a strange caped figure with a mouth on the cape. In place of arms she had what looked like a signpost with a face at both ends, and her eyes were replaced by a pair of bare feet. Four disembodied hands were attached to a curved headband. The head itself looked like a giant ball of yarn. Like with the Escherian witch she'd stumbled into by mistake, there were four strange symbols hanging in the air above the witch. But one of the four was actually familiar – the third symbol was exactly the same as it had been on the other witch.

"So weird," Tsubasa said. "Are all witches this, uhh… mixed up?"

"Most of them," Heart-under-Blade said. "Though I've seen a few that almost look human."

At that moment, Tsubasa suddenly felt some sort of pressure upon her, like an intimidating presence trying to force her to her knees. Heart-under-Blade appeared to be affected even worse than Tsubasa – she collapsed to one knee with a gasp.

"E-eh!? W-what's going on…?"

"The witch's… power," Heart-under-Blade said. "I think… that's what… this is…"

"A-alright… I'll… see if I can beat it by myself," Tsubasa said.

She flung a series of cocktails at the witch, then called up her ring of flaming torches… but at that moment the witch chose to glide forward, emitting a dark beam first at Heart-under-Blade, then at her. Tsubasa threw herself to the side, just barely avoiding the beam, but Heart-under-Blade was unable to avoid it and fell over, muttering under her breath.

"Oh… that does it!" Tsubasa shouted. "Shampoo Fire!"

She pointed at the witch, and those flaming torches rained down, forcing the witch back. She followed her ultimate attack up with several more cocktails, which she used as a smokescreen to jump in and land a flying kick right on the witch's head. The impact seemed to crack what passed for a face, and moments later the witch crumbled, leaving behind a grief seed – a black orb much like the one Hitagi had obtained from a witch during their encounter.

"Um… Kyuubey… are you there?" Tsubasa called. "How do I use this!?"

"Simply press it against your soul gem," Kyuubey said.

It had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and she turned to look at it.

"Okay… got it," she said.

She tore off the bell at her throat, which encased her soul gem. It had grown pretty dark, at least sixty percent darkened. As she pressed the grief seed up to it, all that darkness was sucked out, leaving it gleaming and pure. She hooked the bell back where it belonged and ran over to Heart-under-Blade, turning her over to examine her. The donut at her throat was completely blackened. She didn't even notice the labyrinth evolving around her.

"Oh no!" Tsubasa gasped. "I can't see even a single speck of light… it's even worse than when she showed me earlier…"

She felt for a pulse, but there was none. She listened for breathing, but there was none.

"Is… is she dead?" Tsubasa wondered. "Ah, but… she is a vampire, so maybe it's normal not to have a pulse… come to think of it, she didn't have one the first time we met, either…"

"If she were any ordinary magical girl, this would be the end for her," Kyuubey said. "But Laura is unusual… most girls continue to use magic even while unconscious to maintain their body, but Laura does not. If she used even the tiniest bit of magic right now, it would be over for her."

"Then… I guess all I can do is try it," Tsubasa said.

She pressed the grief seed up to that donut, and a great deal of grief was drawn out, leaving almost half the donut gleaming.

"Allow me to dispose of that grief seed for you," Kyuubey said.

"Ah, sure," Tsubasa said.

She passed it to him, and a hole opened in his back to swallow it up. A few moments later, the vampire's eyes snapped open.

"Ah! What happened?" Heart-under-Blade asked.

"You collapsed," Tsubasa said. "I defeated the witch and used the grief seed on you."

"You should've saved it for yourself!" Heart-under-Blade protested.

"I did use it on myself first, though," Tsubasa said.

Heart-under-Blade sat up and looked around.

"Wait… but if you defeated the witch… then why are we still in a labyrinth?" she asked. "It should've collapsed when the witch died… we should be out on the street somewhere…"

Tsubasa looked around, noticing for the first time that the surroundings had grown dark and dreary, like the grounds of a haunted house.

"Ah… it looks totally different now, too," she said.

"Oh… I think I get it," Heart-under-Blade said suddenly, smacking a fist into her palm. "Remember I sensed a second witch approaching this one? Maybe the labyrinths had already started to merge when you defeated the first witch… which means the second one's probably coming to get us right now."

"Ah… then we'd best make sure we're ready!" Tsubasa said.

"No," Heart-under-Blade said. "You stay back this time. I'll defeat this one myself, and you can keep the grief seed. With this much magic to spare, I won't need a grief seed for several months. You, on the other hand, will probably need about one a week at best, and possibly more."

"Why is it so different?" Tsubasa asked.

"Age and experience, I guess," Heart-under-Blade shrugged. "I don't really know. Anyway… don't use any magic this time."

She stood up and looked around. Familiars were starting to appear, looking like half-rotten pumpkins with faces carved out of them and fires burning within, emerging from a hole in the top. They also had a scarecrow-like body of sticks and straw encased in burlap skin, and there were quite a few of them. Tsubasa lost count around twenty.

"These look weak in any case," Heart-under-Blade added.

She took down all the approaching familiars with just three swings of her swords.

"W-whoa!" Tsubasa gasped.

"I don't think we'll have to search for her this time," Heart-under-Blade said. "I can sense the witch approaching us."

"That's helpful…"

Barely a minute later, something crashed through a nearby wall. It was a huge creature composed of innumerable bones, vaguely arranged into a humanoid shape, although Tsubasa was pretty sure most of those bones weren't human at all. There were a total of eleven symbols floating above its head, some of which Tsubasa recognized. It hefted a club that looked like a torn-up street lamp and swung it down at Heart-under-Blade, but she blocked the swing with crossed blades and shouted out… her full name.

"Kiss-Shot Ace-Laura-Orion Heart-under-Blade!"

Light gathered in the vampire's blades until they were gleaming brightly enough to blind Tsubasa, forcing her to raise a hand to protect her eyes, and then Heart-under-Blade uncrossed those blades, slicing right through the witch's weapon. And the light seemed to extend the reach of the blades, so she also cut right through the witch at the same time. It collapsed into a pile of bones, which then crumbled into dust, leaving a grief seed. Moments later, the labyrinth collapsed as well, dumping them back out into the real world.

"Um… you named your ultimate attack after yourself?" Tsubasa asked.

"Actually no, it's the other way around," Heart-under-Blade said. "Originally it was just the name of the attack. At some point I decided I wanted a more grandiose-sounding name so I started to use it for introductions. It does contain my original name as an element though."

"I see… shall we get back to Koyomi-kun, then?"

"Let's go."

Heart-under-Blade stooped to pick up the grief seed, then passed it to Tsubasa, who blinked.

"You're not going to use it yourself first?"

"I already told you," Heart-under-Blade said. "I won't need one for a few months, so I can just get another one before then. You need it far more than I do. Besides… if you hadn't defeated the other witch, I'd probably be dead by now, so I owe you my life. Consider this thanks for that."

"O-okay… thank you very much," Tsubasa said, accepting it and stowing it away.

They headed back to the abandoned cram school, where they found Koyomi waiting for them with his hands full of convenience store bags. They headed up to the roof, and he dumped everything out. Tsubasa grabbed a bag of potato chips and tore it open, taking a handful and eating them one by one.

"So um… when are you going to turn me back into a human?" Koyomi asked.

"Right… there is that," Heart-under-Blade said. "Worry not… I'll be sure to do that. But I'd just like to have a chat first, and a feast."

She selected a box of pocky and grabbed about five sticks at once, shoving them into her mouth.

"Ah… but what should we talk about, I wonder…?"

"You're the one who wants to chat," Koyomi said.

"I just wanted to chat," Heart-under-Blade said. "There wasn't any specific topic I had in mind."

"Is this necessary to turn me back into a human?" Koyomi asked.

"I think so," Heart-under-Blade said.

Tsubasa looked at her, head tilted, wondering what she meant by that. What could a chat about some unspecified topic have to do with turning Koyomi back into a human?

"You've lived for what, six centuries?" Koyomi said. "Surely you have lots of tales to tell."

"I don't have much, really," Heart-under-Blade said. "Most of my life has been boring as hell. I've spent it lazing around, beating witches, fighting vampire slayers like those three, and just wandering aimlessly. There's probably nowhere of note on this island that I haven't visited at least once."

She cast her eyes towards the starry sky, which was starting to grow just a bit lighter, the first signs of dawn. Even though they were in a city, there weren't a lot of street lights near the abandoned cram school which stood near the outskirts of town, so quite a few stars could be made out.

"Well… there were a few points of interest," the woman admitted. "Although, really… I can only think of two events that truly stand out."

"Why don't you tell us about them?" Tsubasa said.

"I suppose… I may as well," Heart-under-Blade said.

She lowered her head and looked first at Koyomi, then at Tsubasa.

"Have either of you heard of… Tokime Sakuya?"

"Nope," Koyomi said.

"I have," Tsubasa said. "She's said to have discovered the island southeast of the Kansai region… modern-day Shinriku prefecture."

Koyomi blinked at her. "Eh? You seem to know everything, Hanekawa…"

"I don't know everything," Tsubasa retorted. "I just happen to know this."

"I met her, before she became a magical girl," Heart-under-Blade said. "I even fought alongside her once, after she contracted… but then we went our separate ways, and I never saw her again. But… it wasn't her who made an impression on me, but one of her companions…"

"So she had other companions?" Tsubasa said. "And she was even a magical girl… incredible!"

"Back then, there were two other magical girls in the region where she lived," Heart-under-Blade said. "Pernelle Flamel, a visitor from Europe, not all that far from my own homeland… and an enigmatic ancient magical girl who called herself Kuzunoha."

Tsubasa blinked. "Eh? Kuzunoha… as in… the mother of Abe no Seimei? The fox demon!?"

Heart-under-Blade nodded. "I don't know if you can call her a fox demon, but she could turn into a fox, and she mentioned a daughter named Seimei, so I think it must have been her? If there's any one thing in this world I regret, other than my wish when I became a magical girl… it's that I didn't get to know her better."

"That's incredible, that you actually knew her," Tsubasa said. "Although… wait… Tokime Sakuya should've lived in the late Sengoku period, but Abe no Seimei was from the late Heian period… they're from totally different eras…"

"I did say she was already ancient back then," Heart-under-Blade said.

"Ah… you did say that," Tsubasa said. "And you're also saying Abe no Seimei was actually a woman? Oh, come to think of it… I think I've heard the name Pernelle Flamel somewhere, too… but where was it…"

But no matter how much she tried wracking her brain, it wouldn't come to her.

"So this… Kuzunoha… I suppose she must be long dead by now, huh?" Koyomi said.

Heart-under-Blade shrugged.

"I have no idea," she said. "I have never been to Shinriku prefecture to search for her. She went there with Pernelle and Saki… I mean Sakuya."

"So… you admired her or something, right?" Tsubasa said.

"I'm not sure," Heart-under-Blade said. "She just… made an impression on me, for some reason. I don't really understand it myself…"

"Huh… so what about this second event you mentioned?"

"Right… there was that man," Heard-under-Blade said. "The last time I turned another person into a vampire… it was almost four hundred years ago."

"Oh, you said that before," Koyomi said. "Was he anything like me?"

Heart-under-Blade chuckled. "Now why would you think that?" she asked.

"N-no reason…"

"The two of you had nothing in common," she said. "Ah, wait… I guess you were both Japanese… but that's the only common thing. He was a warrior… a samurai I could trust my back to."

"You said he was Japanese?"

"At that time I was wandering around Japan, looking for ways to have fun," Heart-under-Blade said, nodding. "Although I have to admit that my success was limited. This was actually not that long after I met Kuzunoha, strangely enough… back then is when I first learned Japanese, though the language has changed quite a bit since then."

"But why is he no longer with you?" Koyomi asked. "If he's a vampire, he should still be alive, right?"

"I can no longer call for him," Heart-under-Blade said. "He's dead. Long dead. He did leave me with his sword, though… it's his only memento."

She raised her right hand and grasped at the air, and a katana appeared in her hand, but it wasn't just any ordinary katana. It was two or three times the length of a regular katana… maybe even four times. It was more like a polearm than a sword, really.

"W-whoa, that's crazy long," Tsubasa said. "But why didn't you use it earlier?"

"I don't use it much," Heart-under-Blade said. "Usually my falchions are sufficient… but when I face a foe that's especially tough, I break out this, the demon sword Heart Span. I've enchanted it so it can be stored inside my soul gem, allowing me to pull it out at will… took me nearly thirty years to figure out how to do that. This sword is said to have been made by a nameless swordsmith, but the few sword experts I've shown it to say it's a masterpiece. Despite its incredible length, the balance is somehow juuust right."

She grinned suddenly.

"Both of you, don't move a muscle," she said.

Tsubasa tensed up, and Koyomi blinked. Heart-under-Blade swung the blade so fast that even Tsubasa's enhanced vision could barely follow its path. However, she could make it out just well enough to tell that both she and Koyomi were in the path of the swing, and yet… she didn't feel a thing. Had it missed her somehow?

"I just cut you both," Heart-under-Blade said. "Of course, I was careful not to go near the kitten's soul gem."

"Huh!?" Koyomi gasped.

"Do you feel any pain?" Heart-under-Blade asked.

"No…"

"Excellent… my skills haven't gotten rusty of late," Heart-under-Blade said. Then she smiled. "Well, you should be healed by now," she said. "The kitten though will probably need another minute before it's safe to move."

Koyomi still remained still, however.

"But… even if I've healed, what about my clothes?" he said. "Where exactly did you cut me… us?"

"Sideways at chest height." Heart-under-Blade said. "Don't worry about your clothes. The cut is so clean that some kinds of materials just stick right back together if left in place. It's like it cuts only the flesh and leaves the clothes intact, although even clothes would still separate if jostled immediately after the cut. Of course, this is all assuming the wielder is sufficiently skilled, though."

She banished the sword back to wherever it had come from – into her soul gem, if her words were to be believed.

"He left this behind and died," she said.

"Wasn't he an immortal vampire?" Koyomi asked. "Was he exorcised or something?"

"No," Heart-under-Blade said. "No vampire slayer could lay a finger on him."

"Then how'd he die?"

"Suicide," Heart-under-Blade said. "Boredom kills, in the end. From what I've heard, most vampires want to die after living about two hundred years. If there was anything unusual about him, it's that he chose to die just a few short years after becoming a vampire. Even though nothing can change in such a short time… he died right in front of my eyes. He lit himself on fire in broad daylight… his regeneration just couldn't keep up. Since then, I haven't made another thrall… until I met you, that is."

"Weren't you bored?" Koyomi asked.

"I definitely was."

"Say," Tsubasa said. "Were you in love with that man? Or with Kuzunoha?"

Heart-under-Blade shrugged. "Who can say?" she said. "I've lived a loveless life, so I doubt I'd notice love if it slapped me in the face. Maybe I was in love with him, or with her… maybe I wasn't."

"That… that's so sad…" Tsubasa said. "Although, I can sort of understand how you feel… I guess haven't exactly received much love either…"

"You two, however… you entertain me," Heart-under-Blade said. "I've wondered once or twice if it might be worth living just to see how the two of you turn out. Everything you do is insane… both of you, but especially him. I wonder if there's anyone else in history who has willingly given their neck to a vampire? Although, I actually don't know many vampires, so I can't really say."

She giggled a bit.

"And you call me Kiss-Shot," she added. "No-one ever called me that before, it's so weird."

They fell silent for a bit while they snacked and drank the soda Koyomi had brought. Eventually, though, the snacks ran out, and Heart-under-Blade sat up and looked at Koyomi.

"Now then," she said. "Are you ready to be turned back into a human?"

"Yeah, although… I've been wondering about something," Koyomi said. "That man you talked about… did he not want to go back to being human?"

"Back then, I couldn't turn him back even if he asked," Heart-under-Blade said. "I had no idea how to do it back then. So… are you ready?"

"One more question. Why haven't I been feeling hungry all this time? And all this food… even though I ate it, I'm not sure it really satisfied me… I still feel as hungry as before, which is to say, hardly hungry at all."

"I suppose it's because you're a vampire," Heart-under-Blade said. "The other thralls I made didn't eat much either. Some of them did attack humans and drink their blood… there was even one who ate humans whole…"

Tsubasa gasped. "Y-you're kidding… right? T-that's cannibalism…"

Heart-under-Blade shrugged.

"Well, I don't think I'd consider it that though," she said. "Vampires and magical girls both… you can't really call them humans anymore. We're creatures that sit above ordinary humans on the food chain."

"H-how can you say that!?" Tsubasa asked.

Koyomi just remained silent, but a glance at him showed that he too was heavily disturbed by the idea. Why was Heart-under-Blade talking like this all of a sudden? Tsubasa just didn't get it.

"Vampires prey directly on humans, of course, so that one's obvious… as for magical girls, we prey on witches, which in turn prey on humans. That's also why I said you can't afford to go after familiars, little kitten – if you kill one, it won't drop a grief seed, but if you let it feed on a few humans first, it will mature into a witch and then you'll get a grief seed out of it."

"H-have… have you ever… eaten a human?" Koyomi asked.

"Me?" she said. "That's too much effort. I can't be bothered to go to all that trouble. I've only ever drunk a human's blood when I intended to turn them into a thrall. Unlike the thralls I create, I don't have any urge to drink the blood of humans. I may be called a vampire, but really, that's not quite accurate… the term 'vampire' really refers to a type of being created by my magic, to which some of my magic has been passed down. I'm the original… so I'm not a true vampire. I'm really just a magical girl."

"B-but then that means… you just let familiars go?" Tsubasa said.

"Most of the time," Heart-under-Blade said. "I guess it depends on my mood, but when I find a lone familiar I usually avoid it. Of course, I cut down the familiars within a witch's labyrinth without prejudice, though. They're in my way, so I won't hold back."

"So… you really think that humans are just… beneath you?" Koyomi asked.

"I don't just think that," Heart-under-Blade said. "They just are. Oh, sure, some like that priest guy might stand up and fight back, but even he would stand no chance against a witch."

"That's…"

It was obvious that he had something on his mind, but was reluctant to say it. Tsubasa suspected he just didn't want to say it in front of the vampire.

"Koyomi-kun, let's just leave for now," Tsubasa said.

Koyomi looked at her and nodded.

"So you're going to cling to this life for just a little longer?" Heart-under-Blade said. "Well, in that case… just give the word when you're ready. I'll be waiting to fulfill your wish."

Koyomi and Tsubasa got up and headed downstairs, and Koyomi suddenly broke into a run once the vampire was out of sight. Tsubasa picked up speed to follow him as he barrelled down the stairs and smashed his way into a random room, which turned out to be a gym storage room filled with hurdles.

"Argh!" Koyomi said. "I was so blind! I should've known she was like that! She's a vampire, dammit! And…"

He spun to face Tsubasa.

"W-what if I'd… to you…"

"I'm sure that would never happen, even if you got the urge," Tsubasa said.

"You don't know that…"

"Let's set that aside for now," Tsubasa said. "You wanted to say something back there, didn't you, Koyomi-kun?"

"Well… I just… I didn't think she'd be that kind of person," he muttered. "Plus… what if she can't actually change me back? If that were the case, it would be better to just… die… like that other man… maybe that's why he did it…"

"You mustn't die!" Tsubasa said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You mustn't! That kind of thinking proves your heart is getting carried away!"

"Hanekawa, you're amazing," Koyomi said. "I don't know how you can stay so calm throughout all of this… seeing you makes me realize that I'm not a very interesting person… I suppose I'd already be dead if you weren't there, though…"

"I told you not to die!" Tsubasa said. "And I don't think you're a boring person at all! That's why I'm here at all! Or part of it, at least…"

"But this is all my fault," he sighed. "My thoughtlessness caused this situation… I never considered what she would do if she got her power back…"

"I think you're getting a little carried away there…"

"Back then, when I gave her my blood, it didn't even occur to me that she might not be a good person…"

"She's not that bad of a person, honestly… sure that food chain stuff is terrible, but she's been nice to me as well as you."

"I don't know," Koyomi said. "She said she doesn't eat humans, but how do I even know she was telling the truth? Someone could've died because of me… could still die because of me… she's probably only nice to us because we're both not humans to her! What if she attacked my sisters!? I couldn't live with myself if something happened to them because of me…"

"It's not your fault," Tsubasa said. "And suppose she did lie, and she does prey on humans… if that's the case, it's probably just completely normal for her, like how we eat pigs and cows. Still, I think she was telling the truth…"

"That's true," Koyomi said. "Even if she doesn't eat humans directly, she's letting those… what were they called?"

"Familiars?"

"Right, she's letting them eat humans, and then eating the uhh…"

"The witch… although that's not exactly eating," Tsubasa said.

"So it's not much better, really…"

"But I'm a magical girl too now," Tsubasa said.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't do that, would you?"

"I can't say that for certain," she said. "Right now if I ran into a familiar, I'd probably kill it, but I can't be sure that I wouldn't change my ways over time."

"I'm sure you wouldn't, Hanekawa," he said. "Anyway, I can't blame Kiss-Shot for this situation. She's just what she is… it's my fault for saving her. It's no-one else's fault but mine. It never even occurred to me that Dramaturgy, Episode, and Guillotine were fighting on the side of humans the whole time. They were actually the good guys all along. And me… I'm an enemy of humans now."

"I wouldn't go that far," Tsubasa said sternly. "This isn't the kind of conflict that can be neatly divided into good guys and bad guys. Besides, Miss Dramaturgy is also a vampire, right? Though perhaps her urge to drink blood was muted when she became a magical girl… and did you know Episode is half vampire? Maybe they lack the urge, I wouldn't know…"

"Huh… I never thought of it that way," Koyomi said.

"As for that Guillotine guy, are you seriously gonna think of him as a good guy when he wants me dead?"

"R-right… right… he did mention that, didn't he…"

"So don't call yourself an enemy of humans," Tsubasa said. "An enemy of humans wouldn't be saying these things. Besides, she promised to change you back… are you going to give up on becoming a human again? Have you completely given up your humanity? Didn't you say you want to be human again? Didn't you say you wanted to return to reality!?"

"I… I may have said that… but it's unfair if I alone get what I want, isn't it?"

"It's also unfair if you die!" Tsubasa said. "You screwed up, but you'd throw it all away and escape into death… it's just a way of running away. It's not fair to yourself, it's not fair to me, and it's not fair to Heart-under-Blade! And it's not fair to your family!"

Koyomi blinked. "My family… my little sisters would probably just laugh," he muttered. "They'd be like, 'that's hilarious, our dumb onii-chan offed himself!'…"

"I don't believe that!" Tsubasa protested.

"Still, I don't want to run away… I want to… take responsibility… I just thought, ending this immortal life seemed like a good way to do that… to repent for my sin, as you might say…"

"If you're going to bring up 'sin', did you forget it's a sin to commit suicide?" Tsubasa retorted. "At least according to Christianity."

The boy fell silent for a bit, then sighed.

"I… I'm a weak person," he muttered. "I'd definitely lose to hunger eventually… I'd definitely attack someone eventually… even now, I can't stop staring at your neck, Hanekawa… someday, you might just be food in my eyes…"

Tsubasa tilted her head. "I thought Heart-under-Blade said she couldn't get anything from a magical girl…"

"She also said she was special… not a true vampire," Koyomi said. "I bet other vampires don't have that limitation."

Tsubasa sighed.

"Listen… if you want my blood, you can have it," she said. "If I become a vampire too, I don't really care. It's not like I have anywhere to return to."

Koyomi blinked. "Huh? I thought you lived with your family?"

Huh? Family? Did she have family? She couldn't think of anyone in her life that could be called family. There was Koyomi, Hitagi, Heart-under-Blade… a few classmates she occasionally spoke with… and that was about it. Huh? Wait, why did Hitagi come to mind? They were certainly classmates, but she didn't remember ever speaking with her… huh? Or did she? She vaguely remembered seeing Hitagi stoop down to pick up a grief seed…? Right, that Escherian witch… she remembered the witch itself clearly, but what happened there was one big blur.

Tsubasa tilted her head. "Family? I… don't have any family."

"R-really? Then you live alone?"

Tsubasa blinked. Now that he mentioned it, where did she live? She didn't seem to have any memory of ever sleeping anywhere. She'd certainly done most of her homework in the library, but where had she slept? Where had she eaten breakfast and dinner? She couldn't think of anywhere. It was like she'd never slept or eaten breakfast or dinner in her life, but surely that couldn't be true, could it?

"Eh? Umm… I… guess so?"

"What do you mean you guess so?" he asked.

"Well… when I think about home… where I live," Tsubasa said. "Nothing comes to mind… as if I've just… forgotten…"

Koyomi blinked. "Uhh… that… doesn't sound so good," he said. "Could it be because you became a magical girl?"

He had a good point. The moment when she'd become a magical girl was strangely fuzzy in her memory. She could pinpoint when it happened – the priest, Guillotine, had captured her and confronted Koyomi, and she had become a magical girl to help him. But she didn't actually remember the moment of becoming a magical girl. She remembered being helpless in Guillotine's grasp, and seeing Kyuubey perched atop his head… and her next memory after that was transforming as a magical girl.

"Maybe? I don't remember what I wished for, either… did you hear it? You were there too…"

Koyomi shook his head. "You never said anything… there was just a glow suddenly coming out from your chest, and then you kicked him away."

"Huh…"

"Have you forgotten anything else?" he asked. "Like… what school you go to?"

That was easy. She remembered school very clearly.

"I'm soon to be a third-year at Naoetsu Private High School," she said. "You and I are in the same class… and the class also contains Senjougahara Hitagi, among others…"

He blinked. "Why'd you name her in particular?"

"I… I don't quite remember," she said. "I think… I may have run into her recently? I vaguely remember the encounter. So I guess she was just fresh in my memory… but I don't remember anything about the meeting other than that it happened, and there was a witch…"

"So you remember that you met her but you forgot the actual meeting," he said. "That's so strange… Do you remember what happened when I was fighting Episode?"

She shook her head. "I don't remember anything about that… I do recall speaking with Episode at one point, after I left you at the riverside, and with Miss Dramaturgy as well… I don't remember everything we talked about though… but the only one I remember seeing you fight is Miss Dramaturgy. Was I even there when you fought Episode?"

"Y-yes… you were… you figured out her weakness, and called out… but you were badly hurt… I healed you… it was just before that riverside conversation, actually…"

"I don't remember any of that," she said. "What's going on… with my memories…"

Suddenly she blinked.

"Ah! But that's not the important thing right now! As I was saying, if you wanted to drink my blood and turn me into a vampire, I don't really care. I'll stay with you even if you do that. If you want to leave town and run away… I think I'd be a little disappointed, but I would go with you. If you want to eat me, then eat me… although I'd be sad if I died, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't eat all of me all at once, and left me time to heal or regenerate or something – I bet I could learn to heal myself just like your regeneration, if I had to. It's magic – there's probably no limits, right?"

"I… what are you saying!?" Koyomi gasped.

"How to put it," Tsubasa said. "If I wasn't willing to die for someone, to give my life in exchange for their own, then I wouldn't call them a friend. That's not the same as saying I want to die… rather, it shows that I consider a friend's life to be at least as precious as – maybe even more precious than – my own."

Koyomi just stared at her, and she turned her head to avoid that gaze.

"Are you disillusioned now that you know the real me?" she asked.

"Um… what's your deal?" Koyomi asked.

"I'm just your friend," she said.

"Um… do friends normally go this far? I've asked you this before, but… why… how can you go this far for me? We just met recently. If everyone acted like that…"

"I wouldn't go this far for just anyone," Tsubasa interrupted. "I can only do it because it's you… because you're a friend… no… because… because I like you! This one life should be enough to save your one life, if it came down to it."

She turned to face him again.

"So you mustn't die," she said. "Don't die… I won't let you."

Silence reigned supreme for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Koyomi broke the silence once more.

"She's strong, right?" he said. "You were with her earlier… do you think anyone can stop her now that she's restored to her full power?"

"Hmm… I think I could stop her, if I really put my mind to it and played dirty," Tsubasa said. "I think you could stop her. In fact, you probably have the best chance of anyone."

"Ah… I could do it…"

Tsubasa smiled, reaching out to pat him on the head.

"Your expression has changed," she said. "Have you worked things out now?"

He nodded slowly.

"You've decided what you're going to do?" she asked.

"Yes… I'll put an end to her," he said.

Tsubasa sighed.

"Well, it's your decision, even if I don't agree with it," she said. "I'll come with you, even if it's just to watch and cheer you on. Let's go."

There was something in this whole scenario that seemed a little off to her. Heart-under-Blade has seemed so kind when they were fighting a witch together, and Tsubasa had thought she was a good person. And yet, she couldn't deny that some of the things Heart-under-Blade had said were truly terrible, but… did that vampire really mean them? Tsubasa decided to just wait and see for now.

"Ah, but we should at least wait until nightfall," Koyomi said.

"Oh, right… are you… weaker during the day or something?" she asked.

"Direct sunlight kinda hurts," he said. "And by kinda, I mean really, really bad, like the worst sunburn you can imagine multiplied by about a hundred."

"Th-that bad, huh… then I guess we can stay here for now," she said. "Or do you want me to go out and get anything for you?"

"No… there isn't really anything I need," he said. "Although… I'm feeling a little tired, so maybe I'll take a nap…"

"A nap, huh?" Tsubasa said. She grinned and patted her knees. "Want me to offer you a pillow?"

He blinked. "N-no, I can't do that to you!"

"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't okay with it," she retorted. "Still, if you don't want it…"

"N-no, if… if you're sure… I'll gladly take it! Although I'm not sure if I'll be able to get much sleep like that…"

He lay down, resting his head on her lap, and she reached down to stroke his hair a little. Despite his words, he was fast asleep in seconds. All the excitement of the past week or two must've really gotten to him.

"Ahh… I know I said that," she muttered. "But it turns out this is really uncomfortable for the pillow… what should I do…"

She managed to endure it for almost an hour before her legs became unbearably cramped, at which point she carefully lowered his head to the ground and extracted herself from beneath him. Even at that movement, he didn't even stir, let alone wake. She found a substitute pillow in the form of a rolled-up gym mat, which was probably softer than her thighs anyway, and tucked it under his head before heading for the door. There was no real point in hanging around doing nothing, and she didn't really feel tired, so she thought it might be a good idea to take a walk around town. Perhaps some of her missing memories would even come back.

But that said… just when had those memories disappeared? She remembered nearly everything from the past two weeks quite clearly, from the first time she encountered Koyomi right up until the present moment, but now that she thought of it, there were some pretty big holes. She must have slept at some point, but just when and where did she do so? If she went by what she could remember, she hadn't slept a wink all spring break, but that was impossible. No-one could stay up that long without sleep.

Besides that, the only things she was confident that she had forgotten were the details of her meeting with Hitagi and what she'd wished for on becoming a magical girl. Ah, and the place she must have called home, where she slept and ate breakfast and dinner. Of course, she couldn't be certain there wasn't something else, but she had no evidence that she'd forgotten anything else.

She wandered past the school and turned to gaze up at it. She remembered school quite clearly, and could probably name almost everyone in her class, as well as all her teachers and the members of the student council.

"It's you again, Miss Hanekawa."

She spun to see the tall form of Hitagi, dressed in a black one-piece dress and thigh-high stockings with a frilly hem.

"Miss Senjougahara… good morning," Tsubasa said.

"I forgot to ask last time, but… what happened to your uniform?"

Tsubasa blinked, noticing the hole in her shirt for what she thought was the first time.

"Huh? Uhh… when did that happen…?"

"You didn't even notice?"

"Well… I'm not sure," Tsubasa said. "I don't think I could've failed to notice that… maybe I just forgot…?"

"How could you possibly forget something that would cause that?"

"I don't know," Tsubasa said. "But I seem to have forgotten a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"Like… I don't remember where I live," Tsubasa said. "Do you happen to know, Miss Senjougahara?"

For the first time, Hitagi showed a flicker of emotion, blinking with surprise.

"Are you crazy or something? How could you forget something like that? I don't know your address, I'm afraid, but I suppose the school should have it."

"Ohh… that's a good point," Tsubasa said. "Maybe I'll go ask them, then… or maybe I'll wait a bit longer… I'm not sure why, but I don't really feel any desire to go home in the first place."

"Um… I'll ask this again, but… how could you forget something like that?"

"To tell the truth, I'm not sure," Tsubasa said. "I only realized a little while ago… and I can't remember when I last remembered… although, when we met yesterday, I have a feeling I was on the way home, so maybe I still remembered then?"

"So sometime between yesterday and now, you suddenly forgot?"

"I guess," Tsubasa said.

"Did anything odd happen in the past twenty-four hours?"

"Well, let me see… I was captured by a priest… turned into a magical girl… defeated a witch… and had snacks with a vampire…"

"You're a magical girl now?"

"Yes…"

"Of all the things you listed, that seems the most likely cause," Hitagi said. "What did you wish for?"

"That… I don't remember that, either," Tsubasa said.

"I see… then I think you can assume your wish caused this," Hitagi said.

"Huh… so… what does that mean, exactly?"

Hitagi shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you actually wanted to forget. Maybe that was your wish. Or it could also be a side-effect of what you wished for. I'm just making wild guesses here."

"Uh, say, Miss Senjougahara, could I ask a favour of you?"

"Depends what it is."

"Could I stay over at your place for a few days? At least until school starts up again?"

"Why on earth should I allow that?" Hitagi asked, emotionless. "You're a magical girl now. That means we're rivals, competing for grief seeds."

"That's such a stark way of looking at it… wouldn't it make more sense to fight together as a team?" Tsubasa said.

"I've fought alone for about two years now," Hitagi said. "Why would I form a team all of a sudden?"

"Why not?" Tsubasa said. "I don't see any downsides for you."

"What about having to share grief seeds?"

"How is that a downside?" Tsubasa asked. "With two of us, won't we be able to defeat witches faster? I bet we could get twice as many grief seeds in the same time. Maybe even more than twice as many. Though I guess that's assuming there are that many…"

"Well… fine," Hitagi said.

"Then you'll let me stay!?"

"Just for a few days," Hitagi said. "Until school starts up again. Then you'll get out of my hair, understood?"

"Um… sure," Tsubasa said.

Hitagi took out her smartphone and held it out. Tsubasa blinked at it.

"Huh?" she said.

"As temporary roommates, we'll need each others' contact info, will we not?" Hitagi said.

"Ah… right," Tsubasa said.

She dug out her own smartphone and tapped it to Hitagi's. A beep indicated the successful exchange of information.

"I'll send you my address," Hitagi said. "See you tonight."

And with that, she turned and stalked off. Tsubasa stared after her for a minute or two, then giggled a bit.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say she's a little bit tsundere," she murmured. "Well then… I should get something to eat, and then… go back to him…"

---

When she returned to the abandoned cram school after having a meal, she found Koyomi still fast asleep, so she lay down next to him, gazing at his sleeping face. He twitched a little, perhaps from a nightmare, and she reached out to stroke his hair until he calmed down again.

"Koyomi-kun…"

She murmured his name out loud. Would he wake up if she kissed him? No… better not risk it. So instead she sighed, and just watched.

She must have dozed off for a bit herself, for suddenly she noticed his eyes were open, staring right back at her. She was now sharing the rolled-up gym mat that served as his pillow.

"Koyomi-kun…"

"Hanekawa… your face is so close," he said.

"Well, too bad," she muttered. "Because I don't want to move."

"If I just stretch out my hand a bit, I could touch your boobs."

"That's true."

"Shouldn't you be a bit more worried about that?"

"I'm not at all worried, Koyomi-kun. Go right ahead."

"A girl shouldn't be so nonchalant about a boy touching her boobs!"

"It's only because it's you, Koyomi-kun."

"No, no no no no, that's not how this is supposed to go down. I'm supposed to reach out and touch it, and then you send me flying."

"If you want me to send you flying, I can do that for you at any time. You don't need to touch my boobs for that."

"Oh, I'll pass…"

Tsubasa giggled. "What are we even talking about…?"

"I don't even know myself…"

Tsubasa flicked her eyes over to a nearby window, shifting her head a little to get a better look. The evening sun was shafting in, casting most of the room in shadow but for a bright area by the window. She must've been asleep for a lot longer than 'just a bit'.

"The sun's setting," she said. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to confront her," Koyomi said. "Letting people die when she has the power to save them, just so she can live on… I can't accept that!"

"Are you going to… kill her?" Tsubasa asked.

"If she won't change her ways… I just might," Koyomi said.

"I still think she's a good person," Tsubasa said. "But I do agree with you on the letting people die thing… I just don't know what's right…"

"That's unusual," Koyomi said. "I thought you knew everything."

"I don't know everything," Tsubasa retorted. "I only know what I know."

"Well…"

Koyomi sat up, and Tsubasa sat up too.

"I guess it's time," he said.

"Let's go," Tsubasa said.

"Huh? You don't need to come," he said. "It'll be dangerous."

"I'm just as strong as you are now," she retorted. "Don't try to stop me."

"Arm-wrestle," Koyomi said.

Tsubasa blinked at him. "Come again?"

"If you're so strong, it should be no problem," he said. "If I win, you stay here."

"Geez, what a pain," Tsubasa said. "Fine. I won't lose. But we can't really do that in here…"

"There's a classroom across the hall," Koyomi said.

They got to their feet and headed across the hall, which was indeed a classroom, with a scattering of desks and chairs. They grabbed a desk and a pair of chairs and took a seat, placing their elbows on the desk and clasping their hands together.

"Alright," Koyomi said. "One… two… go!"

There was a brief struggle for dominance between her magical girl strength and his vampire strength, but then Tsubasa slammed his hand down to the table, accompanied by an unpleasant crunch. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but it had actually been a close match. If she'd let her guard down for a second, he would've won.

"Youch!" Koyomi said. "I think you broke it…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Tsubasa gasped. "I must have underestimated my new strength…"

"No, it's okay," Koyomi said. "It'll heal in no time. Fine… you won fair and square, so I won't try to stop you. Just don't get in my way."

They headed up to the roof, where they found that the mess from their celebratory feast had already been cleaned up and Heart-under-Blade was nowhere to be seen. However, Oshino Meme was up there, gazing up at the moon.

"Where is she?" Koyomi asked.

"Out," Meme said without turning around. "What do you want from her?"

"I suddenly realized," Koyomi said. "She's not on the side of humans at all, is she?"

"Well, she's not human herself," Meme said. "Even if she was human once, that was hundreds of years ago."

"Exactly," Koyomi said. "And she preys on humans, right?"

Meme shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not too sure. It seems likely, though. Most vampires I've encountered prey on humans directly, and as for magical girls, there are quite a few who'd choose not to save someone just so that they can get a reward. She does seem like that type to me."

"Then… I can't just let her run amok," Koyomi said. "I… I have to… end her!"

"So that's the decision you've come to?" Meme said.

"Y-yes!"

"And what about the class rep?" Meme asked. "Does she agree with you?"

"Um… I'm not sure," Tsubasa said. "But I do understand the argument… so I was thinking of supporting him…"

"She's at the soccer stadium," Meme said.

"Huh?" Koyomi said.

"Shinobu-chan," Meme said. "Heart-under-Blade. She's at the football stadium. If you want to talk to her or fight her or whatever, go there."

"Thank you very much!" Koyomi said.

---

But when Koyomi and Tsubasa arrived at the football stadium, the vampire was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she…?" Koyomi asked. "Did that bastard lie to me…? Or has she already moved on?"

"No," Tsubasa said. "She's here… I can sense her magic…" Suddenly she gasped. "Above!"

Koyomi looked up and saw her, hovering way up in the air. As if noticing she'd been spotted, she folded her wings and went into a dive, landing a good twenty metres away with a bang, sending chunks of dirt and turf flying as she left a crater. She picked herself up and stepped forward calmly, then turned to face Koyomi up in the stands.

"Yo," he said.

Leaving Tsubasa standing where she was, he descended the stairs down to the field.

"I didn't expect you to actually be here," he said.

"Why do you care?" Heart-under-Blade asked. "Didn't you decide to abandon me up on that rooftop? Or have you come to a decision?"

"Well, I suppose you could say that," Koyomi said.

He strode across the field until he was standing about ten metres away from her, facing her.

"Just this once, allow me to apologize," Heart-under-Blade said. "I was inconsiderate of your status as a former human. However, it doesn't change my stance on any of this. Humans are lesser life forms… they provide food for witches, and witches provide grief seeds for my kind. That is simply the way of things."

She paused to let that sink in.

"You saved my life," she continued. "I ask that you come live with me. You're unusual, so I think we could make it work. Don't you want to live forever with me?"

"No," Koyomi said. "Whether directly or indirectly, you prey on humans. That's enough for me."

"So if you knew, you wouldn't have saved me?" Heart-under-Blade said. "Would you have let me die?"

"I didn't understand anything," Koyomi muttered.

Though his voice was soft, Tsubasa's sharp ears were still able to hear the words with perfect clarity. She wasn't sure if her ears had always been that sharp, or if it was a result of becoming a magical girl. Still… it was hard to see them both from behind him, so she decided to move along the stands so she could view the confrontation from the side.

"No, actually, maybe I understood from the beginning," Koyomi muttered. "I was just ignoring it… I was serious about dying for you. I suppose I accepted that you might prey on people… but I didn't make the connection that someone might die because of that. It was a beautiful sentiment, but it wasn't right."

Heart-under-blade burst out laughing. Once she'd calmed down a bit, she grinned at him.

"I thought you'd say so," she said.

Then, so quiet that even Tsubasa's ears could only barely pick it up.

"I wanted to hear you say so."

The two of them locked eyes for a moment, and for some reason, Koyomi gasped.

"Now I have no hesitation either," Heart-under-Blade said coldly. "I knew from the beginning too, my servant. I thought that this is the type of person you are. That you are only kind to me while I am weak. I knew. I knew you wouldn't be interested in me once I was fully recovered. You did not help because of me. You would have helped anyone in trouble. Hypocrite."

Silence fell for what seemed like an eternity, or maybe it was a few minutes. When it became clear that Koyomi had no further words to offer, Heart-under-Blade spoke up again.

"Then come, my servant," she said. "Once you kill me, you can return to your beloved humanity."

"Kiss-Shot," Koyomi said. "I've got one last question for you."

"Fine," she said. "I shall answer your question, if I can. Ask anything you please."

"What are humans to you?" Koyomi asked.

"Humans are food for witches," Heart-under-Blade said without hesitation. "And witches are like food for me."

"I wanted to hear you say that, too," Koyomi said. "Die, my master!"

"Die, my servant!" Heart-under-Blade shouted.

Tsubasa watched, transfixed, as the battle began. It was a battle that defied all logic, for both combatants had the ability to regenerate from almost any wound in mere seconds. She lost count of the times Koyomi or Heart-under-Blade lost their head or an arm or leg. Blood sprayed everywhere across the battlefield, yet somehow never actually stuck to anything, for the regeneration process appeared to also clean up all remnants of the injury. They used their hands like blades and chopped each other up, but no matter how severe the injury, no matter how dispersed the pieces of their body, the largest part would always regenerate within a matter of seconds. Tsubasa had a feeling that a normal person should be feeling an urge to vomit, much like she had on the platform at the sight of Heart-under-Blade's dismembered body, but somehow, she didn't feel anything at all. Was it just so surreal that it overflowed into ridiculous? Or had she already become used to such sights after watching Koyomi beat down Dramaturgy?

After several minutes of this carnage, Heart-under-Blade suddenly decided to retreat, hopping into the air and landing atop the score board.

"I shall tell you one last thing, my servant," she announced. "Not that it would be of any use to you, now that we part. I used to be human too."

"W-what!?" Koyomi gasped.

"I used to. Just like Dramaturgy or you."

"You weren't born a vampire!?" Koyomi gasped.

"It has been a long time, so my memories of life as a human have become blurry," Heart-under-Blade said. "But I was of pretty good birth. Yes, I suppose you could say I was a princess of sorts. For someone of my age, though… purity and kinship have no meaning anymore."

"So what!?" Koyomi shouted.

He leapt into the air, aiming for the vampire's position.

"How nostalgic," Heart-under-Blade murmured. "It has been quite awhile since I last recalled my life back in Wallachia…"

She leapt to meet him, and they tussled in mid-air for a few seconds, leaving him battered and beaten while she landed gracefully back on the turf, and then that crazy carnage that passed for battle resumed. However, this time Heart-under-Blade appeared to have the upper hand, and she had Koyomi in retreat, chasing him around and around the stadium. Unable to consistently catch up to him, she started attacking with her magic, blasting him with lasers over and over again.

Eventually, it seemed like his regeneration ability was starting to slow down, leaving him with one hand almost fully severed. She must have realized that he was at his limit, for she unfolded her wings once more and leapt into the air, charging up some sort of fiery attack from above. He only escaped by leveraging that severed hand that refused to heal, using it to hook around a distant pole and pull himself out.

By that time, the regeneration had finally taken hold, and he was able to run again, dodging Heart-under-Blade's fiery blasts as best he could. However, with clear air superiority on her part, it seemed to Tsubasa that Koyomi no longer had any chance to win this. And yet… it seemed that Heart-under-Blade repeatedly refused to finish him off. If this was supposed to be a fight to the death, and she had such a clear advantage, then why was it taking so long?

Suddenly Tsubasa gasped as a shocking revelation came to her. This wasn't a duel at all. This was an execution, disguised as a duel. But contrary to what an observer might expect, the executioner… was Koyomi.

All the loose ends that had been bugging her ever since that snack feast on the rooftop suddenly fit together, like a puzzle. Almost everything made sense. Had the vampire planned out this whole duel just to make him kill her? That was the only thing she didn't quite understand. Why go to such lengths? If the vampire wanted to die, there were easier ways to end her own life, right?

But what she knew for sure was that she couldn't allow it to continue. As the pair faced off again, glaring at each other like it was about to be the final showdown, Tsubasa leapt down from the stands in a single bound and ran towards them.

"Wait a moment!" she shouted.

Both combatants turned to look at her in surprise.

"Koyomi-kun, something's wrong!" she called.

"Hanekawa!" Koyomi shouted. "Go hide!"

"No!" Tsubasa shouted. "Something's not right! You're missing something very important!"

"Silence!" Heart-under-Blade shouted.

She pointed at Tsubasa, blasting away the ground beneath her feet, but Tsubasa flipped into the air, transforming in mid-flip, and landed right between the two of them.

"Just keep your mouth shut, you damn fool!" Heart-under-Blade shouted.

"Heart-under-Blade, do you happen to—"

"You filthy girl!" Heart-under-Blade shouted. "Know your place!"

She swung her fist at Tsubasa, but Koyomi leapt in the way, exploding into a cloud of blood that rained down for several seconds, some of it even landing on Tsubasa's face… it was as if his body had been completely obliterated.

But then, with a gasp, Tsubasa realized that not only was his head still intact, it was fastened onto Heart-under-blade's neck. The blood on her face faded away as the rest of his body regrew from just the head, leaving him completely naked. It actually looked like he was sucking her blood…

And then, something strange happened. It happened so slowly that at first Tsubasa wasn't sure what she was seeing, but Heart-under-Blade's body was shrinking. By the time Koyomi was whole again and had released her, she was back to the small child form she'd taken just after converting him.

"What's wrong, my servant…?" Heart-under-Blade taunted. "I still have at least half of my blood left. Aren't you going to finish me off? If you don't hurry, I'll regenerate soon enough."

"How did you intend to make me human again?" Koyomi asked.

"What does that matter to you now?" Heart-under-Blade retorted.

"Heart-under-Blade," Tsubasa said. "Did you intend to have Koyomi-kun kill you all along? Is that the way to regain his humanity?"

"You sound like a silly fool," Heart-under-Blade muttered. "You have no proof…"

"Then how would you make him human again?" Tsubasa asked. "Tell us."

"I wouldn't," Heart-under-Blade said. "I never intended to make him human once more. I just lied to him to get my limbs back."

"No," Tsubasa said. "You made him gather your limbs because if Koyomo-kun killed you while you were weakened, he couldn't become a human again, right? You had to be at your full strength or it would have no meaning. You intended to die."

Koyomi gasped and took a couple of steps back, so staggered by the things Tsubasa was saying that he seemed to have difficulty just remaining on his feet, but she ignored him.

"What is your point?" Heart-under-Blade demanded. "Do you think he could kill me after hearing that? Regardless of whether it's true."

Koyomi stepped forward again, looming over her small body now lying prone on the ground.

"Why?" Koyomi asked. "Why would you do that!?"

Silence fell for a minute, while Heart-under-Blade gazed appraisingly at the pair of them. Tsubasa put on her best glare, and Koyomi just stared at her in disbelief. Finally, she seemed to decide the jig was up.

"I've been looking for a place to die," Heart-under-Blade said. "I thought I wanted to die. I really thought so. I even wished for it. But in the very end I was always afraid to die. I was afraid of disappearing. I was hopelessly afraid of vanishing." She sighed. "That was only the second time in my life that someone helped me. Never before has a human or a vampire helped me. As I drank your blood, I wondered what I was doing. So I decided to die for you. I couldn't die for him. I couldn't give myself up for him. I couldn't turn him back into a human. That's why…"

She blinked as Koyomi's tears landed on her face.

"Why are you crying…? Such a crybaby, my pathetic servant."

"These aren't tears," Koyomi muttered. "T-this is… this is blood!" he shouted. "Blood is flowing! Blood is flowing in you too, isn't it!?"

He knelt down and embraced her, still crying his eyes out. Tsubasa simply stood there and watched. Not a single tear left her eyes. This didn't strike her as a touching scene. She wasn't sure what to call it, but it definitely wasn't touching. No, it was… revolting. A revolting display of misplaced sympathy. Had she done the right thing in calling the vampire on her schemes? No, wasn't she the demon here? And yet, she was sure Koyomi would've carried the guilt forever if he learned the truth after killing her. She didn't want to see that Koyomi. In the end, she was interfering with Heart-under-Blade's scheme not out of consideration for her but out of her own selfishness. She was putting her concern for Koyomi's mental health over Heart-under-Blade's professed wishes.

"You messed this up, fool woman," Heart-under-Blade said. "I planned to give him an opening to kill me at some point."

But even though this had been her own selfish choice, even though she was almost convinced it was the wrong thing to do, she was committed to it now. That meant she had to at least try to convince Heart-under-Blade that she was in the right. If she was the one carrying that guilt, it would be even worse than if Koyomi did. She cast around for a few moments, pondering the stories she'd heard from the vampire until she hit on something.

"Then what about Kuzunoha?" Tsubasa said. "You said you wanted to see her again, didn't you?"

The vampire gasped.

"I… yes, I may have said that," Heart-under-Blade admitted. "But even if I wanted to see her, there's no way she'd still be alive."

"You could at least confirm her death before giving up," Tsubasa pointed out.

Heart-under-Blade fell silent for a few moments, but then her face hardened, and she pushed Koyomi away, glaring at him.

"H-however, you have no other choice but to kill me now, my servant," Heart-under-Blade said menacingly. "If you don't kill me, then starting tomorrow I'll kill lots and lots of people. Hearing that, you'll have to kill me. What if I killed that fool woman over there? I figure that'd get you motivated. Pay for the life you saved."

So she was still resisting… or was this her final, stubborn act of defiance before she capitulated?

"Kiss-Shot!" Koyomi shouted.

Somehow that name caused the menace to drain from Heart-under-Blade's face. She blinked a couple of times, then shook her head in wonder.

"You're the first one to call me by that name," she said. "And the last. So, kill me now."

Koyomi spun to look at Tsubasa, but she averted her gaze. She didn't want Koyomi to see her face right now. What kind of expression was she wearing? Somehow she couldn't quite tell. Was it excited glee? No, perhaps stone-cold indifference? Whatever it was, she didn't want Koyomi to see it.

"Kill me now, my servant," the vampire said. "Come on! Come on! Come on!"

Suddenly Koyomi screamed wordlessly, shocking her into silence. Then he leapt to his feet and shouted at the top of his voice.

"Oshinooooo! Oshino Memeeeee!"

Tsubasa gasped, unable to prevent her eyes from sliding down his backside, and Heart-under-Blade also stared at him in shock. Of course, the boy was still stark naked. Tsubasa had never actually seen it before… she couldn't help but be curious a little…

"I know you're watching!" Koyomi shouted. "Stop hiding and come on out! I understand now what you meant! I don't need explanations! Just get down here! I understand what I did too! Just get down here! Oshino Meme!"

It was only when he'd stopped shouting, gasping for breath, that Meme's voice wafted down from the stands. He stepped out from the shadows, gazing down at the trio with a grin.

"You don't have to shout," he said. "What a coincidence that we meet here, Araragi-kun!"

"Oshino!" Koyomi said.

"You're looking lively," Meme said with a chuckle. "Did something good happen?"

"I have a job for you," Koyomi said. "Do something about this."

Meme descended down to the turf, joining the three of them in the middle of the field.

"Something?" he said. "That's so vague."

"I'll pay you!" Koyomi shouted.

"It's not a matter of money," Meme said.

"Then what!?"

Meme narrowed his eyes.

"You, boy," Meme said. "Don't just push your problems onto me."

He turned to smile at Tsubasa.

"Hey, miss class rep," he said. "Nice to see you again."

"Hello…" she said.

"Don't get in the way, boy," Heart-under-Blade said. "That's what we agreed on."

"I recall no such agreement between us, Heart-under-Blade," Meme said. "I only promised the exact phrasing, remember? I just wanted to sort out the situation. If you're willing to die to make Araragi-kun human again, that's all the better for me." He turned to face Koyomi again. "So… what's the deal? I'm a specialist. The pay…"

The man scratched his chin for a moment.

"I know," Koyomi said.

"The five million I let go of," Meme said. "So, what's your request?"

"Tell me a way out of this that's a happy end for all of us," Koyomi said. "A way where no-one has to suffer."

"Do you seriously expect one to exist?" Meme retorted. "Are you nuts?"

But despite that, he turned thoughtful, stroking his chin. While Meme seemed to be pondering the request, Tsubasa watched Koyomi out of the corner of her eye. He just stood there, waiting. They must have stood there unmoving for almost an hour before the silence was finally broken.

"Well, I don't have a way for no-one to suffer, but I've thought of a way to make everyone suffer equally," Meme said. "You, class rep, and Shinobu-chan. You could shoulder all this suffering together. It doesn't solve any problems, but will that do?"

"U-um… d-depends how much suffering you mean," Koyomi said hesitantly.

"If my idea works, you'd get as close to killing Heart-under-Blade as possible, Araragi-kun… she would never be able to regain the full power she once wielded. She wouldn't be a vampire anymore, but she wouldn't quite be human, either. She'd still be a magical girl, but she'd rarely need grief seeds, so there would be no reason for her to let a familiar mature."

"That sounds… good," Koyomi said. "So far, at least…"

"But you wouldn't be able to become fully human either, Araragi-kun. Still, you could get pretty close… about as close as class rep there currently is. You wouldn't quite be a vampire anymore, either. In fact, you'd be about as far from vampire as you can get without reaching human. Fits you well, huh?"

"Y-yeah… that seems… good enough," Koyomi said. "As long as I can walk in daylight and go about my daily life without issue."

"And the cornerstone that makes the whole plan work is class rep. She'd have to become slightly vampiric herself. So, you'd end up with three people who aren't quite vampires and aren't quite human, but are something in between. A shared liminality, you could say. And you'd become dependent on each other. Heart-under-Blade would require your blood, you would require class rep's blood, and class rep would require Heart-under-Blade's blood… otherwise all three of you would waste away. You might not die, but it would be about as bad as dying. So the three of you would have to stick together for the rest of your life. And that life could be quite long. A hundred years… maybe two hundred, maybe even more."

"Stop screwing around, boy!" Heart-under-Blade shouted. "I don't want to live like that! I'll die! Let me die for him! Kill me! Just kill me already! I don't want to live!"

"I did say this would make everyone suffer," Meme said. "You don't get your wish to die. Araragi-kun doesn't get his wish to become human again. And class rep… is forced to become even less human than she already is."

"Is this… absolutely irreversible…?" Tsubasa asked.

"Well… let me just say, I know of no way to reverse it," Meme said. "But perhaps a Coordinator could do it… there aren't very many of those around, though. Well, that also means class rep might be able to learn to reverse it one day."

"Why would I be needed for this plan?" Tsubasa asked.

"Your magic is the only thing that can pull it off," Meme said.

"Huh? But all I can do is… fire, explosions, and… erasing memories…?" Tsubasa said.

Meme shook his head. "I noticed when you fought Guillotine last time," he said. "Your magic isn't what it seems. It's actually one of the rarest types of magic… it's like the magic of the Coordinators, born from one who wishes for a curse. In short, it's magic to manipulate the soul. Permanently erasing memories is just the tip of the iceberg. You're capable of a whole lot more than that, class rep."

Somehow, the man's words rang true. She hadn't really given much thought to the depths of what her magic could do, but she instinctively understood it to a degree, and that instinct told her that Meme was not wrong in his deduction. But had she really wished for a curse? Why would she waste her precious wish on something like that? Maybe she could ask Kyuubey what she'd wished for…

"Okay, but there's still one more question I have," Tsubasa said. "I get that my magic can apparently pull off your plan… but couldn't I pull it off without including myself in the chain? Just make the two of them dependent on each other?"

"You could," Meme said. "Yes, you certainly could. But I have my reasons for including you in the mix. I believe that it would be less stable with only the two of them, and less effective. By including you, currently a non-vampire, into the spell, the vampire qualities will be diluted even further."

"I see," Tsubasa said. "I think it makes sense so far."

"I!" Koyomi suddenly blurted out. "I can't… drag Hanekawa into this!"

Tsubasa frowned and turned to face him. How could she let him exclude her when she was the chief reason this happened? There was no way she could back down now.

"I'll do it!" she said.

"Huh?"

"I'm not being dragged in if I decide by my own will!" Tsubasa said fervently.

"B-but… w-what if you… want to get a boyfriend?" Koyomi said.

Tsubasa smiled. For perhaps the first time in her life, she felt that maybe, just maybe, this was a genuine smile, not a mask put on to make people feel comfortable.

"Then I'll choose you," Tsubasa said simply.

"What if you want to get married!?" Koyomi asked.

"Then I'll choose you," Tsubasa repeated.

"W-what if… what if… ummm… w-what if I get a girlfriend? And marry her?"

"Then I'll stay by your side as a close friend, and never marry," Tsubasa said.

"W-what if… umm… uhh…"

Tsubasa let her smile fade, adopting a stern expression in its place.

"I had no intention of leaving you from the start," Tsubasa said. "Being stuck together sounds like a blessing to me, not a curse. Is it different for you? Would you hate being stuck with me for the rest of your life?"

"I… w-well… y-you're um… p-pretty, and k-kind, so…"

Tsubasa laughed, shaking her head. "No, I'm not," she said. "I'm plain, and the kindness you see is a mask for an empty heart. But I'm happy you think of me that way. Would you hate being stuck with me for the rest of your life? Koyomi-kun… would it be so bad for us to date? To become lovers? Maybe even marry someday?"

"W-well… I can think of far worse things," Koyomi muttered. "I don't think I'd hate being stuck with you… and I still want Kiss-Shot to live."

"Then let's do it!" Tsubasa said eagerly.

Koyomi nodded. "Fine… you've convinced me," he said.

The two of them turned to Meme.

"So… what do we have to do?" Koyomi asked.

"Hold it!?" Heart-under-Blade protested. "Aren't you going to ask me how I feel about this!? You asked each other, why am I the only one left out!? Please! Please just kill me! I beg of you! Please kill me! Please kill me and become a human again! That'd be helping me! That would save me!"

The two of them turned around to face her.

"I'm sorry, Kiss-Shot," Koyomi said. "I can't do it. I won't help you. Not with this."

"Weren't you already prepared to stick with Koyomi-kun forever?" Tsubasa asked.

"Him, maybe," Heart-under-Blade said.

"I wouldn't mind being stuck with you forever, Heart-under-Blade," Tsubasa said. "I've enjoyed my chats with you. I think you're a fascinating person, and much kinder than I am, though you do your best to hide that kindness behind a cruel mask. Would you hate being stuck with me forever?"

"I'm not too keen on the idea," Heart-under-Blade muttered. "But I suppose there are worse people I could spend eternity with…"

"Well, then," Tsubasa said.

She turned to face Meme again.

"What do I have to do?" she asked.

"First, huddle up," Meme said. "We'll have both of them drink your blood at the same time, until there's not a single drop left."

"B-but I'll die!" Tsubasa gasped.

"Don't you have a grief seed on you?" Meme asked.

"W-well yes, but…"

"Then keep it ready, just in case," Meme said. "You won't die, but you could lose a lot of magic, and that would be even worse than dying."

"Okay," Tsubasa said. "If you're sure… I'll trust you, Mr Oshino."

She and Koyomi knelt by the vampire's side, and gently lifted her up.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Heart-under-Blade said. "I won't be able to fully convert you, since you're a magical girl, but you'll still feel most of the effects of a conversion. Especially since both of us are doing it at the same time."

"I've been prepared for that almost from the start," Tsubasa retorted. "If Koyomi-kun hadn't offered you his blood back then, I probably would have."

"A-are you sure this is okay…?" Koyomi asked.

"I said it's okay because it's okay," Tsubasa retorted. "Now come on… drink up!"

She grabbed Koyomi by the head and forced him towards her neck, while also guiding Heart-under-Blade to the same. She gasped as they both bit at the same time, sucking her blood out little by little. It felt strange, but oddly didn't hurt at all after the initial pinprick… but she began to feel a little light-headed after a bit. Remembering what Meme had said, she checked her soul gem and found it in need of purifying, so she pressed her grief seed to it, drawing the impurities out.

Finally, they both released her with a gasp. Heart-under-Blade had apparently put on some additional size, and now looked to be about fourteen. Koyomi of course looked his usual self. She somehow managed to stop herself from passing out, but just like Meme had said, she was still alive even after losing so much blood. Her magical girl must be even sturdier than she'd thought.

"Ugh… so woozy," Tsubasa muttered. "So… now what…?"

"Give yourself a few minutes to recover," Meme said. "You'll need to be able to focus well for the next step."

Silence fell as they waited. It must have been five, maybe ten minutes before the lightheadedness passed and she felt normal again.

"Okay, I'm ready," Tsubasa said.

"Now you link your souls together," Meme said. "Take your soul gem and Shinobu-chan's soul gem, and hold them both in your hand. Touch them gently with your fingertips while focusing on what you want to do."

Tsubasa located and extracted Heart-under-Blade's soul gem, and pulled her own off her outfit, converting both to standard gem form and holding them in her palm.

"Okay, but… I don't quite understand what it is I want to do…?" she said.

"You need to locate Araragi-kun's soul, which is still contained within his body," Meme said. "Her soul gem should have a link to it. Try to replicate that link between her and you, and between yourself and him. Also, when you're meddling with the vampire's soul gem, you can suppress her thrall power and rewrite her name."

"Rewrite her name…?" Tsubasa said. "So she'll have a new name, instead of Heart-under-Blade?"

"That was never her true name," Meme said. "You'll need to know her true name before you can rewrite it. Hmm… how does Oshino Shinobu sound?"

"As if I'd want to be related to you," Heart-under-Blade muttered.

"Okay," Tsubasa said. "I think I get it… so I'm meddling with my own soul, with Koyomi-kun's soul, and with her soul, right?"

"That's right," Meme said.

Tsubasa turned to Heart-under-Blade.

"So, um… what is your true name, anyway?"

"You already know it," she retorted.

Tsubasa gasped. "Ah! Laura of Wallachia!? Mr Oshino called you that one time…"

"Bingo," Meme said.

"Okay… please don't disturb me," Tsubasa said. "I'm going to be meddling with souls here, so I'm sure there could be catastrophic consequences if something goes wrong…"

She started poking at her soul gem and Laura's, frowning slightly as images flashed through her head.

A young blonde-haired girl ran through the hall. She wore a fancy dress, but Tsubasa recognized her face – it was Laura, for sure. She called out to a stern-looking man – her big brother, apparently. However, he was deep in conversation with someone else and only shot her a sharp look.

Tsubasa saw an adult Laura together with two girls and a boy, climbing stairs towards a shrine gate. One of the girls was gasping for breath and complaining, so the boy ended up carrying her on his back. Upon finally reaching the top, the two girls started looking around. Finally, one of them ran up to Laura and asked for help. Laura, startled by the request, used her magic sense to locate their target. At that moment, a fox appeared from the undergrowth, exactly where she'd indicated.

Tsubasa saw a man calmly covering himself with oil while Laura pleaded with him to stop. Heedless of her words, he struck a match and was instantly set ablaze. Laura let out a scream of anguish and collapsed to the ground.

She saw Laura surrounded by children of all ages. She appeared to be handing out food, and she was being very irate about it, complaining that the children were too noisy, yet she never stopped distributing it.

She saw Laura perched high up on a mountaintop, gazing at the moon. In the distance, a wolf could be heard. Suddenly, someone attacked from behind, and she transformed, turning to face her assailant. It was a young woman wearing the habit of a nun.

After sifting through all the images, presumably events from Laura's past, Tsubasa finally found a faucet of sorts that controlled the thrall power, and switched it off. And then, she discovered a trail extending outside the soul gem, burying itself in Koyomi's chest. That must be the link Meme had been referring to. Once she realized what she was sensing, it turned out to be simple to replicate the technique, linking her soul to Koyomi in the same way. Then she replicated the link again, connecting herself to Laura. The three directional links formed a cycle, like Meme had implied.

"Huh?" Tsubasa said, sitting up with a start. "That was… a lot less hard than I thought…?"

"Because you have a hidden talent for it, no doubt," Meme said. "So, how'd it go? What's your name, vampire?"

"Oshino Shinobu," the vampire muttered.

"Do you remember your original name?" Tsubasa asked.

"Sort of, but it feels like it belongs to someone else…"

"Um, Mr Oshino, I have a question," Tsubasa said.

"Fire away," Meme said.

"You said that Koyomi-kun would have to drink my blood, and I would have to drink Shinobu-chan's blood, and Shinobu-chan would have to drink Koyomi-kun's blood, or else we would waste away. My question is… does that only go one way, or will it work in reverse, too? For example, would I waste away if I only drank Koyomi-kun's blood?"

"Hmm, that's a good question," Meme said. "I don't actually know. What I do know is that it has to form a cycle. If you were to drink Araragi-kun's blood, then the only way that could possibly work out is if Araragi-kun drank Shinobu-chan's blood and she drank yours."

"I guess we'll stick with your order then, to be on the safe side," Tsubasa said. "Which means…"

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, she leaned forward and bit into Shinobu's neck. She'd expected it to disgust her, but somehow, it didn't. It was like a warm feeling flowing from one body into another. After a minute, she straightened up with a sigh.

"Wow… that was… quite something," she said. "Okay… come to think of it… do I have that crazy regeneration now, too?"

"Probably none of you have that now," Meme said. "At least, not to that extent."

"But I do have some regeneration, then?" Tsubasa said.

"Most likely, yes," Meme said.

"So you could say I've actually powered up…"

"You could say that, yes," Meme said.

She stretched a bit, then turned to look for Koyomi, wondering why he hadn't responded. The answer was immediately clear. He'd fallen fast asleep. Giggling a little, she dragged him over and slung an arm around him, leaning against him.

Before she realized it, she too had fallen asleep.

---

When she came to again, she was back in the gym storage room of the cram school. Koyomi and Shinobu were sleeping next to her. Meme sat over by a window, gazing out at the moon.

"Hey… how long was I asleep?" Tsubasa asked.

Meme turned towards her.

"Dunno," he said. "Maybe an hour or so?"

Tsubasa sat up, wondering what she should do. She'd asked Hitagi to let her stay over, so it would probably be rude to back out now, right? But she didn't just want to leave Koyomi alone like this, either.

As if in response to her concerns, he too stirred and sat up.

"Hanekawa…?" he said.

"You're so cold," she said sternly.

"Huh?"

"You're still calling me Hanekawa after everything that happened."

"Oh, well…"

"Try it," she said. "Even if it's just once, try calling me by my given name."

"T-t-tsubasa…chan…?"

He averted his eyes and turned beet red, though. Tsubasa giggled.

"There you go! Now just get used to saying that all the time!"

"I suppose…"

"So, what should we do now?" Tsubasa said. "Your parents and little sisters must be worried about you… maybe you should go home?"

"I'm not sure if it's okay to leave… her here," Koyomi said, glancing at Shinobu.

"If that's what you're worried about, don't," Meme said. "I'll keep an eye on her for now."

"Then let's go," Tsubasa said.

"Alright," Koyomi said.

Tsubasa checked her phone and found an email from Hitagi containing her address, just as promised. So they left the cram school together and walked together in silence for awhile, until their routes split up.

"Well, I'll see you later, Koyomi-kun!" Tsubasa said.

"Y-yeah… you too," Koyomi said.

He turned and walked off, and she watched him go. Twice, he turned back, and she waved at him. Then he turned a corner, and she made her way towards Hitagi's place. Fortunately for her, there was still a light on inside, so she knocked on the door. It was answered by a man whom she presumed to be Hitagi's father. He stared at her in surprise.

"Ah, how may I help you?" he asked.

"Um, I'm really sorry for being so late," Tsubasa said. "But Senjougahara said I could stay over…"

"I never said any such thing," the man said. "Ah! You must be the guest Hitagi said she was expecting… she's already gone to bed. She seemed disappointed that you didn't come."

"Did she really?" Tsubasa said. "Then, can I still stay?"

"I don't see why not," Mr Senjougahara said.

She entered the house and kicked off her shoes, and he dug out some spare clothes for her to change into as pyjamas. Then he ushered her into Senjougahara's room, where there was already a futon laid out, waiting for her. She quickly got changed and slipped beneath the covers, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

---

When she woke up, she found herself in an unknown setting. She stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, blinking a little, then sat up with a start, looking around wildly.

"W-where!?" she gasped.

"Oh, you're awake."

Senjougahara Hitagi stepped into the room, dripping, a towel wrapped around her hair. She must have just emerged from the shower, for she wasn't wearing anything at all, but as Tsubasa watched, confused, she unwrapped the towel from her hair and started to dry off.

"This is… your place?" Tsubasa asked.

"Where else?" Hitagi said. "Though I was surprised to find you here when I woke up."

"Oh… thank goodness," Tsubasa said. "How long was I out?"

"You've been asleep for a whole day," Hitagi said. "It's been just over twenty-four hours since Dad let you in."

"So that means… school starts the day after tomorrow, right?" Tsubasa said.

"That's right," Hitagi said. "Oh, I also disposed of your used grief seed for you. You should thank me. Any longer, and it would've hatched."

"Hatched…?"

"Spawned a new witch."

"Oh… thank you very much," Tsubasa said. "Though now I'll need a new one…"

"I suppose this is an excuse to see if we are compatible in combat," Hitagi said. "But first, we shall eat breakfast."

Tsubasa crawled out of bed and changed back into her uniform, then headed into the next room. Mr Senjougahara looked up as she entered.

"Ah, you're up!" he said. "It's nice to meet a friend of Hitagi's for once! I know we spoke briefly before, but that barely counts."

"Nice to meet you, Mr Senjougahara," Tsubasa said. "I'm Hanekawa Tsubasa. Thank you very much for allowing me to stay over."

"Come sit down and eat," Mr Senjougahara said. "You've been asleep a whole day, so you must be very hungry. Did something happen?"

Tsubasa shook her head. "Nothing in particular, but I did stay up all night, so maybe that's why I was so tired."

"Then all the more reason to fill yourself up," the man said.

Tsubasa nodded, taking a seat. "Thank you for the food."

She settle down to stuff her face. It seemed Mr Senjougahara had even made extra, out of consideration for her. All of it was delicious. Hitagi joined them after a few minutes too, eating methodically like a robot, and Tsubasa couldn't help giggling a little.

After breakfast, Hitagi and Tsubasa headed out on a witch hunt.

---

"Hiyaaah!" Hitagi shouted, slamming her hammer down on a familiar.

"You're so violent, Miss Senjougahara," Tsubasa said.

She flipped a flaming bottle at a pack of several familiars, setting them aflame.

"As if you're not," Hitagi replied.

The labyrinth they were in was littered with all sorts of cinematic equipment, and elaborate curtains hung in arcs from the ceiling. The familiars had a slim cylindrical body, with a long whip attached to the bottom. Tsubasa thought they looked a little like a test tube.

"These familiars seem pretty weak, is that normal?" Tsubasa asked.

"It varies," Hitagi said with a shrug. "But this witch is one where the familiars are a lot weaker than the actual witch."

"Huh? You've fought the same witch before?" Tsubasa said.

"It keeps popping back up, no matter how many times I bash it into oblivion," Hitagi said. "It breeds like crazy."

"It… breeds?" Tsubasa said. "Huh…"

"Didn't Kyuubey give you the crash course on witch hunting?" Hitagi said.

"Ah, no, because I was with another magical girl," Tsubasa said.

They waded through a fresh horde of familiars and finally discovered a door leading further inside. It proved to be the central chamber where the witch was. She was some sort of tentacled monstrosity that looked like someone had randomly splashed down paint in several colours, and then it had come alive. Five strange symbols were inscribed above the door, but Tsubasa had no idea what they meant. Still, if she compared to the witch where she'd met Hitagi before, three of the symbols were familiar. The first symbol here was the same as the second symbol she saw in that other witch, and the second symbol was the same as that other witch's fourth symbol. And the third symbol matched the second and fifth symbol from that bone witch. Surely they had to mean something?

"I'm not going to save you if you're in trouble," Hitagi said. "You'd better fend for yourself in here. And don't you dare get me caught up in your explosions."

And with that, she leapt into the witch's chamber and flew high up into the air with her hammer. Tsubasa summoned a ring of flaming torches.

"Shampoo Fire!" she shouted

The torches landed on the witch, setting it ablaze. Moments later, Hitagi brought her hammer down with the punishing force of ten thousand tonnes, crushing the witch flat. Then she jumped back. Some remnants of flame still remained from Tsubasa's magic, and they continued spreading. As the witch picked itself up from being flattened, some of its limbs were still ablaze.

"I can't believe it just got up after being flattened like that," Tsubasa said.

"Believe it," Hitagi said. "Witches don't follow ordinary common sense."

She swung her hammer and sent out a shower of large glittery yellow stars, which circled the witch for a few seconds before crashing down upon it. Then she leapt in and smacked it with her hammer again, though using less force this time. As soon as she leapt back, Tsubasa followed her attack with several flaming bottles, which exploded and sent shards of glass flying everywhere. Hitagi swatted away some stray shards with her hammer.

"Be more careful," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tsubasa said.

Hitagi released another cloud of stars, then leapt in close and hammered the witch again. Like that, the two of them took turns attacking until the witch finally expired. Hitagi snagged the grief seed and offered it to Tsubasa as the labyrinth collapsed around them.

"I took the last one, so you take this one," she said.

"Thank you very much," Tsubasa said. "I look forward to working with you in the future."

"No," Hitagi said.

"Pardon me?" Tsubasa said.

"I've decided I prefer to fight alone," Hitagi said. "Your magic and mine are not a good match. We get in each other's way."

"But didn't we get two grief seeds pretty quickly?" Tsubasa said. "Isn't it faster with two people?"

"You seem to be correct on that part," Hitagi said. "Even so, I don't want to do what I don't want to do. Besides, you seem like you could handle witches by yourself."

"You won't fight alongside me ever again?" Tsubasa said.

"Well… maybe from time to time," Hitagi said. "For now, I'm going home."

Tsubasa let out a sigh and followed her. She found it hard to argue with Hitagi's reasoning. It was true their magic and fighting styles didn't mesh well – Hitagi got in close to bash the witch with her hammer, while Tsubasa attacked with explosives from a safe distance. Perhaps she could find another magical girl to cooperate with, someone who also fought from a distance, or perhaps someone who wouldn't be hurt by getting caught in her explosions.

"Say, Miss Senjougahara," Tsubasa said. "Do you know any other magical girls around here?"

"There were quite a few around, but most of them got themselves killed," Hitagi said. "The only other magical girl I could name right now would be… Hachikuji Mayoi. Might be one or two others I haven't met."

"Huh, do you know what school she goes to?" Tsubasa asked.

"She hasn't changed a bit since the first time I met her, almost two years ago," Hitagi said. "It would be a huge sensation if she went to school like that, so she probably doesn't go at all."

"Huh?" Tsubasa said. "You're saying she doesn't age?"

"Do you have wax in your ears?" Hitagi said. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

"Um… how old is she?"

"If she doesn't age, how am I supposed to know how old she is?" Hitagi said.

"Well, how old does she look?"

"Like a grade-schooler."

"Oh… so it really would be strange if she didn't age," Tsubasa mused. "Well… maybe she'll be open to working with me…"

"Don't count on it," Hitagi said. "Get used to fighting alone."

Tsubasa sighed. "Fine… I should at least be able to beat a witch alone, yeah. Then I guess I'll hunt alone tomorrow…"

---

Magical Girl Corner

Whenever a new magical girl is introduced, I'll include a brief profile of her here. Some details may be redacted, or contain minor spoilers. You have been warned! The numeric ranking values are on a scale of 1 to 10.

Hanekawa Tsubasa
羽川翼

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Purple
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Jouetsu, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Red cat face (with ears, eyes, and mouth)
Soul Gem: Spherical orange gem inside the bell on her choker
Element: Fire
Weapon: Molotov cocktails
Powers: Memory burn, energy drain
Wish: "I want to forget it all. Not everything, just the things I want to forget. Let me forget how weak I am."

Speed: 8
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)