After seeing Honoka survive Suzune's attack, I head out alone to hunt witches. Ever since Inui died, I've been doing most of my hunting to the southwest, near Oriko and Komaki's territory. I've even run into them a few times, and fortunately the encounters have not been hostile. However, today I head north instead, beyond the haunted house into Mitakihara's northwest ward.

There's a reason why I'm deviating from what had become my usual hunting grounds of the past few weeks. It stems from something Koharu said last week, which has been bugging me ever since. She mentioned that her territory had recently expanded. Why would that have happened? The most likely explanation is that a magical girl died. That means there aren't very many candidates. I know that Mami's and Oriko's teams are doing fine, for starters. Lina's team in Kazamino is decidedly not fine – Sasa has already killed Futaba and Mio – but they're on the opposite side of the city from Koharu, so that can't be the cause. Unless there's another new magical girl, that leaves just two candidates – Naomi Noriko from the northeast, and Masuyo Mari from the northwest, whose territory I'm now entering. If one of those girls really did die, then I'd like to pin down when she died. Maybe there's a chance to save her in the next timeline.

Sensing the presence of a witch nearby, I chase that feeling and locate her labyrinth in an abandoned construction site. The portal flickers, showing that someone else is already within. Once I step inside, I realize I've seen this labyrinth before – the clotheslines stretching in every direction with sailor shirts hanging from them. It's the labyrinth of Patricia, the witch that Mami's team defeated last Friday. At least, that's what happened in the previous timelines; I didn't watch the whole thing this time around, but they were definitely fighting Patricia, so I assume they defeated her. That must mean that at least one of Patricia's familiars managed to mature into a full witch. Either that, or Mami's team somehow let her get away despite having four people.

I transform and start climbing through the web of clotheslines towards the blue sky above, taking down familiars as I go. When I finally emerge into the witch's chamber, seeing her name emblazoned across the sky in witch runes, I find a lone magical girl fighting against her. However, this isn't the girl I was expecting to see. She wears a white hooded cloak with a pink border, a pink miniskirt, and thigh-high boots, and she fights with a crossbow strapped to her left arm. She looks exactly like Tamaki Iroha, the main protagonist of Magia Record. As the witch throws chairs at her, she shoots them out of the air with phenomenal accuracy.

It's actually something of a relief to see her. Even though I already confirmed her existence in the first timeline, I wasn't sure how to get her to make a contract, but it seems that my worry was unnecessary. If she already makes a contract on her own volition, then the only thing I need to worry about is getting her sister and friends to also contract. But at the same time, I'm surprised she's here. I was expecting to see the mysterious Masuyo Mari, after all. Why would Iroha be here in Mitakihara? She doesn't live here, after all.

As I'm pondering the anomaly, the labyrinth suddenly seems to shift, the blue sky on one side fading into a different sort of blue, like a wallpaper. Carousel horses start to appear along that wall, marching upwards towards the sky, and a few moments later, a swarm of miniature one-winged angels appear. That's odd… those are Elly's familiars…? What are they doing in Patricia's labyrinth?

My question is answered a moment later when the wall bursts open to let out a bunch of floating old-fashioned television monitors, flanked by some much larger one-winged angels. One of the monitors shows the silhouette of a girl… that's probably the witch herself. In other words, what seems to have happened is that two witches have collided and their labyrinths have merged. So if Elly is here now… does that mean Madoka won't run into her tomorrow like she did in the last two timelines? I guess that wouldn't be a bad thing, though.

"Eh!?" Iroha gasps. "Th-there's two witches!?"

For a moment the labyrinth falls silent as everyone involved processes what has just happened. Then the familiars of the two witches start to attack each other, and Patricia lets out a keening wail as Elly spirals up towards her.

"Oh no you don't!"

A third girl enters the fray, this one a tall girl dressed almost exactly like Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon – a prim black suit, a white dress shirt and eye mask, a black top hat, and a cape that's black on the outside and light purple on the underside. Her purple soul gem fills the role of a bowtie at her throat, and she wields a sabre that seems like it's too long. Is that Masuyo Mari, or is there a new magical girl in the area?

The newcomer rises into the air on a mass of flowering vines and stabs at the winged television that is the witch Elly. Some of her vines grow even faster, interposing themselves between the two witches as a barrier. For her to do something like that… I wonder if she's actually seen witches eating each other before? Even though it doesn't seem to be something that a magical girl commonly witnesses, I can't think of another reason why she'd want to protect Patricia from Elly.

But this is a bad time for speculation. I summon Teddy Mk II and begin to charge my ultimate attack, then set to work cutting down some of Patricia's familiars who aren't involved in the ongoing war with the one-winged angels. Iroha hesitates for a few moments, then resumes her assault on Patricia with a fresh volley of glowing bolts. This action draws Patricia's attention away from Elly, and the witch resumes throwing chairs at Iroha, who alternates between dodging them and shooting them apart. Fortunately, she's far enough from me that I don't need to avoid the stray thrown chairs.

The tuxedo girl seems to be keeping Elly mostly under control through a combination of her vines and her fencing moves, but she's only keeping the witch at bay – Elly appears to be too agile for her to actually land a hit. Once my ultimate attack is sufficiently charged, I adjust Teddy's location to put both witches in the line of fire, then transmit a telepathic message to both girls.

«Both of you should move, now! I've got a big attack ready, but it'll hit you too if you don't get out of the way!»

Technically, it probably wouldn't be the end of the world if it hit them too, but… it's not like it's harmless, either. It does more than just charm, so I imagine it would hurt to be hit by it. That time I used it on Saki and Mirai doesn't count, as it was set to ignore me. Both girls turn to look at me in surprise, as if they'd only just noticed me, but then they hop aside. Iroha begins to charge what I presume to be her own ultimate attack.

"Ultimate Teddy Glittering Gunk!"

My glittering beam carves through both witches, stopping them in their tracks along with several of their familiars. Just as my beam fades away, the second attack is let loose.

"Strada Futuro!"

The bolt Iroha releases splits into about a hundred separate missiles of pure light which ravage the battlefield, passing straight through both witches and quite a few of the familiars, dealing damage as they go. Then they veer up into the sky, merging into a single gigantic missile that slams back down upon the battlefield. Not a single familiar survives the attack. Unfortunately, both witches are still alive, so I hop on Teddy and zoom up towards Patricia, extending my sword to slice through her skirt. At the same time, the tuxedo girl stabs the now-unresisting Elly directly in the viewscreen. With both witches defeated at the same time, the combined barrier begins to collapse. I hop off of Teddy and land back on the ground, grabbing Patricia's grief seed.

"Dammit," the tuxedo girl groans as she stows away Elly's grief seed. "I have no idea who the two of you are but I'll have to thank you just for being there. I've fought that same witch three or four times in the past week and it seems like she gets tougher each time…"

The girl uses masculine language when referring to herself, which is something I thought only happened in anime. Although, I suppose you could say I am in an anime now, so maybe I shouldn't be so startled…

"Um, we should introduce ourselves!" Iroha says. "I'm Tamaki Iroha… it's nice to meet the both of you!"

As I thought, she was Iroha. That costume is pretty distinctive, but there was still a tiny lingering doubt in my mind.

"I suppose it's nice to meet you too," Mari says, though she doesn't quite seem like she means it.

"I'm Ashley Taylor," I say.

"Ohhh, so you're the exchange student Kyuubey mentioned awhile back, huh?" the tuxedo girl says. "I'm Masuyo Mari. Normally I'd be annoyed at other people barging in on my territory like this, but I've been stretched thin ever since Miss Naomi went and kicked the bucket… so I'm grateful for the help."

"O-oh, your friend died recently?" Iroha asks. "Was she a magical girl too?"

"No, you've got it all wrong," Mari says. "She wasn't a friend. She was an acquaintance and a rival. But yeah, she was a magical girl."

"When did she die?" I ask

Of course I would ask that. It's the entire reason I came out here after all.

"Well, I don't know the exact date, but probably around the end of the term?" Mari says. "I last saw her on the twenty-eighth of March, I think…"

"Even if she wasn't a friend, it's so sad that she died," Iroha says.

"You must be new to this way of life," Mari says. "You'll probably see a lot of magical girls die before long… unless you're one of the ones who doesn't last long, of course. I've lost count of how many magical girls I've met since I made my contract who are no longer around. Other than Tomoe Mami and Kohaku Koharu, the magical girls of the city back then were completely different."

"I see… that really is sad," Iroha muses. "Yeah, I'm new at this… it's just my fourth day…"

So Iroha made her contract on the first of April. That's good to know…

Mari blinks. "Oh, really? You've gotten the hang of things pretty quickly then… guess you should be able to survive for awhile."

"Say, does that sort of thing happen often?" Iroha asks.

"What sort of thing do you mean?" Mari asks.

"Like… another witch showing up while you're fighting a witch," Iroha says.

"Oh fuck no," Mari retorts. "I've been doing this for a year and a half now, and that's only the third time I've seen it… though the second time was only last week."

"I think witches fighting amongst themselves does happen a lot though," I say. "But I never expected to witness it in action."

"Well, you might be right, Miss Taylor," Mari shrugs.

"Anyway, would you like Patricia's grief seed, Miss Tamaki?" I say. "I don't need an extra grief seed yet."

"Huh? Patricia?" Mari blinks. "Why are you calling the witch Patricia?"

"Oh, I couldn't do that to you!" Iroha protests. "After all, you're the one who defeated it, Miss Taylor!"

"That's not really true," I say. "I may have dealt the finishing blow, but it was your Strada Futuro that really defeated it."

"W-well… if you're sure," Iroha says hesitantly. "But I still have the grief seed I got two days ago…"

"Sounds like you'll be needing a new one sooner than me," I say. "Here."

I hand it to her, and after another moment's hesitation, she takes it and stows it away.

"Thank you very much, Miss Taylor."

I turn to Mari. "About the witch's name, it was written in the sky in her labyrinth," I say. "Easy to miss though, especially if you don't recognize the letters."

"Well, I didn't see any writing," Mari says. "So… Miss Tamaki, was it? Will you be hunting around here regularly?"

Iroha blinks. "O-oh, no, um… if you must know, I fell asleep on the train on my way to Kamihama, and when I woke up, I was here… and then I sensed a witch, so I thought I should chase it…"

"So, you're from Kamihama?"

"Actually, I'm from Takarazaki, the town across the bay."

"Huh… that's too bad," Mari says. "I was hoping I'd be able to relax a bit knowing that part of north Mitakihara is handled by someone else, but I guess that's not gonna work…"

"Why don't you ask Miss Tomoe's team?" I suggest. "There's four of them, so they'd probably be happy to expand their territory a bit. Or Miss Kohaku… although I think she's already expanded north a bit. There's also Sakura Kyouko, who seems to be hanging around Mitakihara recently."

"W-well, I'm avoiding Miss Tomoe," Mari admits. "She met Mari-chan in the past, so I'd probably have to explain things, and I don't want to get into all that…"

That's a little odd how she referred to herself in the third person there. It's not strange in and of itself in Japanese, although it's usually seen as childish; however, Mari has been using the first person exclusively, except for that one instance… almost as if she were referring to a different person with the same name.

I tilt my head. "Huh? I don't get it…"

"Not wanting to explain things applies to you too, Miss Taylor," Mari retorts.

"Ah… right…"

"As for the others," Mari continues. "I can't push any more on Miss Kohaku, and I just can't get along with Miss Sakura."

"You also mentioned you've fought that other witch several times in the past week," I say. "The one with the angel familiars. When did you first encounter that witch?"

"Hmm… maybe the thirtieth?" Mari says. "Does it matter?"

"Probably not, but I was curious," I reply.

It seems like an awfully strange coincidence for Naomi Noriko to disappear and a new witch to appear around the same time, though. Is it possible that she's the magical girl who becomes the Box Witch? But even if she isn't, hopefully I can prevent her death in the next timeline, now that I know roughly when she dies… or if not the next timeline, then the one after that. I'll need to seek out a meeting with her early, so that I can scry on her.

"Anyway, I've gotta try and hunt another witch or two tonight, so I'll see you later," Mari says. "But Miss Taylor, please feel free to hunt around here as much as you like. There's not enough time for me to cover the whole north."

I nod, and Mari turns and runs off. Then I turn to Iroha.

"Miss Tamaki, would you like me to walk you to the train station?" I ask.

"Um… yes, that would be very helpful," she says. "I've never been to Mitakihara before, so I would probably get lost on my own."

We power down and head towards the nearest station. I don't actually know where it is myself, since I haven't been to this part of the city before, but a quick check in the maps app on my phone is enough to set me on the right track.

"Do you mind if I ask why you were going to Kamihama?"

"Not at all!" Iroha says. "I was going to visit my little sister, Ui."

"Your sister's sick?"

"She was for a long time," Iroha says. "But she's recovered thanks to my wish… now I just need to wait for her to be discharged."

I nod. "Well, that was very kind of you, Miss Tamaki," I say. "By the way, do you know any other magical girls?"

Iroha shakes her head. "No, you and Miss Masuyo are the first I've met," she says.

So that means she doesn't know Kuroe in this timeline. Out of curiosity, I briefly scry on Kuroe… it seems she's still alive, which means she must have survived the witch in the haunted house a few days ago, or maybe she never fought it. She's not doing anything interesting at the moment, though.

"I do know of another magical girl from Takarazaki," I say. "Her name is Kuroe Asaka."

"Oh… then maybe we could become friends," Iroha says. "Speaking of friends… how about you, Miss Taylor?"

"Hmm? You're saying you want to be friends with me?"

"Well, you saved me back there, and gave me a grief seed," Iroha says. "You seem like a nice person, Miss Taylor…"

"Sure."

I don't think there's actually much point in becoming friends with Iroha in this timeline, but it can't hurt, either, and it's not something I can just… hold back on. What would I even say? We can't be friends because this timeline's going to be reset? It sounds stupid just thinking about it.

"I-in that case… can I call you Ashley-chan?" Iroha asks. "And you can call me Iroha-chan…"

"I prefer being called by my given name anyway, so please do, Iroha-chan," I say. "Should we exchange phone numbers too?"

Iroha blinks. "E-eh? Um… we could… but I'm not very good with technology, so…"

"It's easy, we just need to tap our phones together and the info is automatically transferred."

Iroha blinks. "R-really? That's amazing…"

She digs out her phone, and we tap them together. They both beep as the information is transferred, and then she unlocks her phone to take a look.

"Ashley Taylor," she muses. "Oh, it copied your email too…"

At that moment, Iroha's phone rings, and she answers it.

"Oh, Mom! I'm fine, I just got lost again! Yeah… I fell asleep on the train and ended up in Mitakihara… I'm on my way back now, so I'll see you soon!"

"Was she mad?" I ask.

"Oh no, just worried," Iroha says. "I seem to get lost easily… so maybe she's used to it…"

"I see," I say. "Oh, here's the station."

"Thank you again, Ashley-chan," Iroha says. "See you later!"

"You too."

She heads into the station, and I head back to the Hayashi house.

April fifth. Once again, the girls of central Mitakihara have split into pairs for witch hunting. Today, Madoka is with Sayaka, meaning that Mami and Homura are probably together. It's anyone's guess whether Kyouko is joining them today. As usual, Kyuubey rides on Madoka's shoulder… it seems to be oddly fond of her. They're passing through a plaza when Madoka spots a familiar face.

"Huh? Is that Hitomi-chan?"

"Hmm? Oh, you're right…" Sayaka says.

They call her name and run over to her, but she doesn't seem to notice. Then Sayaka gasps.

"L-look, on her neck…"

"A witch's kiss!?" Madoka says. "Hitomi-chan!"

Madoka runs up and grabs Hitomi by the shoulders.

"Hey, Hitomi-chan!"

Hitomi blinks at her. "Oh my… Miss Kaname. Good evening."

"Hitomi, what's wrong?" Sayaka asks.

"Miss Miki… good evening," Hitomi says.

"Where are you going, Hitomi-chan?" Madoka asks.

"Where am I going…" Hitomi muses. "To a much better place! Oh, I know! Why don't the two of you come with me, Miss Kaname, Miss Miki? That would be splendid…"

With that suggestion, she smiles and walks off again.

"We've gotta follow her," Sayaka says.

"Y-yeah… and I'll let Miss Mami know," Madoka says.

Madoka sends a quick message with her phone, and then the two of them hurry after Hitomi, who leads them towards the industrial sector. As they get away from the busy areas of town, the two of them spot more and more people with the same kiss, slowly gathering together and marching forward, almost like zombies.

They arrive at an abandoned warehouse and crowd inside, Madoka and Sayaka following them. One of the people brings out a bucket, and another empties two bottles of cleaning fluid into it. A third hefts a jug of bleach.

"N-no…" Madoka gasps.

As in the anime, she must have realized what they're planning. If you mix bleach, which usually contains hypochlorite, with an acidic high-strength cleaning fluid, the resulting chemical reaction will produce toxic chlorine gas that could potentially kill everyone in the warehouse. Even if Madoka doesn't understand the specific chemistry at play, she at least knows it's dangerous.

"Madoka, what're you waiting for!?" Sayaka says. "We've got to find the witch!"

"Y-you go on ahead, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka says. "I've gotta make sure these people make it out safely…"

"Okay, but don't blame me if I defeat it on my own!" Sayaka says.

She disappears into an interior door while Madoka rushes forward towards that bucket of cleaning fluid.

"Stop that! That's dangerous!"

But Hitomi jumps in her way, displaying more strength than she should normally possess.

"It would be foolish to interfere," she says. "This is a sacred ritual."

"But those are dangerous chemicals!" Madoka protests. "Everyone here will die!"

"Exactly!" Hitomi says, beaming. "Soon we'll embark on a wonderful journey through an amazing new world!"

She spins and gestures grandiosely, while still keeping hold of Madoka's hand.

"Can't you understand what a wonderful thing that would be? This body is nothing more than a hindrance… don't worry, Miss Kaname, you'll understand soon enough."

Hitomi's speech draws applause from the other affected humans, but Madoka wrenches free of Hitomi's gasp. Even if she's empowered by the witch's kiss, Hitomi is no match for a magical girl.

"I won't let you!" Madoka shouts.

The others just watch in confusion as Madoka grabs the bucket and flings it through a window, shattering the glass and spilling the cleaning fluid over the ground outside. The person with the jug of bleach drops it, and everyone turns to face her, moving towards her like a horde of zombies.

But Madoka is a magical girl, so they're no match for her. She looks around for the direction of the witch, locating the door Sayaka disappeared through, and runs towards it, passing through and locking it behind her before the afflicted people even have a chance to try and stop her. Then she transforms and steps into the labyrinth, a corridor of spinning carousels, with tiny one-winged angels as familiars. They swarm her immediately, and she shoots them down as best she can while making her way inward.

Then she emerges into a room filled with blocky old-fashioned television screens stacked up, all of them showing random scenes that look to be taken from her or Sayaka's memories. Several of the monitors have wings and are flying around, chased by Sayaka.

"Get back here, you!" Sayaka shouts.

She manages to slice one of the screens in half, but apparently that one wasn't the witch's main body. Then Madoka draws her bow, nocking several arrows and loosing a volley towards them. This is surprisingly effective, taking out all of them at once and startling Sayaka.

"W-what!?"

The grief seed appears, and the labyrinth begins to collapse.

"Madoka, you didn't need to jump in!" Sayaka protests. "I was about to finish her off!"

"Eh? I didn't think she'd be beaten in one hit," Madoka says. "I was just trying to help…"

"Well… I guess it's alright," Sayaka says. "Either way, the witch was defeated, so it's all good!"

"Yeah… I'll let Mami know," Madoka says.

So Madoka still encountered the Box Witch after all. Mari did say she'd fought it several times, so I guess several of the original witch's familiars managed to mature… which means a lot of people must've died in the northeast. Regardless of whether Naomi Noriko is the Box Witch, it must be her absence that allowed it to proliferate so much, so if I can save just her, that'll also save many more people as well. It might even help to save Sayaka…

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.

Masuyo Mari
益世真理

Age: 16
Eye Colour: Purple
Hair Colour: Purple
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Purple ourobouros
Soul Gem: Purple bowtie-shaped gem at her throat
Element: Forest
Weapon: Sabre
Powers: Vines, prolongation
Wish: redacted

Speed: 9
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 4

Tamaki Iroha
環いろは

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Pink
Hair Colour: Pink
Origins: Takarazaki, Shinriku prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Pink wedding ring
Soul Gem: Pink circular gem on her cloak clasp
Element: Light
Weapon: Crossbow
Powers: Healing, power boost
Wish: "Make Ui healthy again!"

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