March twenty-first. It's a holiday, so Homura, Mami, and Nagisa head out on a morning witch hunt with Madoka and Sayaka tagging along. They run across Izabel, startling me slightly since Homura said she'd first met her on Friday. With three of them working together, they deal with the witch fairly quickly. Madoka draws Homura aside while Mami claims the grief seed.

"Um, Homura-chan," she whispers. "Isn't that the witch you said you met on Friday? Why are we seeing it today?"

"No… I first met it on Friday," Homura says. "It slipped my mind last week, but I've often defeated it today or tomorrow instead."

"I see… but I haven't heard about any missing students at our school," Madoka muses. "I guess I'll do some checking though… and other schools as well…"

Homura shrugs. "Whatever…"

"What're you two talking about?" Sayaka asks.

"Oh, nothing important," Madoka says. "What about you, Sayaka-chan? You've seen Miss Mami in a real witch battle finally…"

"Well, I'm still thinking," Sayaka says. "Actually, I was gonna go visit Kyousuke."

"Oh! Would you like me to come along?" Madoka asks.

"Nah, not this time," Sayaka says.

"Alright… have fun," Madoka says.

"That'll be difficult, considering the venue," Sayaka says. "But I'll do my best!"

She heads for the hospital and makes her way to Kyousuke's room. When she steps into his room, he's not there in his bed. She stares in shock for several seconds before a noise draws her attention to the window. There is motion behind the curtain. She gasps and runs over, thrusting the curtain aside, where she finds Kyouske attempting to climb out the window.

"W-what are you doing, Kyousuke!?"

The boy looks at her as she grabs hold of his arm to stop him.

"Everyone knows my hand will never be the same," he says bitterly. "You can talk about magic and miracles all you want, but I know you're just trying to cheer me up. They don't really exist."

"I… I told you, they do exist!" Sayaka says. "I… I've even seen them myself! J-just… get… back in bed… for now… and let me… show you the proof…"

He tries to shake her off, but he's too weak from his convalescence to get free. However, he clings to the window sill with all of his strength, and she's unable to dislodge him.

"Stop that!" he says. "I don't need your platitudes! All I want… all I really want… is to be able to play my violin! And that's never gonna happen again!"

One of the nurses hears the commotion and rushes in to help drag the protesting Kyousuke back to his bed. He settles down in a sulk and refuses to look at either of them, so the nurse suggests Sayaka leave for now.

"Try coming back tomorrow," he suggests. "Your friend should be calmed down by then."

"Alright," Sayaka says.

As she steps out of the hospital room, she's met by Kyuubey.

"Have you thought about it, Miki Sayaka?" it asks.

"Yes… I'm ready," Sayaka says. "Let's go somewhere we won't be seen…"

Kyuubey hops onto her shoulder, and she takes an elevator up to the roof. The incubator hops off to perch on a planter filled with flowers, facing her.

"What is the wish that will make your soul gem shine, Miki Sayaka?"

"I want you to heal Kyousuke's arm!"

She lets out a gasp as those ear appendages plunge into her body and draw out her soul.

"Your wish has surpassed entropy."

I get an unexpected call a few hours later while I'm in my room, re-reading Phantom Thief Magical Kirin. It's from Madoka, so I answer it.

"What's up, Madoka?"

"Um… it's about Sayaka-chan," she begins.

"Oh, you found out, huh?"

"Ehh!? You already knew?"

"Well, I saw it…"

"So um… what should we do? Homura-chan said there's nothing we can do, but I can't accept that…"

"I'm sorry, but I have to agree with her for the most part," I say. "Miki Sayaka chose to become a magical girl. I don't think we have a right to take it from her even if we could, and even if we wanted to, I don't know any way to do so."

"But… Homura-chan says she's doomed… and I saw her turn into a witch last time. It happened right in front of me. I don't want that to happen again!"

"Well… that's the part where I disagree with Miss Homura," I say. "But even so, it's too early to do anything for her. She'll be fine for the first few weeks, at least. I'd say, just keep an eye on her and try to see through her bravado."

"What do you mean by her bravado?" Madoka asks.

"Putting on a brave face to hide her true feelings," I say. "Even if she doesn't find out the truth about the soul gem, she's likely to start comparing herself with Miss Mami and find herself lacking… which of course she would, because Miss Mami's been at this for far longer, but…"

"I think I get what you're saying, Ashley-chan," Madoka says. "Okay… I'll just keep an eye on her for now. And… what if she does find out about the soul gem?"

"That… I assume the same approach works there," I say. "However, it might be more difficult if you're not a magical girl…"

"Hmm… do you think I should make a wish now?" she asks.

"I'm not going to tell you when to make a wish," I say. "Or even whether to make a wish. That decision belongs to you and you alone, Madoka. Although, if you were willing, there's an experiment I'd like to try sometime soon which would need a wish to fix up if things go wrong."

"Oh? I haven't really figured out what I want to wish for yet, but… what kind of experiment did you have in mind? And what would be the wish to fix it up?"

"It's an experiment where I would turn into a witch if it goes wrong," I say. "So if that happened you'd wish that I was brought back to life or something."

"I see… but how soon were you thinking?" she asks.

"I can't be sure, but maybe… next week?" I say. "That's a guess… I'll know when the time comes but I don't know exactly when that will be."

"Okay," Madoka says. "And um… I won't say anything to Homura-chan about this. That's what you want, right?"

"Yeah… I don't think she needs to know," I say. "In fact, the main purpose of the experiment is to determine whether I can avoid turning into a witch, and I have reason to believe I will be able to avoid that fate. So, most likely you won't have to do anything but watch, but it'll make me feel better just to have you there as insurance in case it all goes wrong.."

"Okay, just let me know when the time comes," Madoka says.

"Yeah. See you… sometime."

After I hang up, I mull over my plans for the coming week. If I recall correctly, tomorrow should be Kirika's second or third meeting with Oriko – the first one or two being before the time loop began. I didn't witness that myself; I'm just assuming it went similarly to the manga.

Then on Thursday, Oriko and Komaki should have an encounter in a labyrinth. I'm guessing they'll decide to team up in this timeline, but I suppose we'll see.

Finally, on Saturday, I think perhaps I should pay Yoshida Tamura a visit. She was completely absent from the last two timelines with no clear explanation, but given that she can see alternate timelines, it seems quite possible that she saw me die and assumed I wouldn't be available. Of course, I'll confirm she's a magical girl before visiting.

With that settled, I get back to my book.

March twenty-second. Kirika leaves school deep in thought. Although Kyuubey jumps out from somewhere to address her, she doesn't even notice it and just continues on by. It watches her go, then glances at the camera for a moment before disappearing into some bushes.

She heads southwest, towards Shirome Middle School, and I'm a little surprised to notice that she hasn't made a wish yet – at least, there's no magical girl ring on her finger. She doesn't make straight for the school, though. Instead, she peeks into a train station, then wanders through a nearby shopping district. There's no clear purpose to her meandering.

After nearly half an hour of wandering, she spots Oriko leaving a grocery store and starts following her. Several times she opens her mouth to call out but for one reason or another decides not to. Soon after they leave the busy shopping district for a less crowded street, Oriko turns, perhaps having sensed that she was being followed.

"Is someone there?" she asks.

"Um!" Kirika says.

Oriko looks at her attempting to hide behind a lamp post. Her body is wider than the lamp post, so she's totally visible, although it's just barely wide enough to hide her face.

"May I help you with something?" Oriko asks.

"Um, yes! I mean no! I mean…"

Kirika peeks out from behind the lamp post, and Oriko blinks.

"Ah… have we… met somewhere?" she asks.

"Y-you… you remember… me?" Kirika asks.

"A little… so how may I help you?"

"Um… well… I just wanted to…" Kirika trails off.

"Yes?" Oriko prompts her.

She mutters her response under her breath.

"…talk. Get to… know you…"

A normal human probably would not have caught her words at that distance, but Oriko's keen magical girl hearing apparently manages to pick it up, and she chuckles.

"Oh, is that all?" she says. "Then why don't I invite you over for tea?"

Kirika blinks. "R-really!? You're sure?"

"I could use the company," Oriko says.

"B-b-but… is it okay… being seen with… someone like me?"

"Why should I care what others say about me?" Oriko says.

"Ah… of course…"

She turns and continues walking, and a nervous Kirika follows her, constantly fidgeting. They arrive at her house, and Oriko shows her into the living room while she goes to the kitchen to make some tea. Kirika almost immediately starts to panic.

"Ah! W-what do I do now!" she gasps. "I'm in her house… I can't just leave… w-what can I even talk about with someone like her!?"

She rolls around on the floor, muttering to herself, until Oriko returns, at which point she suddenly sits up and plops herself ultra-formal on her knees. Oriko giggles.

"Please relax," she says. "There's no need for seiza here."

Oriko sits down, and Kirika tries to mimic the way she sits. She sets a plate of cookies on the table and pushes the other cup of tea towards Kirika.

"How about we start with introductions?" Oriko suggests. "I'm Mikuni Oriko."

"Oh um… Kure… Kirika," Kirika mutters.

"This is the first time we've had a proper conversation, right?" Oriko says.

"Y-yes…"

"I did not expect to see you again like this," Oriko says.

"I-is that so…"

"Why don't you have a cookie?"

"R-right…"

Kirika snags a cookie and nibbles on it nervously. When it's done, she takes a sip of tea and hesitantly reaches for another cookie. Oriko takes one for herself, then pushes the plate closer to Kirika. Their conversation continues in fits and starts until all the cookies are gone, at which point Kirika suddenly surges to her feet.

"I… should go!" she says.

"Okay," Oriko says. "See you later."

And just like that, Kirika leaves. She wanders through the streets until she arrives at a nearby park, at which point she sits down on a bench and clutches at her head.

"Ah… I really do want to be useful to her," she mutters.

Kyuubey hops up onto the bench beside her.

"Have you thought of a wish that you want granted?"

Kirika looks at it.

"I… I want to change," she says. "I want to be useful to… to Oriko."

Kyuubey extends those ear appendages and draws out her soul, eliciting a gasp of pain.

"Your wish… has surpassed entropy."

So despite my efforts, Kirika still ended up making the same wish… that's too bad. I don't know if I'll get another chance, but we'll see how things go in this timeline. Perhaps next time I can talk to her directly, after school on Friday for example. That is, assuming there is a next time.

But there's one other thing I wanted to do today. I asked Mitama about Sarasa Hanna in the previous timeline, and what I learned was that she had appeared and then died right around now. The only real question is… what should I do about it? Should I actually go there, or just scry on someone who can be expected to witness it? Should I even bother trying to save her? From what I understand, she did kill a lot of magical girls, after all, and that's including before her best friend turned into a witch, so it can't be chalked up to a mental breakdown, can it? And yet… she does have a tragic backstory as a victim of bullying.

I guess… for now the priority should be confirming the undisturbed flow of events… so I start by scrying on Kisaki Emiri… and find her at the Coordinator's, apparently fast asleep. I expand the vision to look around the place. Mitama is there too, sitting in her chair humming, and I spot two more magical girls as well, both as fast asleep as Emiri. One of them is Awane Kokoro. The other has her hair gathered into double twintails – two huge bunches set high on her head, and two tiny bunches next to her ears. Based on that and her school uniform, a sailor suit with blue accents and a plaid skirt, I surmise her to be Mariko Ayaka.

I keep that vision open to see if anything happens, and open a second vision to see what Yachiyo is up to. I find her speaking with a girl wearing the predominantly purple uniform of Mizuna Girls' School, with short brown hair and green eyes – most likely Yayoi Kanoko.

"—and so they left her at the Coordinator's!" Kanoko says. "Apparently several people have been attacked… they're saying it might be Yusa Hazuki who did it…"

"Oh?" Yachiyo says. "That seems strangely familiar… so, who else was attacked besides Miss Kisaki?"

"Um… I think it was… Mariko Ayaka… and um… Awane Kokoro?" Kanoko says. "I think that's it so far, but apparently Miss Yusa spoke to all three of them recently."

"Still… I don't think Miss Yusa would do something like that," Yachiyo says. "The culprit is probably someone else."

"Hmm… if that's what you think, Miss Yachiyo, then I suppose it must be true," Kanoko says.

"Could you spread the word as well?" Yachiyo asks. "Let other magical girls know that I don't think she did it."

Kanoko nods. "I got it! If I see anyone talking about it, I'll let them know what you said!"

Kanoko runs off, and Yachiyo immediately takes out her phone, scrolling through her contacts to locate Shizumi Konoha, who she dials. It rings only twice before being picked up.

"Hello… it's me, Yachiyo."

"This is unusual," Konoha says. "There must be something important for you to call out of the blue like this."

"There is," Yachiyo says. "Remember that time when Ayame, Momoko, and several others were attacked?"

"Yeah… don't tell me…"

"It's happened again. Exact same symptoms, as far as I can tell. Could we meet as soon as possible? Let's say… at Mizuna Shrine?"

"Alright," Konoha says. "I'll be there right away."

She hangs up and walks off, making her way to the shrine in question. While she's en route, several people walk into the Coordinator's office in my other vision. It's Nanaka's team, three of whom I've already seen in the event where they became entangled with Suzune, which should have happened last weekend – Tokiwa Nanaka, Chun Meiyui, and Shinobu Akira. The fourth and final member of the team, Natsume Kako, is also present this time. She's younger than the rest, with short green hair and a white flower ornament in her hair, and wears the uniform of the Kamihama University-affiliated School – a red skirt and a white sailor shirt with a red collar.

Mitama looks up as they enter, waving in greeting.

"Good afternoon, girls," she says. "What can I do for you?"

"We have something we wish to talk about," Meiyui says. "To begin with, could you let Nanaka lay out the details?"

Mitama blinks and tilts her head, scanning the four of them.

"So… you're saying you'd like me to hear what Nanaka has to say?" she asks.

"Yes… my apologies, but we would like to ask for some of your time," Nanaka says. "Is there a problem?"

"It's just, you all look so gloomy," Mitama says. "The mood is rather heavy here."

"Well…" Akira says.

"We haven't fully digested it…" Meiyui says.

Kako says nothing, but lets out a soft sigh.

"Oh! So it takes a long time to take in?" Mitama asks.

"It depends on the person listening," Nanaka says. "In any case… once I have laid everything out, I also have a request for you."

"Oh my!" Mitama says. "Weeeeell… in that case…"

Mitama smiles winningly, and Nanaka matches her smile in return.

"Of course, we will pay any fees," she says.

"Ahhh, why didn't you say so?" Mitama says. "That makes things easier. Okay, I'm all ears!"

"Good," Nanaka says. "First of all, the four of us share a common enemy which we are chasing."

"Oh, I've heard a little about that," Mitama says. "An annoying witch causing some nasty disasters, right?"

"That's right," Nanaka says. "And I feel the shadow of our target in today's fainting incidents."

"Wow! Then you must do something about it! This whole situation is very troubling…" Mitama glances over to where the three of them are sleeping. "We don't know why they won't wake up, and I can't adjust them with their minds closed. At least their lives don't seem to be in danger, which is a small consolation…"

"We will find it," Nanaka says firmly. "However… I do not believe the culprit to be a witch."

"But that would mean…" Mitama says.

"It must be…" Nanaka says.

"A magical girl!" they finish simultaneously.

"Whaaaaat!?" Mitama gasps. "Who!? Who's doing this!?"

"For now, that is still unknown," Nanaka says. "The only thing I'm certain of is that these events have been put into motion by humans. In other words, the crimes do not resemble the work of a witch…"

"Exactly, Nanaka," Meiyui speaks up. "The current situation, and the events leading up to it… everything feels very deliberate."

"We can certainly say that much," Nanaka says. "When you consider what happened to me before… it was something that would have been done by a person inflicted with a witch's curse. However, I can't imagine that such a person would be capable of what happened this time. The methods are completely unlike those of a witch. It is awfully roundabout… unclear… as if things are… intentionally distorted."

"Not sure what you mean by distorted," Akira says. "Isn't that just your impression?"

"It is what my power is telling me," Nanaka says.

"But what happened to us before was a witch's curse, right?" Kako asks. "You said that last time."

"Yes, I believe that was a witch," Nanaka says.

"But this time wasn't…?"

"Ohhh!" Mitama gasps.

"Whoa! D-don't shout like that!" Akira gasps, startled.

"So maybe… are you thinking there is a magical girl who can control witches?" Mitama asks.

"Ah, you are perceptive," Nanaka says.

"What!?" Kako gasps.

"No, no, hold on, wait a sec!" Akira says. "Uh… what? So then… um… someone's going around and using a witch's power to spread curses… a magical girl hurting other magical girls… that's what you think!?"

"Precisely," Nanaka says.

"B-but we're all fellow magical girls, so why!?" Kako asks.

"Hmm… so, there is… a traitor," Meiyui muses.

"The Azalea trio…" Mitama says.

"What!?" Kako gasps.

"Isn't it possible it's them?" Mitama asks.

"No, it isn't," Nanaka says.

"Oh my, you seem certain," Mitama says.

"To begin with, I didn't sense anything when I first met them," Nanaka says. "And none of them have magic capable of controlling witches."

"Ahhh… that's true," Mitama says.

"Therefore, I am here to ask you…"

"No, I don't know!" Mitama says quickly. "I don't know anyone like that!"

"You answered almost too quickly," Meiyui muses, narrowing her eyes.

"Stoppit!" Mitama protests. "Your eyes are boring a hole through me!" She sighs. "I really don't know any girls like that… No-one who's ever been here… no-one I've ever met."

"Then the next thing I'd like to inquire is… magic to control the public… or something resembling that," Nanaka says. "Does anyone with that sort of ability come to mind?"

"Hm? Let me see…" Mitama says. "Give me some time! I'll dig up anything I can remember!"

"Take as much time as you like."

They all watch as she ponders for a minute or so, but then she sighs.

"Heavens… must you stare at me like that!?" she protests. "You're making me feel all self-conscious!"

"That's not it…" Akira says.

Mitama blinks. "Ah…"

"Oh? Did you think of someone?" Meiyui asks.

"Ahhh! I think I remember!" Mitama exclaims.

"What did you remember?" Nanaka asks.

"Well… shall we discuss payment, first?" Mitama says.

Nanaka nods. "Name your price."

"Let's see… a grief seed should suffice," Mitama says.

"That sounds acceptable," Nanaka says.

She takes out a grief seed and hands it over, and Mitama accepts it with a nod.

"There was a magical girl, Sena Mikoto, who had the power of suggestion," she says. "I don't know the specifics, but it made people obey her. Only… I've never met her myself. I just heard there was someone like that. So… I'll introduce you to the girl who told me about her!"

She grabs a piece of paper from the table next to her and scribbles out a name and address, passing it to Nanaka who takes it and examines it.

"Izumi Kanagi… a maid café?"

"It's her workplace," Mitama says. "I expect you'll find her there if you go right now."

Nanaka nods. "Very well. Thank you very much for the information, Miss Yakumo."

Her companions echo the sentiment, and then they all leave the office. Instead of lingering on Mitama, I make the vision follow them. To my surprise, it seems the sun is already setting. In fact, in my other vision, Yachiyo has just reached the shrine and is waiting there. As Nanaka's team leaves the Coordinator's office and splits up, another girl approaches the shrine. She has silver hair and wears the same red school uniform as Nanaka and Akira. She immediately spots Yachiyo and approaches her.

"So… what happened?" she asks.

When Yachiyo hesitates to answer, she presses the question.

"What's wrong?"

"It's the same as before," Yachiyo says. "They were attacked and then passed out. The victims this time are Kisaki Emiri, Awane Kokoro, and Mariko Ayaka."

"Three people already!?" the other girl gasps.

"Yeah, all on the same day," Yachiyo says. "It happened just a little after school today, and they're all still unconscious."

"What!?"

"It's just like the rumours from last time."

"It can't be…"

"But there is one slight difference."

"Difference?"

"There's something all three victims have in common," Yachiyo says.

"And what is that?"

"It seems they all met the same person today. There are witnesses who all agreed."

"Who did they meet?"

Yachiyo hesitates.

"Listen, Miss Shizumi, please stay calm, alright?"

"Huh…?"

Yachiyo hesitates a moment more before spilling the beans.

"It was… Yusa Hazuki."

"Hazuki!?"

"I don't know the details about why they met, only that they did."

"Wait… no… does this mean…?"

"Yes… Miss Yusa is the suspected culprit," Yachiyo says.

"W-why!?" Konoha gasps.

"I suppose the rumour that you were the ones behind it has been rekindled," Yachiyo says.

"But Ayame was attacked last time!" Konoha protests. "Hazuki would never do that!"

"Some people don't understand the extent of your relationship," Yachiyo says. "All they can do is guess from the information they have. Anyway, I told the girl I heard it from that it isn't true, and asked her to tell others the same thing."

"So you believe me?" Konoha asks.

"Of course," Yachiyo says. "I have no reason to suspect you in the first place. I know that from working with you in the past. And since you have such faith in Miss Yusa, I know that the same must be true of her."

"Thank you…"

"And then there's… a sinister 'intention' that I feel beneath this," Yachiyo adds.

"What do you mean?" Konoha asks.

"You were the ones set up last time too," Yachiyo says. "So it must be the intention of the real culprit to lay the blame on you."

"In other words… we're the ultimate targets of this?" Konoha asks.

"Yes… I believe so," Yachiyo says. "That intention might lead us to the true culprit. It isn't fair to you three, but… this is the first time I've felt like I could see the strings being pulled from behind the scenes. Someone is acting with ill intent, and I intend to get to the bottom of it."

Konoha nods slowly. "You're right… this might actually be our chance."

"That said, the culprit is still a complete mystery," Yachiyo says. "It could be a dangerous undertaking, following these leads…"

"Sometimes you can't win without taking risks," Konoha says. "And I think this is one of those times."

"I understand," Yachiyo says, nodding.

"I'm going to ask Hazuki what she knows for now," Konoha says. "Then we'll lie low for awhile."

"Alright," Yachiyo says. "I'll continue to spread the word that you're innocent."

"If we stay hidden and things quiet down…"

"Then the one who planned this might make their next move."

"And if we're ready… that could lead us straight to them!"

The two of them are still talking a little when Nanaka reaches the maid café in my other vision, but it's nothing important, just promising to keep in touch. Nanaka enters without hesitation and looks around. By a stroke of luck, the person who steps forward to greet her is Kanagi herself, an older girl with short silver hair and stern face.

"Welcome. There is a free seat over there."

"Actually, I did not come here for business," Nanaka says. "I was looking for someone named Izumi Kanagi."

"Then you have found her," Kanagi says. "How may I help you?"

"I was asking Miss Yakumo about magical girls who have the power to control people, and she told me about a girl named Sena Mikoto," Nanaka says. "She said you would know more about her and directed me here."

"Hmm… so that's how you heard of me?"

"Correct. Do you know of such a girl?"

"Hmm… I… do," Kanagi says hesitantly.

"Could you tell me about her?"

"…Very well… but can it wait until my shift is over? There's a graduation party for my coworker and the café will be a bit busy. I would also appreciate some time to recall the details. How do I put it… this is…"

"Is something about this bothering you?" Nanaka asks.

"No… in any case, I'll talk to you later, in an hour or two."

At that point I switch my focus to the other vision, which has been tracking Konoha's progress home. It takes another fifteen minutes or so for her to arrive, and as soon as she enters the place, she calls out to her comrades.

"Hazuki! Ayame!"

A younger girl with pink hair in twintails sits up on the couch – Mikuri Ayame.

"Ahh, welcome home!"

"Where's Hazuki?" Konoha asks.

"Eh? Oh, she just called," Ayame says.

"What'd she say?"

"She's gonna buy stuff for dinner on her way home…"

"Oh…"

"Hey," Ayame says. "Did something happen?"

Konoha sighs.

"Ayame… listen… there have been attacks on magical girls again, and some people think Hazuki is the culprit."

"Whaaat the heck!?" Ayame protests. "I was attacked last time! So why would anyone think Hazuki did it!? Like crap she'd ever do that!"

Konoha chuckles.

"I know."

"What the heck are you laughing at, Konoha!?"

"Sorry… it's just… well, you're right, there's no way Hazuki did it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ayame says, nodding. "Hazuki the criminal? Gimme a break!"

But then she suddenly falls silent.

"Ayame? Is something wrong?"

"Huuuh… I see," Ayame says.

"W-what is it?"

"Yeah… it really is possible… that Hazuki did it…"

"H-hey, what's gotten into you!?" Konoha gasps.

"You know, because—"

But at that moment, the door slams open and Hazuki bursts in, in her magical girl outfit.

"W-whoa!?" Ayame gasps.

"I'm hooome!" Hazuki announces, but she looks troubled.

"Hazuki!?" Ayame gasps.

"What's wrong?" Konoha asks.

Hazuki powers down with a sigh.

"It seems there's been a bit of… trouble," she says.

"Did something happen?" Ayame asks. "Did a familiar attack you? Or a witch?"

"No, what I ran into was… a magical girl?"

"What!?" Ayame gasps.

"Konoha… it looks like you know what's going on?" Hazuki says.

"Oh, yeah, she was just telling me about it," Ayame says.

"So you already knew?" Hazuki asks. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just found out myself," Konoha says. "I was waiting for you to get home so I could tell you."

"Well… I don't know exactly what's going on," Hazuki says. "All I know is that a couple of magical girls I don't know very well suddenly called out to me by name while I was on the way to the supermarket. I think they're friends of Emily? One of them immediately started making accusations, calling me an 'evildoer'. The other was a bit more reasonable, trying to calm her down, but I was pretty freaked out, so I transformed and ran."

Konoha nods. "Well, to put it simply, you're a suspect," she says.

"Huh? Of what?" Hazuki asks.

"You remember that incident a few weeks ago where magical girls were attacked and fell unconscious?" Konoha asks.

"W-whoa, what!?" Hazuki gasps. "Hold on… you're joking, right? They think I did it!?"

"It happened again," Konoha says. "Seems like the same thing. Emily was attacked this time, as well as two others you've met up with recently…"

"What!?" Hazuki gasps. "Wait, wait, wait… what's that…" She blinks. "Ah… that's what those two were on about!"

"What are you talking about?" Konoha asks.

"Um… what were their names again?" Hazuki says. "The girl with the naginata and the knight girl…? Tatsuki… Asuka? And…"

"Um… the knight is… Minagi Sasara… I think?" Ayame says.

"Right, and they're good friends with Kisaki Emiri," Hazuki says. "So they thought I was the one who attacked her… hey, um… is she okay?"

"Still unconscious, I hear," Konoha says.

Hazuki sighs. "Who else was attacked?"

"Wait… let's talk about the details later," Konoha says. "Right now we have to get out of here and hide."

Hazuki blinks. "Hide? Why? I didn't do anything! You know I'd never do something like that!"

"Calm down!" Konoha says. "If they tracked you down, then they'll figure out where we live before long! We have to keep hidden for now, until the storm blows over! But after that, we can make our move!"

"Konoha…"

"Trust me."

Hazuki sighs. "Okay."

"Are you okay too, Ayame?" Konoha asks.

"Uhh, yeah…"

"Alright… let's get going," Konoha says.

They all transform and head outside. As they make their way through the streets, some magical girls call out to them.

"Over there!"

"Wait!"

But the trio ignore them and duck into an alleyway.

"Why's this happening to us!?" Ayame complains.

"The moment we left the house…" Hazuki says.

"People really were waiting to catch us," Konoha says.

"And it looked like a huge group, too!" Ayame says.

"Someone is responsible for putting us in this situation," Konoha says.

"But who the heck could it be!?" Ayame asks. "Who, who, who!?"

"I don't know," Konoha says. "But—"

"Found them!"

The speaker this time is a girl with long bluish-black hair tied into a snake-like ponytail, wearing a black skirt, a sarashi, and an obi-like ribbon around her waist, plus a white cape. Based on the outfit and the naginata she's wielding, she must be Tatsuki Asuka. With her is another girl with long black hair clad in a very knight-like outfit in red and white, though it stops short of being actual armour. That would be Minagi Sasara. The two of them have stepped out into the alleyway just ahead of the trio.

"So this was where you were hiding!" Asuka continues.

"I'd like you to come along quietly," Sasara says.

Hazuki glances around, looking back the way they'd come.

"Konoha, over there!"

"No, wait a sec!" Ayame says.

Two more magical girls emerge from the intended escape route. One of them looks almost like a cowgirl, with an orange jacket over a mostly frills-free dress, a brown cowboy hat, and a pair of revolvers, one in hand and the other holstered. There's no possible mistaking that distinctive costume – she must be Eri Aimi. The other is a girl I've already seen before, Kagami Masara.

"Hold it," Masara says calmly.

"You're not getting away!" Aimi says.

Hazuki sighs.

"When did they get behind us?" Konoha asks.

"Grrr!" Ayame growls.

Then she suddenly blinks and tilts her head. Hazuki and Konoha glance at her, then at a gap between Masara and Aimi.

"By my authority, I place you under arrest!" Asuka shouts.

"We're being wrongly accused," Konoha says. "Give us a break."

"All the more reason you should start talking!" Sasara says.

"You don't seem like you're in the mood to listen," Hazuki retorts.

"D-don't be absurd!" Asuka says.

Sasara looks at her friend, suddenly a little alarmed.

"Calm down!"

"Um, we'll guarantee your safety!" Aimi speaks up.

"We simply want to avoid any unnecessary conflict," Konoha says. "And being surrounded like this is not particularly agreeable to us."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Aimi asks.

"We have our own problems," Konoha says.

"Then why don't you tell us what's going on?" Sasara suggests.

"I told you, someone's after us!" Konoha says.

"Exactly!" Asuka says. "We're after you!"

"Ugh, just forget them," Ayame grumbles.

She grips her blade, a strange polearm with an axe blade extending the full length of the haft and attached at both ends, and swings it at the nearest girl, Asuka, who tries to dodge but takes a glancing blow. A moment later, Konoha unleashes her magic, releasing a cloud of mist that fills the alleyway. When the mist dissipates, they are nowhere to be seen.

"Eh!? They're gone!?" Aimi gasps.

"We've been had!" Asuka groans.

"We will find them," Masara says calmly.

At that point I shut off the vision that was tracking them, leaving only the second vision on Nanaka still active. She's sitting in a park not far from the maid café, and appears to be doing homework.

I'm almost asleep by the time Kanagi shows up.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting," she says.

"Not a problem," Nanaka says. "I am sure it will be worth the wait."

"I tried recalling what I know," Kanagi says. "However…"

When she hesitates to continue, Nanaka prompts her.

"What is it? Do I have the wrong person?"

"No, it's not that," Kanagi says, shaking her head. "I know of a girl who uses something like the magic you suspect."

"And who might that be?"

"Sena Mikoto. Her magic is that of suggestion."

"Suggestion?"

"There are certain conditions to using it," Kanagi says. "But to put it plainly… she can make someone move as she says. That is what her magic appears to be."

"Appears?"

"I have only seen it in action once, briefly," Kanagi says.

"I see… then, where is this girl now?"

"About that…"

"Don't worry," Nanaka says. "I'm not going to accuse her just from what I've heard so far."

"You don't understand," Kanagi says. "The truth is… she's missing."

"What!?" Nanaka gasps.

"She's disappeared," Kanagi says. "Her and her entire family, from what I hear."

Nanaka stares for a moment.

"I suppose you find that suspicious?" Kanagi says.

Nanaka nods slowly. "Perhaps I shouldn't, but frankly… that's exactly what I think."

"Understandable," Kanagi says. "Her disappearance fits the profile of your suspect. However, I would like to say something, if I may. Sena Mikoto was not the type of person to do wrong by others. That is at least what I believe."

Nanaka remains silent, presumably digesting everything that Kanagi has said.

"And there's something else that I'm stuck on," Kanagi adds.

"Oh?"

"Whenever I remember her, I have this strange feeling of unease," Kanagi says. "Something's buried in my head… like my mind is trying to tell me something… there is something that I've forgotten."

"You forgot something?" Nanaka asks.

"And so, I would like to make a suggestion," Kanagi continues.

"What is it?" Nanaka asks.

"Allow me to look into what happened to Sena Mikoto."

"Ah…"

"I can get to the bottom of this for myself that way," Kanagi explains. "I'd share everything I learn with you. I believe this would also be to your advantage?"

"Indeed," Nanaka says, nodding. "Very well. I shall leave it in your hands."

"Thank you," Kanagi says.

"By the way, where was Miss Sena living?" Nanaka asks.

"She lived in the Daito Apartment Complex."

"I see… thank you for your help," Nanaka says. "May we exchange numbers?"

"Of course," Kanagi says.

They whip out their phones and tap them together, then bow and part ways. I switch the vision off and let sleep take over.

March twenty-third. Alina Gray is just walking through town, humming quietly as she lugs around what looks like a toolbox, totally oblivious to the strange looks a few passers-by shoot her.

She arrives at a museum – the Kamihama Museum of Modern Art – and heads inside, announcing her presence with a shout.

"Everything shall be completed today!"

The girl on duty at the reception is a taller girl with long black hair and blue eyes. She also wears a magical girl ring, so she must be Kozue Mayu. She looks at Alina in surprise.

"Huh?! Oh… Miss Alina!?"

Alina plops down her toolbox and opens it up to pull out a saw and hammer.

"W-whaaaaat!?" Mayu gasps. "W-why do you have a saw and a hammer!?"

"Where is my art!?" Alina shouts.

"W-what… it's… um, do you mean for your upcoming exhibition?"

"What other art is there!?"

"None… I think…"

"Then hurry up and show me where it is!"

Mayu looks very reluctant to comply. There's probably some rule against it or something.

"B-but, but…"

"Hurry!"

"Um… o-okay!"

After some hesitation, Mayu finally caves to Alina's demands and leads her into a back room containing various paintings and sculptures.

"Yes… my works of art," Alina says. "Here they are!"

"U-um… what are you going to do?" Mayu asks anxiously.

"I'm going to complete them!"

Without further ado, she swings the hammer at the nearest sculpture.

"N-noo!" Mayu gasps. "W-what are you doing, Miss Alina!?"

She steps in and tries to stop Alina from damaging anything else, but Alina shoves her roughly aside. Mayu probably has the strength to stop her since she's a magical girl, but it seems she hasn't even thought of the possibility of forcibly restraining Alina.

"Move!"

As Alina continues rampaging through her art collection, Mayu runs out to call for help. Her calls are met quickly, and a man joins her as she leads him back.

"W-what is this mess!?" he gasps. "Ah… it's Alina Gray herself!?"

"W-what should I do?" Mayu wonders. "Am I going to get fired…?"

After staring for a few seconds, the man recovers his composure and, instead of stopping Alina, he starts snapping pictures of her rampage.

"U-um… is… is this… going to be okay?" Mayu wonders.

"Nothing else we can do at this point," the man says. "This art is her property on loan to us, so I can't legally prevent her from destroying it, but if I at least capture this on camera, we can replace the planned exhibit of her art with an exhibit of these photos. We already took photos of each piece earlier as a matter of policy, so we can show those as part of the exhibit too."

"Ahh… well… okay then," Mayu says.

A few minutes later, her rampage finished, Alina leaves the hammer and saw behind and walks out with just a single word in English.

"Farewell."

She stomps through the city, moving with intent although it's not clear where she's headed. Eventually she walks up to a building with a multicoloured flowerbed and a huge rosebush. Digging a video camera out from her bag, she carefully ties it up on the rosebush, pointing it towards the flowerbed before setting it to record. Then she enters the building and takes an elevator to the top floor, followed by a short flight of stairs up to the roof. It's right across the street from the Satomi Medical Centre, and there are numerous sheets hanging out to dry on the roof. She stalks through them and pauses at the edge of the building to peer down through the wire fence at the ground, far below.

"Now for my own finale!" she crows. "When the genius artist's light burns out, she too will rot! I'll capture the moment when all of the light in a person disappears!"

At that moment, Kyuubey shows up, stepping out from behind one of the flapping sheets.

"Hello, Alina Gray," it says.

"Oh, you're the white stoat from yesterday," Alina grumbles.

"My name is Kyuubey," it corrects her.

"I don't care," she says in English, emphasizing every word. Reverting to Japanese, she continues, "What do you want now?"

"Will you reconsider becoming a magical girl?" Kyuubey asks.

"What a drag!" she says, again in English. "You're persistent!" she adds in Japanese.

Then Alina turns and kicks the incubator, sending it flying against the fence that surrounds the rooftop to prevent people from doing what she's about to do. However, Kyuubey recovers almost instantly and trots back to her.

"Please don't kick me for no reason," it complains.

Alina sighs.

"No matter what you say, I won't make a wish," she says. "If my troubles are wished away, then I would no longer be Alina."

"You can wish for whatever you want," Kyuubey says. "You don't have to get rid of your troubles. Maybe there's something you want instead."

Alina sighs again.

"What I really want is for you to leave me alone," she says. Suddenly she blinks. "Ah, wait! Maybe there actually is a wish you could grant for me…"

"Really?" Kyuubey says.

"I do not lie," Alina says testily.

"I am glad I asked you again," Kyuubey says, its voice as monotonous as ever. "So then, what is your wish?"

"My parents… they were always angry I spent so much time drawing," Alina mutters. "So I think this is what I want… yes!"

She falls silent instead of elaborating.

"What is it?" Kyuubey prompts her.

"I want… an atelier where no-one can bother me!"

Kyuubey plunges its ear appendages into her chest and draws out her soul gem. Alina surprisingly doesn't really react to the pain.

"Your wish has surpassed entropy, Alina Gray. With this, you are now a magical girl. This gem is—"

"Shut up," Alina interrupts, grabbing the gem in her hand.

"I am trying to explain how being a magical girl works," Kyuubey says.

"I don't need that," Alina says.

"What are you saying?"

"This is my finale. I just thought I would include this wish in my cycle of life and death, although even the brilliance of that wish will be lost."

And without further ado, she hops up with her newfound magical girl strength to land, balancing, on the top of the fence. Given that the fence is just a narrow metal frame filled in with a wire mesh, this is a fairly impressive feat.

"Alina! Stop!"

"Farewell," she says in English.

And then she jumps, closing her eyes tight as she falls through the air and landing face down right in the middle of the flowerbed below. The impact attracts the attention of three people who are passing by. There is a tall man with short brown hair wearing the white coat of a doctor, who is carrying a girl in his arms with long brown hair and a tiny pink ribbon tied into it for decoration. She's wearing a frilly dress of light colours – brown, peach, and white – and appears to be of an age for elementary school. The third person present is another girl about the same age in a yellow dress, travelling in a self-propelling wheelchair which she expertly pilots using a joystick on the arm. She has light brown hair in pigtails and wears a yellow one-piece dress and a straw sun hat.

The girl in the wheelchair reacts first, gasping and pointing towards Alina.

"H-hey… is that a person over there!?" she asks.

"No way," the man with them says, startled. "Touka dear, can you wait here a moment?"

He makes as if to set down the girl he's holding, but she protests.

"No way," Touka says, shaking her head. "I'm coming too."

"Fine," he says. "There's no time to argue."

He runs over to Alina, followed by the other girl in the wheelchair. Then he sets Touka down and kneels to check on Alina. After confirming she's alive, he whips out his phone.

"She looks familiar," Touka says. "Think we've met her somewhere, Nemu?"

"I severely doubt that," the wheelchair-bound girl retorts. "You've probably seen her in a magazine or something. After all, that's Alina Gray, the well-known avant-garde artist. I didn't know she was still a student…"

"Ah, you're right! It's her!" Touka says. "Surely it's impossible to survive that fall, though. At least, given how she landed… um, Father?"

Her father shakes his head, instead talking into the phone.

"Hi, Dr Satomi here," he says. "Get a stretcher to the building across the street immediately. Yes, that's the one."

Then he hangs up and turns to his daughter.

"It's something of a miracle, but it seems she somehow survived the fall," Dr Satomi says.

"Pfft," Touka retorts. "Like you believe in miracles, Father!"

"I like the sound of that though," Nemu says. "By some miracle she survived…"

Touka suddenly gasps as she spots something on the ground next to Alina – her soul gem. She runs over and picks it up. Dr Satomi is keeping his eyes on the hospital and doesn't notice.

"What have you found there, Touka?" Nemu asks.

"That… I'm not sure, but…," Touka says.

But her eyes say she understands what it is, although she herself does not have a magical girl ring. She's not alone, either, for Nemu's eyes also widen as she sees the gem in Touka's hand.

"That… it can't be…" Nemu gasps.

"Maybe it can…" Touka mutters.

She kneels next to Alina and carefully tucks the gem into the older girl's pocket, then backs away.

"Well… we can ask her about it when she wakes up," Touka says.

"Hey," Nemu says suddenly. "Look, Mr Satomi, in the rosebush!"

She points at the video camera, and Dr Satomi goes over to look at it.

"What? It's recording," he says. "Don't tell me… you've got to be kidding me…"

He terminates the recording and unties it from the rosebush.

"What is it, Father?" Touka asks.

"There's a note here instructing whoever finds this to deliver it to the Kamihama Museum of Modern Art," Dr Satomi says. "Looks like there's more detail inside, but I'll have to let the museum deal with that."

"Ah," Nemu says. "She meant this, the video of her death, to be a work of art…? I can't say I like that line of thinking though…"

"Such a waste," Touka mutters. "Really… so stupid…"

After that I spend some time scrying on Nanaka, Hazuki, and Kanagi, but nothing interesting surfaces. Nanaka isn't even doing anything related to the attacks. Hazuki is hiding out with Ayame and Konoha in an old rundown house, and they appear to be playing shiritori when I peek in. As for Kanagi, she seems to be going around asking questions about a family that disappeared in a local apartment complex, but I don't see her run into any other magical girls. So I figure that means it'll take at least a day to get to the action in the hunt for Sarasa Hanna. Although I could follow Kanagi's investigation, I decide it's not really worth my time.

I also scry on the victims – Emiri, Kokoro, and Ayaka. They're no longer in Mitama's office, but they're still fast asleep. I wonder what their families have been told to explain away the strange occurrence… but that's not really important.

That aside, one thing seems clear from Alina's suicide attempt. Although neither Touka nor Nemu are magical girls, it seems like they're both aware of them already, which must mean that Ui is as well. So, the four major players in the formation of the Magius have already been drawn together, which should mean it's just a matter of time now. There's still one way it could go horribly wrong, though… if Ui turns into a witch before the others can save her, then this timeline will be a bust. But with Alina there, I don't think that's a likely outcome.

March twenty-fourth. Oriko is lost in thought and wanders into a labyrinth on her way home, only to be saved by Komaki. Oriko stares at her as the labyrinth collapses.

"Eh? Miss Komaki?"

"The hell happened to you?" Komaki demands as the barrier begins to collapse. "Were you spacing out again? It really ticks me off!"

"Well… yes, I am afraid that I was spacing out," Oriko nods.

"So you're an idiot, right!? You're nothing but a huge idiot! What would you have done if I hadn't happened by? You big idiot!"

"W-well… I would have…"

But she doesn't let Oriko finish her sentence.

"It's all your fault getting mixed up in this, because of that gloomy face of yours! Don't be such an idiot, you idiot!"

Oriko lets out a sigh, and Komaki keeps rambling on.

"So that thing's called a witch—"

"Miss Komaki!" Oriko snaps.

Komaki blinks at the interruption.

"Eh? What?"

"Miss Komaki, I am a magical girl too," Oriko says. "So you do not need to explain things to me."

"O-oh, is that so… wait… since when!?"

"About four days now," Oriko says. "How long have you been a magical girl?"

"Couple of months," Komaki says. "Since the fire."

"Ah yes, it is fortunate that the school was able to be repaired so quickly," Oriko nods. "…that wouldn't happen to have been your wish, would it?"

"Course not," Komaki snaps. "I wouldn't waste it on something trivial like that! Well, anyway, I gotta go hunt down more witches." She turns to leave, then looks back. "Oh, and don't bother coming to school anymore! I can't stand the sight of you, and all those snobs just keep gossiping whenever you're around! It's seriously annoying!"

"Say, Miss Komaki, why don't we team up?"

Komaki stops on the verge of what was probably intended to be a mad dash and spins to face her.

"Huh!? Are you insane? I can barely get enough grief seeds as it is! How are we supposed to manage if we work together?"

"I think we could get even more grief seeds if we worked together," Oriko says.

"You think so?"

Oriko nods. "Yes… with more people, we can take down witches faster, leaving more time to hunt for more witches. This is not just theory – my unique magic confirms it."

"Hmm… alright," Komaki says. "You wanna give it a test run right now?"

"Certainly," Oriko says. "Shall I call in my friend? She is also a magical girl."

"Uhh… sure," Komaki says. "I guess so."

Oriko whips out her phone and starts a call. The person on the other end answers almost immediately.

"Oriko! I'm already at your house! Where the heck are you!?"

"That was fast!" Oriko says. "Okay… I'm going to go on a witch hunt with a classmate, so can we meet at the nearby park? I'll give you directions."

"Sure thing!"

After giving the directions, Oriko and Komaki set off, meeting up with Kirika at a park and searching for witches together. After about half an hour of tracking a magical signature east, they discover a labyrinth whose emblem resembles a stylized cat's head with a Cheshire grin.

They step inside and transform. The landscape seems to be knitted from coloured yarn, and the place is littered with giant spools of thread, balls of yarn, buttons, modelling mannequins, sewing machines, knitting needles, and other related paraphernalia. After a few seconds the familiars emerge, small pincushions with arms and legs who attack with their pins, using them both as projectiles and melee weapons.

"The hell? The floor's so… springy," Komaki observes. "Makes it hard to walk…"

They work their way through the labyrinth, taking down the familiars as they go. Komaki and Kirika do most of the actual work, with Oriko zapping a few here and there if they get past the others. Finally they arrive at a knitted archway and duck through. The witch is a huge humanoid torso with a floating head that resembles her emblem, a grinning cat. She has at least six arms, each of which ends in a massive claw. Like the head, the arms are not connected to the torso but instead converge behind the torso, meaning that her body is composed of three disconnected pieces. The witch's name is emblazoned on the ceiling – "Stacy".

The witch pounces on them with her claws, attempting to encase them like a cage, and the three of them scatter, causing the claws to close on empty air. Then she snatches up one of the giant balls of yarn laying around and throws it at Komaki, who expands the shield portion of her weapon to knock it aside.

Kirika leaps in under the witch's guard and slashes with her claws, and Komaki, having repelled the ball of yarn, leaps in after her. Then the witch tries to grab them again, and they dodge in opposite directions.

"Oracle Ray!"

Oriko combines several of her floating orbs to release a massive laser upon the witch, drawing all its attention onto her. The witch turns and throws her own head at the oracle, gnashing her teeth. As Oriko leaps into the air to avoid the witch's head, blasting down with a laser from a single orb as the head passes underneath, Komaki and Kirika charge in close to the main body and finish her off.

The witch crumbles, and the labyrinth collapses. Komaki snatches up the grief seed as the three of them power down.

"That ain't bad," she admits. "Perhaps you have a point, Oriko."

Oriko turns her soul to gem form and shows it off.

"Thank you, Miss Komaki, but may I use the grief seed? As you can see, I used quite a bit of magic."

Komaki blinks. "Damn, it's obvious you're new at this… but alright, we've got time for another, so I guess I can let you have this one."

She throws the grief seed to Oriko, who catches it and uses it.

"There's definitely enough left in this for the two of you to use it too," Oriko says.

"I'm good for now," Komaki says. "But if we don't get another seed today, then I'll take you up on the offer."

"Um… what she said!" Kirika says.

"So… does this mean that we are a team now?" Oriko asks.

"Well… I guess," Komaki says, shrugging. "I got no reason to refuse."

"Okay, then let's go!" Kirika says.

I close off the vision and sit up in bed, because Inui is addressing me and there's nothing more worth watching there.

"Ashley-nee, you finally heard me!"

"What's up, Inui-chan?"

"I was wondering… could I come back in time with you next time?" she asks. "That is… if there is a next time."

I blink at her. "It's pretty early to be asking that… the loop's barely gotten started," I say. "What brought this up so suddenly?"

"Well… to tell the truth, I've been having nightmares," Inui admits. "Nightmares where I turn into a witch… and… it always happens after you disappear… I'm looking for you, you're not there, and then, bam, I'm a witch."

"Witchification doesn't really work that way…"

Inui giggles. "I'm not surprised! But that's not the point. I mean, I've never seen a witch being born, so how would I know, right?"

"True," I admit. "Um… to get back to the original question… I'm mostly okay with it. We can talk about it more when it gets closer to the time, alright?"

"Why is it only mostly?" Inui asks.

"Because I assume there's some limit to the number of people Miss Homura can carry with her," I say. "And while I'm definitely open to you joining us, it could happen that there's someone else I need even more and I need to make a difficult decision…"

"Oh… you're saying you wouldn't pick me if that happened?"

I shake my head.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't," I say. "I can't speculate who I'd pick when I don't even know what the choices will be. Maybe I would pick you over the other person if it came to that… it depends."

"Ahh… okay," Inui says. "Cool… then I'll bring it up again some other time, alright?"

I nod. "Fine with me. Now… there's someone else I'd like to scry on, so could you leave me be for a little while longer?"

"Aww, fine," Inui says. "But this time I'm going to lay down beside you."

She does just that, seizing one of my arms and cuddling up. I sigh.

"Well… I can't really object to this," I admit.

Then I close my eyes and decide who to scry on. Yachiyo? Nanaka? Maybe Hazuki? After pondering for a minute or so, I settle on Nanaka.

March twenty-fourth. Nanaka and Meiyui are together, watching from a distance as Kako stands around waiting in a park. After a few moments, they are also joined by Akira. Kako looks around nervously, as if waiting for someone. Suddenly, Ayame pops out from behind some bushes and waves.

"Oh! Ayame!" Kako says, waving back.

"Kako!"

Ayame runs over to join her.

"Are you alright?" Kako asks. "Ah… no, of course you're not, huh… but are you okay?"

"Yeah! I'm fine, fine, fine!" Ayame says.

"Oh good," Kako says. "I was so worried…"

"Sorry," Ayame says with a chuckle.

"So why is this happening?" Kako asks.

"That's what I wanna know!" Ayame complains. "Geez… what's with them…"

"You have to tell me if there's anything I can do!" Kako says.

"Thank you so much, Kako!"

"I pretty much know what's going on… they think Miss Hazuki did it, right?"

"Yeah, can you believe it!? I heard it from her, but she said it wasn't her, so…"

"And Miss Yayoi has been going around saying it's not true…"

"Hazuki was just collecting info about what happened the last time," Ayame says. "I think she suddenly found a new lead or something… so that's why…"

"That's why she was meeting the people who were attacked…"

"Yup," Ayame nods. "But! Hazuki never attacked anybody!"

"Ah, it's okay!" Kako says. "I believe you! So that means, the one who caused all this…"

At that moment, Ayame suddenly falls silent.

"Yeah… it might be Hazuki," she says.

As when she made the same suggestion two days ago, it's different from her usual way of speaking… almost as if someone else is speaking through her mouth.

"What!?" Kako gasps. "Wait, what did you say?"

"You heard right… it might be her…"

"That can't be right!" Kako protests. "You just said she didn't, right? Do you really mean that!?"

"Yeah, I'm serious!"

"But Hazuki…"

This time Kako suddenly falls silent, and when she speaks next, her tone is similarly strangely altered.

"Yeah… it might be her…"

Ayame blinks, now back to her usual self.

"Huh!? Wait a sec, whaddaya mean!?"

"About what?" Kako asks, also back to her usual self now.

"That it might be Hazuki."

Kako blinks.

"What? No, I would never…!"

"You said it!" Ayame says.

"B-but… hold on… you're the one who said it…"

"So, you don't trust us either!?" Ayame says.

As they're starting to get into an argument, Nanaka steps forward from where she and her other two teammates have been watching the whole thing unnoticed.

"Calm down," she says.

"W-who's there!" Ayame gasps, spinning to face her.

"It has been awhile, Miss Mikuri," Nanaka says.

"You… you're that… Tokiwa Nanaka girl…!"

"W-wait, what?" Kako says. "Nanaka? What are you…?"

"My apologies," Nanaka says. "I was listening to the two of you talk from nearby."

"What the heck are ya doing sneaking around!?" Ayame shouts. "Wait… are ya trying to catch me or something?"

"Just a moment, Miss Mikuri," Nanaka says.

"Kako! I can't believe you'd do this!"

Ayame burst into tears and runs off, and Kako starts to run after her.

"Ayame! No! It's not like that!" Kako calls.

Nanaka sighs. "Meiyui, if you would…"

Meiyui leaves the hiding place and follows Ayame, quickly overtaking Kako who decides not to continue the pursuit herself, and Akira comes up to join Nanaka.

"So we're following Ayame to catch them at their hideout," she says. "This all feels kinda wrong…"

Kako rejoins them as well.

"Why'd you do that, Nanaka?" Kako asks. "You said you'd leave it to me!"

"I'm sorry, Kako," Nanaka says. "I do apologize for that, but I believed the situation would worsen if I didn't step in."

"Worsen?" Kako says. "But it—"

"You had fallen under the enemy's spell," Nanaka says.

"What!?" Kako gasps.

"I didn't even notice," Akira says.

"The victim of the spell is not aware they are affected by it, it seems," Nanaka says.

"No way!" Kako says.

"Some things are still unclear, but I am starting to put the pieces together," Nanaka continues. "I can almost see the enemy we have been searching for all this time!"

"So um… what did I do under the spell?" Kako asks.

"You said that Hazuki may have done it," Nanaka says.

"No way!?" Kako gasps. "I… I said that!? Really!?"

"You did," Akira confirms.

"Anyway, let us wait for Meiyui to return," Nanaka says.

They take a seat on a park bench, and Kako sighs, pouting a little. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Akira decides to speak up

"Kako," she says. "Are you still mad?"

"Yeah, I'm mad," Kako says.

"Listen, we feel really bad about it—"

"It's not that," Kako says. "I'm not mad at you guys."

"Huh?"

"I was completely helpless. I'm mad at myself… I'm frustrated that I didn't even notice."

"Well, I wouldn't've been able to either," Akira says. "You were being manipulated out of nowhere, and I'm positive I didn't sense a witch around. My soul gem didn't react or anything. And… I didn't see a magical girl either… to tell the truth, I'm pretty freaked out too…"

"Akira…"

"But I'm not gonna run away!" Akira adds. "Maybe that's how it got Emily and the others… we can't just let that kind of magic go!"

"Yeah!" Kako says.

At that moment, Nanaka's phone rings and she picks up. The person on the other end does most of the talking, with Nanaka just interjecting a few words here and there.

"Hello… I see… I see… alright, thanks for the help."

Once she hangs up, Akira questions her.

"Was that Miss Izumi?"

"Yes, and it seems she's gotten ahold of some valuable information!" Nanaka says.

"What is it?" Kako asks.

"It sounds like she wore herself thin during the investigation," Nanaka says, "So she's going to take some time to rest."

"Oh no… she must've been through a lot," Akira says. "But what did she learn?"

"The name of our culprit, more than likely," Nanaka says. "Sarasa Hanna."

"Just the name?" Akira asks.

"Well, she asked us to meet up with the people who aided her in her search," Nanaka says. "So if there is anything else, then I expect they will tell us when we discuss the details with them."

"Someone helped her with the investigation?" Akira asks.

"Are they magical girls?" Kako asks.

"I would imagine so," Nanaka says. "I told them where we are, so I expect they will arrive soon."

At that moment, Meiyui returns.

"I'm back," she announces.

"Oh, Meiyui!" Kako says.

"Good timing!" Akira says.

"Is it?" Meiyui wonders.

"How did it go?" Nanaka asks.

"I found where they are hiding," Meiyui says. "Shall we head over there now?"

"No, not yet," Nanaka says. "We will be meeting up with another group first."

Meiyui blinks. "What? What's going on…?"

"They should be here soon," Nanaka says. "They were working with Miss Izumi to track down the identity of our culprit."

Meiyui nods. "Understood… and? Did they learn the identity?"

Nanaka nods. "To a degree," she says. "We will discuss the details with them when they arrive. They were at the Coordinator's, so I expect to see them any minute now…" She blinks as a trio of girls across the street suddenly waves to her. "Ah, I think that must be them there."

There is a girl with long, pink hair, a taller girl with long blue hair in a side tail, and a slightly shorter girl with short light brown hair tied into two side bunches. That would make them the Daito Apartment Complex trio – Ibuki Leila, Kumi Seika, and Aino Mito respectively. They cross the street at a run as soon as the light changes.

"Hello!" Mito says. "Is one of you Tokiwa Nanaka?"

"That would be me," Nanaka says. "My companions are Natsume Kako, Chun Meiyui, and Shinobu Akira."

"I'm Aino Mito, and this is Kumi Seika," Mito says. "And—"

"I'm Ibuki Leila! Nice to meet you!" Leila says.

"Yeah! Nice to meet you!" Mito says.

"Let us get down to business," Nanaka says. "Could you tell us everything that you learned from Miss Izumi?"

"Certainly!" Mito says. "Apparently it was around four years ago now…"

Kanagi had been tracking a familiar across Daito Ward, finally locating it in the Daito Apartment Complex. Although the portal was flickering, indicating that someone was already fighting within, she hopped inside anyway and transformed. There were two magical girls working together to attack the familiar. One wielded a shotgun that appeared to be made out of glass, while the other had a strange pole weapon tipped by a horseshoe-shaped brace lined with spikes on the interior - an esoteric type of weapon known as a "catchpole" or "man catcher".

The girl with the gun was dressed in a black and white dress, with the material on her shoulders translucent, just like the tights she wore beneath the dress. She had long sky blue hair gathered into twintails pulled forward over her shoulder. The other girl wore a grey and purple dress with black poofy sleeves and a red cape, and her hair was mostly worn loose apart from a pair of braids framing her face. Although her skirt fell to the feet, it left her right leg exposed, revealing the black tights underneath.

The familiar they were fighting was a set of legs with a pair of crossed planks attached to a pole, forming an X. A series of rope nooses hung from the upper half of the X, and these nooses appeared to be its primary form of attack. It used them as a whip but also attempted to lasso its attackers to restrain them, although it appeared that the two magical girls were agile enough to have avoided that thus far.

Although both girls appeared to have the power to stop the familiar in its tracks just by shouting 'stop', they seemed to be low on actual firepower capable of inflicting lasting damage. The gun only appeared to be able to fire once every two or three seconds, and the catchpole was not very effective as a lethal weapon. To make matters worse, the familiar seemed to have not only a tough skin but also some degree of regenerative power. The two of them did appear to have the upper hand, but only just barely.

"Would you care for some help?" Kanagi asked.

"W-whoa!" the blue-haired girl gasped. "Who're you?"

"A magical girl like you," Kanagi said. "Izumi Kanagi, at your service."

"Oh um… I'm Sena Mikoto," the girl said eagerly.

Kanagi looked at the other girl, who simply shrugged and said nothing, looking at her suspiciously. Kanagi considered reading her mind but decided against it – it would be an invasion of the other girl's privacy, and she had no reason to believe she had hostile intentions.

"And we'd be happy to have some help!" Mikoto added. "That is, if it's not too much trouble…"

"Miss Sena, if you could continue firing, that would be a great help," Kanagi said. "And… could you perhaps fire more quickly?"

"B-but that's as fast as I can go…"

"With one gun, perhaps," Kanagi said. "But you are in possession of two hands."

Mikoto blinked. "Ahh! How did I never think of that!?"

She grasped with her free hand and summoned a second shotgun, blinking at it.

"Oh my god, I can't believe I didn't think of something so simple," Mikoto said. "Thank you so much!"

"Let us attack the familiar together."

"Whatever you say," Hanna said, shrugging.

Mikoto pointed at the familiar and shouted, and it stopped in its tracks. Then Kanagi and the other girl stepped forward to flank it, whaling on the creature with their mainly blunt weapons while Mikoto fired her shotguns. With the addition of Kanagi's riding crop and the second shotgun, it seemed they were able to overwhelm the familiar's regenerative power, and it fell quickly.

"I believe that takes care of it," Kanagi said.

She bowed slightly as she powered down, and the other two also powered down to reveal a Daito uniform and… a Mizuna uniform, an unusual sight in these parts. Kanagi only recognized it at all because she herself had a friend who attended that school. The collapsing labyrinth left them on the roof of one of the apartment buildings in the complex.

"Izumi Kanagi… thank you so much!" Mikoto said.

"Certainly," Kanagi said.

"It was pretty strong, huh…" Mikoto said. "But, you know! I'm really happy I could meet another magical girl!"

Kanagi chuckled.

"I chased a familiar all the way here, but I never expected I'd wind up meeting a new magical girl or two. Nice to meet you, and here's to our new connection."

She held out a hand, and after a moment of confusion, Mikoto understood her intention, gripping it for a handshake.

"Yeah!" Mikoto nodded.

She turned to her friend with a smile.

"Hey, come on, Hanna!" she said. "You need to say hi, too!"

When Hanna didn't comply, Mikoto continued in a similar vein.

"I mean, isn't this great? We have someone we can turn to for help if we run into trouble."

Hanna just shrugged without saying anything.

"Really though, your magic is amazing," Kanagi said.

Mikoto giggled.

"Controlling familiars," Kanagi said. "It's the first time I've seen anything like that."

"Well, there's conditions to using it," Mikoto said. "But I can even make witches listen to me!"

"Witches!?" Kanagi gasped.

"Still though… I'm only able to make them do simple things," Mikoto said.

"I see," Kanagi said. "Even so, that's astounding magic!"

"Right now we're doing some research into how it can be used," Mikoto said. "Isn't that right?"

She turned to Hanna, clearly expecting an answer.

"Yeah…" Hanna said.

"What was your name again?" Kanagi asked.

Hanna hesitated before responding.

"Sarasa Hanna," she said.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Sarasa," Kanagi said.

"Uh-huh," Hanna grunted.

"Oh, Hanna," Mikoto sighed. Turning to Kanagi, she added, "Sorry for her lukewarm response."

"That's not a problem," Kanagi said. "But I am curious, how exactly are you researching your magic?"

Mikoto giggled. "Hey, can I tell her, Hanna?"

Hanna sighed. "Whatever," she said.

"You see, Hanna can use suggestion magic too!" Mikoto explained.

"She can!?" Kanagi gasped. "What a coincidence…"

"Ah, actually, it's not a coincidence at all!" Mikoto said. "That's just how Hanna's magic works!"

"How exactly do you mean?" Kanagi asked.

"Hanna's magic is 'overwrite magic'," Mikoto explained.

"Overwrite…?" Kanagi said.

"At first, Hanna couldn't use any magic at all," Mikoto said. "I mean, of course she couldn't! She can copy other magical girls' magic and use it like it was her own!"

"Incredible!" Kanagi said. "This is the first I've heard of such a unique magic."

"Yep," Hanna said, seemingly basking a little in the praise.

"I was surprised at first too," Mikoto said. "But then I said we should study suggestion magic together! We'd get to share info and find out all sorts of things, you know?"

"Hmm, that's true," Kanagi said.

"So now we're doing our best as a team!" Mikoto said.

"I see," Kanagi nodded. "Well, Miss Sarasa, Miss Sena, it was a pleasant surprise to encounter the two of you. Let us hope that we may meet again."

With that, she bowed and left, heading out of the complex, but then Hanna came running after her, and she turned in surprise. Mikoto was no longer with her.

"Huh? It's you, Miss Sarasa…"

"Um, I wanted to ask ya for something," Hanna said.

"Oh? A request for me?"

"Yeah…"

"Very well."

"Forget about me and Miss Sena."

Kanagi blinked. "Why?"

"Cause… ya smell like trouble," Hanna said.

"Do I now?" Kanagi said. "That's quite the statement. You can tell me to forget all you wish, but memories don't work like that."

"Oh, don't ya worry about that," Hanna said.

She transformed and grinned.

"I'll erase them for ya."

"W-what!?" Kanagi gasped.

But before she could do anything else, Hanna had already used her magic, forcing Kanagi to turn her back on her. Kanagi blinked. The last thing she remembered was chasing a familiar… but she could no longer sense it. Had it gotten away somehow?

"So, this Sarasa Hanna was a student of Mizuna Girls' School?" Nanaka says.

"That's what Nagi-tan said, yes," Mito says.

"I'm a little curious," Kako says. "Miss Izumi said she had a friend at Mizuna, but… who could it be…?"

"Well, she didn't say," Mito says. "But given how she looked at Miss Mitama when she said that…"

Akira blinks. "You're telling me Miss Mitama goes to Mizuna?"

Nanaka shakes her head. "I doubt that very much… I've never seen her in that area before."

"I'm pretty sure she goes to Daito Academy," Leila says. "I don't think I've ever seen her in her school uniform, though…"

"In any case, that is not the important thing here," Nanaka says. "Now that we understand the identity of our culprit, let us meet up with those three."

"R-right!" Mito says. "And… that'll lead us to Miss Sarasa, right?"

"That is what I am hoping," Nanaka says.

The seven of them head in the direction Ayame ran off in, following Meiyui's lead. After five or ten minutes, they run into another pair of girls. One of the girls is Nanami Yachiyo, and the other has long brown hair in a side tail and wears the same uniform as Kako.

"You are… Nanami Yachiyo, is that correct?" Nanaka says.

"Ah… what are you doing here, Miss Tokiwa?" Yachiyo asks.

"More than likely, the same thing you are," Nanaka says.

The brown-haired girl blinks at the group.

"Ah! It's Meiyui-shishou!" she gasps. "And Akira-shishou too!"

"It has been awhile," Meiyui says. "Have you been well, Miss Tsuruno?"

"Darn right I have!" Tsuruno says.

"It's nice to see you too, Tsuruno," Akira says.

"So, you're here about the attacks, Miss Tokiwa?" Yachiyo asks.

"Yes, that is correct," Nanaka says.

"Do you believe the rumours that Yusa Hazuki is the culprit?"

Nanaka shakes her head. "No. In fact, thanks to the help of Miss Izumi, we have succeeded in uncovering some evidence of the true culprit."

"Oh, that's impressive," Yachiyo says. "So you even got Miss Kanagi to help you… alright, what have you learned about the culprit, then?"

"She is a magical girl named Sarasa Hanna," Nanaka says. "She attends, or at least used to attend, Mizuna Girls' School."

"I haven't heard of a magical girl by that name," Yachiyo says. "Is she new?"

Nanaka shakes her head. "No… Miss Izumi met her around four years ago," Nanaka says. "She apparently uses her power to keep a low profile."

"I see," Yachiyo says. "And you know where that trio is hiding, is that correct?"

"Yes, we followed one of them to their hiding spot," Nanaka says.

"In that case, let's go together," Yachiyo says.

"We are almost there," Meiyui says.

She leads them around a corner, takes a left, and points at an old abandoned house that's falling into disrepair.

"They are hiding out in that house," Meiyui says.

"Alright, I'm on it!" Tsuruno says.

Without giving anyone a chance to stop her, she runs forward and pushes the door open.

"Now that I'm here, everything'll be alright!" she shouts.

"Huh!?" Konoha gasps.

"Sorry to barge in!" Tsuruno adds.

"W-who are you!?" Hazuki asks.

Tsuruno giggles.

"It is I, the mightiest magical girl, from the Chinese restaurant Banbanzai! I'm Yui Tsuruno!"

Hazuki stares for several seconds before repeating her question.

"No, but really… who the heck are you?" she asks.

At that moment, Yachiyo steps in behind her.

"Tsuruno, what did I say?" she says. "Don't go in ahead of me!"

"Nanami Yachiyo!" Konoho gasps.

"Sorry about that," Yachiyo says. "She's… sort of with me. She's been helping me out, in a manner of speaking."

"Ah, I see," Konoha says.

"Sorry, but… how's the investigation going?" Hazuki asks.

"Before we get into that," Yachiyo says. "You appear to have more guests."

"More!?" Konoha gasps.

"I didn't invite them, just so you know," Yachiyo says.

"W-who is it?" Ayame asks.

Nanaka steps in behind Yachiyo.

"Excuse me…"

She looks around for a moment.

"Well… I see you've chosen a place with a certain… faded charm," she says.

Konoha transforms and grips her weapon, holding it in a defensive stance.

"You're… Tokiwa Nanaka!"

Ayame and Hazuki respond to Konoha's caution by transforming themselves.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ayame says.

"Ayame, I'm so sorry!" Kako says, poking her head out from behind Nanaka. "Please, let me explain!"

"K-kako…!"

"I'm sorry too," Akira says, stepping into the room.

"Hmm," Meiyui says, following Akira inside. "Things look quite cozy in here."

"Every single one of you is here!?" Konoha gasps.

"I'm afraid that's not the end of it," Nanaka says.

She gestures to the door as Leila, Mito, and lastly Seika step inside.

"Hey, everyone!" Leila says.

"It's been… awhile," Seika says.

"Heya!" Mito says.

"W-what!?" Hazuki gasps.

"It's Leila, Seika and Mito?" Ayame says.

"You guys too!?" Konoha gasps.

"Konoha, let's get one thing straight first!" Leila says. "We have some important things to tell you!"

Konoha, Ayame, and Hazuki exchange glances, and possibly even some telepathic communications, before powering down. Konoha nods.

"Alright, first of all… I'd like to hear what brought you all together," she says.

"That's a good idea," Yachiyo says. "Allow me to start. I've been investigating the fainting incident with some help from Konoha. I do not believe that Miss Yusa is the culprit. I heard about the location of this hideout from Miss Shizumi. Unfortunately, I haven't uncovered any concrete evidence of anything, but I wanted to check in to make sure the three of you are okay."

"My, my," Nanaka says. "I wish you would have told me about it sooner. It would have saved us some trouble."

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone," Yachiyo says.

"Hmm… then I suppose I shouldn't have told those three how to get here either," Nanaka says, glancing at Mito and her friends. "My apologies."

"I'm still so confused," Hazuki mutters. "What in the world is going on…?"

"I heard that you were being chased," Nanaka explains. "Miss Yakumo informed me of your situation."

Konoha blinks. "Huh?"

"Miss Tokiwa is quite a level-headed girl," Yachiyo speaks up. "I believe you can trust her. We only met up by chance just a little while ago, but her goals appear to align with yours."

"When Miss Nanami said she did not believe that you were the culprit, Miss Yusa, I immediately agreed," Nanaka says.

"And why was that?" Konoha asks suspiciously.

"Because I believe someone else was behind it," Nanaka says. "I believe the culprit is the enemy that we have been chasing down for the past few months, ever since I formed this team."

"Oh, that's the first time I'm hearing this," Yachiyo says, startled.

"Oh my, did I forget to mention it?" Nanaka says. "It must have escaped me."

"But if Miss Nanami didn't tell you the location of our hideout," Konoha says, "then how did you find us?"

"I followed Miss Ayame and tracked you down," Meiyui explains.

Ayame just lets out a wordless gasp, and Hazuki shoots her a stern look.

"Ayame!"

"W-what!?" Ayame whines. "I got all panicked…"

"Sorry, Ayame," Kako says.

"Kako…"

"I must also apologize for being there without your knowledge, Miss Ayame," Nanaka says. "Please accept my apologies."

"Y-yeah, I'm really sorry for that too!" Akira says.

"Please accept my apologies also," Meiyui says.

"Ugh," Ayame says. "Why were you there, anyway!?"

"I was worried about you," Nanaka says. "And… the reason I revealed myself was to stop the enemy's attack."

"There was an attack!?" Konoha gasps.

"Yes," Nanaka says. "I believe our foe is a magical girl who can seize control of people's minds."

"You're saying they have mind control magic!?" Konoha gasps.

Ayame blinks several times in confusion.

"Say what now?"

"Someone is out there controlling people," Hazuki explains. "In other words…"

"Uhh… whoa, whoa," Ayame gasps.

"Like what happened to us just a little while ago," Konoha says.

"Just a little while ago!?" Nanaka gasps.

"We were being manipulated," Konoha explains. "And we were barely aware of it."

"I get it," Ayame says. "The same thing happened when I met up with Kako… sorry, Kako, I just—"

"Forget it, Ayame!" Kako exclaims. "I didn't realize it either!"

"How did you know, Miss Tokiwa?" Konoha asks.

"I deduced it with the help of my unique magic," Nanaka says.

"Then the only remaining issue is," Yachiyo says, "who is using this mind control magic?"

"About that!" Leila speaks up.

"Ah, right," Konoha says. "Why are you here? You said you have something important to tell us?"

"We were um… helping someone who was um… working with Miss Tokiwa on her investigation," Seika says.

"Right!" Mito says, nodding. "A whole buncha stuff happened, and to sum things up, we figured out who it is!"

"Who is it?" Konoha asks.

"Okay," Leila says. "The magic she's using… apparently she calls it 'suggestion magic', and the person using that magic is a girl named Sarasa Hanna."

Suddenly Nanaka and Yachiyo gasp almost in unison.

"This magic…" Yachiyo murmurs.

Nanaka transforms.

"Everyone, be on your guard!" she says.

"Huh!?" Leila gasps.

"Someone else is here with us!" Nanaka says.

Her pronouncement is met with a series of transformations, starting with Hazuki and co.

"Where, where!?" Ayame gasps.

Next to transform are Yachiyo and Tsuruno.

"Tsuruno, get ready!" Yachiyo says.

"Yo!" she says.

"Perhaps it's a good thing you wormed your way into this investigation after all! I have a feeling there's going to be a fight!"

"I got ya covered!" Tsuruno says. "For I am the mightiest magical girl! And we've got three masters here today, too!"

Nanaka's teammates transform while Yachiyo and Tsuruno are talking, and Mito and co are the slowest on the uptake, transforming last of all.

"We've got this!" Akira says.

"I will not be beaten by my pupil," Meiyui says with a nod.

"I… I'm a little scared," Leila admits.

"W-we've gotta stick together!" Seika says nervously.

"R-right!" Mito says.

"N-nanaka," Kako says. "Are we going to be okay…?"

Nanaka does not respond, instead simply closing her eyes. Yachiyo also does the same thing. Suddenly, they both open their eyes at the same time.

"Found her!" Yachiyo shouts.

"There!" Nanaka shouts.

Nanaka points almost directly at Konoha.

"W-what!?" Konoha gasps.

"K-konoha!?" Hazuki gasps.

"What the heck!?" Ayame gasps.

Realization quickly dawns on Konoha's face.

"Ah, behind me!"

She spins, swinging her halberd in a wide arc behind her, and the weapon makes contact with something… or rather, someone.

"Got you!" Konoha says grimly.

"Looks like she got her!" Tsuruno says redundantly.

"Everyone, surround her!" Yachiyo shouts.

"Someone's there!?" Ayame gasps. "Really, really!?"

"Show yourself!" Nanaka commands.

Suddenly someone starts to laugh, at first just a chuckle but quickly evolving into a maniacal guffaw. They can't see who's laughing, however – it's as if the sound comes from the empty space where Konoha swung her weapon.

"W-what the heck!?" Mito gasps.

"What a horrible laugh!" Seika says.

As the laughter dies down, the unseen girl lets out a long sigh before speaking.

"Ahhh, finally… you fiiiiinally found me!"

Then she giggles.

"Well, here I am," she says. "Tadaaa!"

And then, suddenly, Sarasa Hanna appears before them in all her glory, clad in her magical girl uniform, an unhinged grin painted upon her face.

"W-whoa!?" Ayame gasps. "She came out!"

"We meet at last," Nanaka says.

"Ugh!" Konoha grumbles.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Hanna says. "Though for most of you, it's not our first time meeting, is it?" She giggles. "It's me, the one you've been looking for! Sarasa Hanna!"

She giggles again as she looks around at the assembled magical girls and smiling like she's having the time of her life.

"Sarasa Hanna?" Yachiyo says.

"Sarasa Hanna!?" Leila gasps.

"This is her!?" Mito gasps.

"I see," Nanaka says. "I heard briefly from Miss Izumi…" She looks at Leila. "Your name was… Miss Ibuki, correct?"

"Um, yes!" Leila nods.

"Would you explain again what happened with Miss Izumi?" she says.

"Ooooh, explain what, I wonder?" Hanna muses.

"Suggestion magic was used on Nagi-tan to seal away one of her memories," Leila explains.

"Ah, that!" Hanna says, nodding.

"When the Coordinator helped her to break the spell, we discovered something important," Leila says. "The sealed memory was of meeting two magical girls, Sena Mikoto and… Sarasa Hanna."

"Sena Mikoto…" Konoha blinks.

"Well, that'd be me, Sarasa Hanna!" Hanna says.

"And Miss Sarasa's magic is 'overwrite magic'," Leila continues. "She can copy magic from other magical girls. She copied the suggestion magic from Sena Mikoto."

"She can copy magic!?" Yachiyo gasps.

"So it really was her!?" Hazuki gasps.

"W-wait, you mean she used magic on us!?" Ayame gasps.

"Bad girl!" Tsuruno says sternly. "You shouldn't use magic on other people without their permission!"

"So then… were you the one who attacked all those magical girls?" Yachiyo asks.

"Are you behind all the disasters that befell us?" Nanaka asks.

"You will answer us!" Meiyui says sternly.

"I really would like to know, too," Akira says.

"M-me too," Kako says. "How about it? Was it you?"

"W-we still have questions too!" Leila says.

"Like, where is Sena Mikoto?" Seika asks.

Hazuki blinks. "Huh? Wait… is she…?"

"She's missing!" Mito says.

"What in the world happened to her!?" Leila asks.

"Yeah! What happened to her!?" Mito repeats.

At this moment, Hanna takes a deep breath and shouts at the top of her voice.

"Oh, would ya shut the hell up for a second!?"

"W-what!?" Hazuki gasps.

Hanna continues on in a relatively more normal tone of voice.

"Quit it with all the questions!" she says. "Well… alright, I guess I'll start with a few confessions, if it'll make you guys happy."

She grins.

"Well, where should I start? Hmm… yes, the Azalea House… It was I who used a witch to influence the vice director and those developers to tear the horrible place down! Too bad it didn't work out!"

"E-even that far back!?" Hazuki gasps. "H-how could you!?"

"Shut up, I'm talking," Hanna retorts. "Or if ya prefer, I could shut up and we could play a game of tag?"

"No, please continue," Nanaka says.

Hanna giggles.

"Then I spread the rumours of the fainting incidents a few weeks ago, and the visions that Shizumi Konoha saw," Hanna says.

"Y-you were behind those visions too!?" Konoha gasps.

"Oh yes, it was so much fun watching ya panic! I attacked Togame Momoko and Mikuri Ayame to make the rumours seem a bit more realistic. Then once it seemed like you were getting somewhere in your investigation, I thought, why don't I just attack the people Yusa Hazuki was interviewing? Ahhh… but it seems I underestimated the bond between you three. Ah well, it was still fun while it lasted."

Hanna giggles again as she turns to Nanaka and her team.

"Oh yeah, those loan sharks? The ones that went after Natsume Books, the Soukai clan, the Kashin flower arranging school, and the Shinobu dojo, among other things? Yeah, the witch that influenced them… I put her up to it. It was hilarious watching the lot of ya track that witch down! Though, of course, it wasn't even the original of that witch."

Another giggle breaks up her monologue, and she turns to look at Tsuruno.

"You too, self-declared 'mightiest'! That no-good mother of yours… she was influenced by one of my pet witches, too! Although, it seems it only brought out her true nature, rather than forcing anything on her."

Tsuruno gasps. "Y-you'd dare mess with my family!?"

"Hmm… then there's those three who live in the apartment complex where Mikoto used to live," Hanna muses. "You, the one with the flaming hair, ya jumped off the roof and killed yerself, right? That came as such a shock! When I sent that witch over, I didn't expect ya to fall to her so easily!"

"E-even that was you!?" Leila gasps.

Hanna turns to Yachiyo with a grin.

"Even Miss Nanami, the veteran," she says. "Well, I mostly keep away from you, cause you're scary, but that doesn't mean you've gotten off scot free! Remember the attacks in Chuo Ward?"

Yachiyo blinks. "W-wait… you don't mean… you're the one who sent the Mirror Witch to Chuo last year!?"

"Bingo! And I wonder, how has Azusa Mifuyu been doing lately?"

Yachiyo blinks. "I haven't spoken to her for a few days now…"

"Plus there's the dumb fortune-telling girl and that one who likes music… how could ya be so strong yet still lose them? It's hilarious!"

"Y-you even knew Mel!?" Tsuruno gasps.

"Ugh! How do you know about them!?" Yachiyo asks.

Then Hanna turns to look at the camera, ignoring Yachiyo.

"As for you – yes, you, the one sneakily watching us from afar. I don't know who you are, but I hope you're as entertained by all this chaos as I am."

Yachiyo blinks. "Huh!? Who's watching!?"

"She appears to be correct," Nanaka muses. "I can sense a faint magic that does not belong to any of those present here… but whoever she is, I do not believe her to be hostile."

"So to sum things up," Hanna crows. "Yes! It was all me! I did pretty much all of it! It wouldn't be a stretch to say that all of ya became magical girls only because of me! With the obvious exception of miss veteran, of course."

"W-what!?" Konoha gasps.

"Said as if it's no big deal…" Yachiyo says.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ayame says. "What the heck is your problem!?"

"Now, now," Hanna says. "Take a chill pill or something. Ya gotta understand, I've been waiting sooooo long for you to find me! You guys were sooooo slow on the uptake!"

"Excuse me?" Yachiyo says.

Hanna giggles.

"Oh, I did sooooo much!" she says. "I made a huuuge mess! Things have gotten all kinds of messed up at this point, haven't they? And still! You couldn't find me if your lives depended on it! Though I suppose I can commend ya for managing to survive. The same can't be said for everyone! But what's the point if ya never figure it out!?"

"What is wrong with you!?" Konoha asks.

"So this time I went all out," Hanna says. "I figured I'd make it a little easy for ya. And well, I suppose it paid off? Ya sure found me. Though I did have to bring the difficulty level down quite a lot! Such a disappointment."

"Y-you're not making any sense!" Ayame says.

"Well, now that everyone's here," Hanna continues. "And now that I've finished my boring old monologue… let's play tag!"

"What!?" Ayame gasps.

"Huh!?" Mito gasps.

"Taaag!?" they shout in unison, with Tsuruno also joining in the chorus.

"Stop messing around!" Konoha says. "This isn't a game!"

"Oh, but isn't this whole magical girl thing a joke?" Hanna asks. "A really bad joke at that!"

Yachiyo blinks, showing signs of getting what Hanna is alluding to. Tsuruno sighs and looks at Hanna.

"So? What're the rules?" she asks.

"Tsuruno! Why are you acting like you'll play along?" Yachiyo protests.

"It's simple!" Hanna says. "All you've gotta do is catch me! Buuuuut… I'm gonna make it as hard as I possibly can! Games just aren't any fun when ya don't try, ya know?"

"So," Akira says. "Basically what you're saying is… 'come at me'?"

"I'm saying, let's have some fun!" Hanna says. "Whoever's sneakily watching from the back is welcome to join in too! Wouldn't that just be a laugh, caught out by the surprise contender!"

"Hmph," Meiyui says. "Simple and to the point. I don't exactly hate it."

"But I do hope you won't let your guard down," Nanaka says.

"She wouldn't talk like that unless she was incredibly confident," Yachiyo says.

Suddenly, Meiyui attacks Hanna with her claw weapon. Hanna just giggles, dodging the initial slash, then sort of waves at them. Everyone suddenly freezes.

"W-what's this?" Yachiyo gasps.

"I can't move!" Konoha says.

"Okaaay, I'm gonna run now," Hanna says. "I wonder who'll catch up first? It should be fun to find out!" She giggles. "Well, see ya later!"

And just like that, she runs out into the street.

I stop there because I've achieved my primary objective, which is to get a handle on Sarasa Hanna so I can scry on her at will. I'm too far away to join in the hunt now – by the time I got to Kamihama, she'd most likely already be dead. But this has given me the information I need to turn the course of events if time gets turned back again. And to be honest, I think I'd actually prefer to have at least one more shot at it after this.

It's not like I want to go out of my way to save all the magical girls who could possibly turn into witches, such as whoever turned into Elsa Maria for example, but once Madoka brought up the idea, it made me realize I'd been doing a worse job of gathering information than I thought. If I'd been doing this properly, I should've identified at least one or two witches, right? Even if I wasn't interested in saving every magical girl I possibly could… even if I was only interested in the Holy Quintet… it would be in my best interest to identify them, just to reduce the dangers that the Holy Quintet have to face.

I let out a sigh and gently disentangle myself from Inui. She sits up in surprise, looking at me as I sit down at my desk..

"Huh? What's up, Ashley-nee?" she asks.

"Nothing really," I say. "Just getting ready for bed… and noting down a few things I just learned."

"Oh, well, in that case, I should get ready too," Inui says. "Um… will you be taking a bath before bed?"

"Ah… now that you mention it, I probably should," I admit.

"Komachi poked her head in just a minute or two ago to say the bath is free, so why don't we head in right now?" Inui suggests.

"Together?"

"Well, it saves electricity…"

"Alright… just give me a minute or so to note this down."

I note down as much relevant information I can think of from today's scrying. The peek on Oriko didn't yield much of interest, so it's mostly stuff about Sarasa Hanna. Then Inui and I head for the bath room, where we strip down, wash up, and get into the already-warm bath.

I was half-expecting Inui to start a conversation, but to my surprise she doesn't seem to have anything to say. She just leans back with a sigh as she relaxes in the warm water. Her silence leaves me to ponder my next moves in peace and quiet. Not that I needed the time to ponder – I already have everything all planned out to the end of the week, after all. Well… maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but I definitely have at least a general outline.

On Saturday afternoon, I spend a few hours out hunting with Inui, destroying several familiars. Then I start to head east.

"Huh? We're heading… towards school?" Inui says. "That's Miss Tomoe's territory, though…"

"It's alright," I say. "I have something else I want to deal with, so I'll just be passing through."

We don't run into the Holy Quintet at all. Yes, I'm still calling Mami's team that, even though Kyouko doesn't seem to have shown up from what I can tell, because Nagisa is there to fill the fifth slot in her place. And Madoka hasn't contracted yet either, but it still sort of feels like she's part of the team.

"So… what's going on?" Inui asks. "Are we going to pay Koko-chan a visit?"

"Actually… we might just do that," I say. "But there's actually another magical girl near her that I want to see."

We arrive at the run-down apartment building I was seeking, near the city's industrial sector. I gaze up at it for a moment, locating the correct balcony, then summon Teddy Mk II and hop on. Inui hops on as well, and we float up to the balcony and hop off, tapping on the window. A scurrying noise is heard from within, and after a moment, Yoshida Tamura appears and slides the door open. Inui blinks at her in surprise.

"W-whoa!? You're the spitting image of Homu-chan!" she gasps.

Tamura speaks over her.

"B-blonde… y-you must be… Ashley Taylor!?" she gasps. "I th-thought you'd… be dead…"

Then she blinks at Inui.

"H-huh? Who is… Homu-chan?" she asks. "Oh! Um… c-come inside… m-my parents are still out…"

We head inside and take a seat on the floor.

"So you didn't seek me out because you thought I'd be dead, is that correct, Miss Yoshida?"

Tamura nods. "Y-yeah… but… how do you know my name?"

"We've met before in another timeline," I say.

"I… I did see us… meeting, so… I guess that… makes sense," Tamura nods.

"How long have you been a magical girl?" I ask.

"Um… j-just a few… hours… b-but… I've already had… quite a few visions," Tamura says.

"Anything of interest?" I ask. "Did you see yourself… die?"

"W-well… I saw myself… t-turn into a… w-witch," Tamura mutters.

"That counts," I nod. "Did you see anyone else turn into a witch?"

Tamura nods. "Yes… th-there were… t-two such visions," she says. "Sh-shall I… d-describe them?"

I nod. "Yes, please… oh, and I should've said this earlier, but… if you feel more comfortable communicating via telepathy, that's totally fine with me."

Tamura nods. «Okay… got it,» she says.

She leans on the table, closing her eyes tightly, then lets out a sigh.

«A vision from before I became a magical girl,» she says. «I am released from the hospital, but something comes up at work, and my parents can't pick me up, so I need to find my own way back. However… I get completely lost. Finally I run into a small girl… if not for her sailor suit, I would take her for a grade-schooler. Her face is a little scary, but… as soon as she speaks, I can tell she's a nice person. She asks if I'm lost… I say yes… we talk about stuff for awhile… and then… she says she's a magical girl. I… I don't believe her… but she's very bitter about it, and talks like she wants to die. I try to cheer her up, but then… she turns into a witch right in front of me. She looks like a giant floating skull with a massive tongue. I almost die, but I'm saved at the last moment by a magical girl in red, who gives me directions to set me back on track to my home."

"Huh, so it sounds like you were saved by Sakura Kyouko," I say.

Tamura nods. "Y-yes, it was her," she says.

"What was the name of the other magical girl?" I ask. "Or did you never find out?"

"Her name was… Kimiko Anzu," Tamura says. "I d-don't know her school…"

"The witch sounds vaguely familiar… Cecil, perhaps…?" I muse.

"So probably a middle school in Kazamino," Inui says. "And east Kazamino at that… so maybe Kazamino Municipal Middle School? I'm not sure if they have a sailor suit, but we should be able to look it up."

"Okay… what about the other girl who you saw turn into a witch?" I ask.

Tamura nods. «Yes, she was a friend I made at school," she says. «Ayano Hikari…»

I blink. "Ah… I remember you mentioning her in another timeline," I say. "But in that timeline she was murdered…"

Tamura nods. «I saw that vision too… but this is a different one,» she says. «The three of us were fighting a witch—»

"Three?" Inui asks. "Who's the third?"

"Masumi Chihana, I presume," I say.

Tamura nods. «Yes. The witch was… too strong. If not for Miss Kohaku showing up and defeating it, all three of us would have been done for. However… Hika-tan… she'd used up too much magic. We tried to use the witch's grief seed to purify her, but it was too late… she turned into a witch right in front of us.»

"Oh, huh… so Miss Kohaku also witnessed it, huh?"

Tamura nods. «That's right. Miss Kohaku tried taking down the sun tree a few times, but she was low on magic too, so we ended up retreating. After that, Chiina-chi killed herself… and I never saw that witch again.»

"Wait, did you say a sun tree?" I ask. "Could it be… Ayano Hikari is Elsa Maria!? But how does that square with her murder…" Suddenly I gasp. "Ah… she's murdered in the timelines where Oriko goes wild, and I bet Sayaka just doesn't contract in those timelines…"

Tamura tilts her head. "I d-don't know w-what you're t-talking about…"

"That's alright," I say. "Can you give exact dates and times for those two events?"

"Umm… not exact," Tamura says.

"Even approximate dates and times would be helpful," I say.

"W-well… I was discharged on the sixteenth, around lunchtime," she says. "So th-that gives the date for Miss Kimiko… as for a time… I'm n-not sure, but I th-think the sun was getting low, but it wasn't really dark yet?"

I nod. "So, afternoon or evening of the sixteenth," I say. "And what about Ayano Hikari?"

"It was April," Tamura says. "Early April, p-probably… about a week after I met them, I think. And… it was after school… and it wasn't Monday or Friday…"

I nod. "Okay… when did you meet them?"

"End of March," she says. "I don't remember exactly…"

"So if it's a school day in the first week of April but not Monday or Friday, that means… fifth, sixth, or seventh… oh, but if you know it could happen, Miss Yoshida, you could take steps to prevent it, right?"

Tamura nods. "I could, but… I don't think they'd believe me…"

"What about calling Miss Kohaku in before they waste so much magic fighting that witch?" I suggest.

"That… that might work," Tamura says.

"And can you describe the witch you were fighting?" I ask.

"Oh, um… it was like… a weird signpost thing… feet where the eyes should be… faces where hands should be… really bizarre…"

"Ah… that sounds like Lucy, then," I says. "That witch really gets around… I've spotted her in two other cities…" I nod. "Okay… and were there any other interesting visions you wanted to share, Miss Yoshida?"

Tamura nods. "There was one… very strange one," she says.

"I'm all ears."

Tamura falls silent for a bit, perhaps getting her thoughts in order, and I wait patiently for her to begin the story.

«I was in another town,» she finally begins. «I'm not sure where exactly, nor why I was there… I was wearing this sort of black robe or something, and I had two others with me… but they weren't Chiina-chi and Hika-tan, I don't think. We must have been tracking a witch, because before long we'd stepped into her labyrinth… some sort of sandy wasteland, I think it was. However… the witch was too strong for us. I think… the other two with me might have turned into witches? It was all kind of a blur. I turned and ran… but then two magical girls showed up and destroyed it with their gun and… I think it was a mace or something. One of them had blue hair and the other was blonde. And then… they asked me something strange.»

A magical girl with a gun… there are several that fit that description, but I can't think of any in Kamihama with blue or blonde hair. From the story Kanagi told the others, Sena Mikoto could fit, but she's long since witched out… ah, wait, could it be Midori Ryo? She's blonde, and a bazooka is a type of gun… but if it were her, the expectation would be for her to be with either Hozumi Shizuku or Makino Ikumi, neither of whom have blue hair nor wield a mace. I can only think of five magical girls in Kamihama that have blue hair – Nanami Yachiyo, Chun Meiyui, Minami Rena, Utsuho Natsuki, and Kumi Seika. Oh, maybe Tatsuki Asuka's hair counts as blue too. Four of those use bladed weapons, and Seika uses a whip, which I even saw in action a little the other day. I could perhaps see Natsuki's weapon described as a mace…? Maybe it fits? Even if the guess is right, it's still a strange combination.

Then again, although the witch sounds like Zenobia, she never said it was in Kamihama. If I expand the range to other cities… in Mitakihara, the only gun users I know of are Tomoe Mami and Masumi Chihana, and it's obviously not Chihana since Tamura is friends with her. Claire uses a mace, but the hair colour doesn't match Tamura's description. In Asunaro… the only gun user is Anri Airi, and it's a bit of a stretch to describe her silver hair as blonde. Plus there's no mace user that I know of. In Hohzuki, Shion Chisato has blue hair and uses a gun, but the only blonde girl is Kanade Haruka who uses a spear. So… either it's Ryo and Natsuki, an unusual combination, or these are two magical girls I've never heard of. And she mentioned a black robe, which calls to mind the Wings of the Magius, so chances are the vision truly does take place in Kamihama. Although that would make Ryo an unlikely culprit, since she also joined the Wings of the Magius in the game… although I suppose it could just be before she joined.

"Um… what did they ask you?" I prompt her.

«They wanted to know… if I've ever seen a grief seed with a scroll and quill emblem on it,» Tamura says.

I blink. "Huh? If they're looking for a specific grief seed… they have to know how soul gems evolve into grief seeds… but does that mean they have a way to reverse it?"

Tamura shrugs. «I think I just said no… then they walked into an antique shop or something… I probably never saw them again after that, but the vision ended there, so who knows.»

"Huh… you're right, that is quite strange," I say. "Can you tell me anything else about this vision? Any details you can think of."

«Right… the blonde girl had a red outfit,» Tamura says. «Both of them had ponytails… the blonde one's was kinda messy while the blue girl's hair was neatly combed. Her outfit was blue too. Um… the girls with me, who may have turned into witches… I think they used a sword and a slingshot. One of them had green hair… the other… either blonde or light brown?"

Oh, that sounds like it could be Azumi Hagumu and Miyabi Shigure, which supports the Wings of the Magius theory. But it also rules out Ryo, as her outfit can't possibly be described as red, though Natsuki could still fit as the blue-haired girl. Who could they be, then? Is the antique shop significant? Or the emblem they mentioned? The emblems various grief seeds bear aren't something that I've memorized, so I have no way to tell from that whether it's someone I should know about.

"So… they never introduced themselves?"

Tamura shakes her head. «No… and I never heard them call each other by name, either.»

"Well… your first two visions definitely contained some very useful information," I say. "Although in the case of the second one, I think it's more useful for you than for me, right?"

Tamura nods. «Right… I have to make sure that Hika-tan doesn't become a witch this time.»

"And that third vision… I'm really not sure what to make of it, but it seems like it could be useful once I get more information from some other source," I say. "So, thank you very much. Are there any other visions you're interested in sharing?"

"Um… n-no… I can't think of any others worth sharing," Tamura says.

"Why don't we exchange contact info?" I suggest. "That way, if you later get a vision that you'd like me to know, you can tell me right away."

Tamura nods. "O-okay…"

We take out our phones and tap them together, and the beep indicates a successful transfer. Then Inui and I take our leave.

"So you really have no idea who she saw, Ashley-nee?" Inui asks.

"Nope, no clue," I say. "Of all the magical girls I know about, the only ones that could possibly fit that description have been dead for centuries… so it must be someone I don't know about."

"And… do you know where the vision was?"

"I think it was in Kamihama," I say.

"Huh… why would she go there…?" Inui wonders.

"Kamihama's about to become the centre of something huge," I reply. "There'll be a lot of magical girls going there before long… us included. So I don't think it's surprising that she'd go there."

"I see…"

Right after school on Monday, I receive a call from Madoka.

"Hello, Ashley-chan!"

"What's up, Madoka?"

"Well, I'm worried," she says. "Sayaka-chan took the truth pretty badly, and—"

"Wait… what's this about the truth?" I ask.

"Oh, um… I convinced Homura-chan to explain how the soul gem is actually a magical girl's soul," Madoka explains.

"Seriously!? I'm surprised you managed to even talk her into it… I thought you were going to wait, oh, at least another two or three weeks before breaking that news!"

"W-well… I guess I thought hearing it from us would make a difference," Madoka says. "But it doesn't seem like it helped all that much… although, I can't say it went as badly as last time. I mean, Miss Mami and Sayaka-chan were all depressed, but Nagisa-chan took it all in stride and managed to cheer them both up… but I'm glad we didn't talk about the other truth."

"Yeah, there's no way you'd be able to convince Miss Homura to break that to Miss Tomoe," I say. "She must've seen Miss Tomoe go mad from the revelation and kill you guys many, many times."

"Ehhh… you really think Miss Mami would do something like that?" Madoka asks.

"She's not as strong as she looks, Madoka," I say. "She may be powerful, but she has a weak heart."

"Um, anyway, that wasn't what I called to talk about," Madoka says. "You see, Kamijou-kun has returned to school, and Hitomi-chan has dragged Sayaka-chan off somewhere… after how badly she took the truth, I'm worried…"

"Ah. So it's that event… though I didn't expect it to be this early. I guess it varies based on when Miss Miki contracts…"

"Right, and Homura-chan refuses to talk to them about it," Madoka says. "So I thought, maybe you could do something…"

"Alright, I'll go have a chat with them. Thanks for letting me know, Madoka."

As soon as I've hung up the call, I scry on Sayaka. She's with Hitomi, and they're just entering a vaguely familiar fast food place, so I head off to find the place myself while I listen in on their conversation. Sayaka orders a hot dog, but Hitomi apparently only wants coffee. Once they sit down, Sayaka questions her.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"It's a matter regarding love," Hitomi says. "You see… I've been hiding something from you and Miss Madoka."

Sayaka blinks. "Huh?"

"For a long time now, I… I've admired Kamijou-kun," Hitomi says.

"I… I see," Sayaka says.

There's a long, awkward pause before she continues.

"Who would've thought, huh? That Kyousuke sure is a popular guy!"

Her voice is strained, like she's trying to suppress something.

"The two of you are childhood friends, right?" Hitomi says.

"Well, if I had to say," Sayaka says. "I'd say we just can't get rid of each other…"

Sayaka averts her gaze as she says that.

"Is that really all?" Hitomi asks.

Sayaka looks back at her. At the same moment, I finally locate the place they're chatting and step inside. My keen magical girl ears can now pick up their voices directly. I look around and spot them, making my way towards them and trying to decide when's a good moment to interrupt.

"I've made my decision," Hitomi continues. "I will no longer lie to myself. What about you? Miss Sayaka, can you face your true feelings?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Sayaka asks.

"You are a very important friend to me," Hitomi says. "I don't want this to turn into something bad. You've had your eye on Kamijou-kun for much longer than I have. So you should get first pick."

"Hitomi…"

"I will confess to Kamijou-kun after school tomorrow," Hitomi says. "I'll give you one day. I'd like you to make a choice you won't regret. You have to decide whether you want to tell him how you feel."

"How cruel," I retort, startling them both. "It's no wonder Miss Miki's destiny is so dark, with a friend like you."

The two girls look at me in surprise as I step up to their table.

"Th-this is none of your business," Hitomi says. "I've never even met you… do you know her, Miss Sayaka?"

"No, I've never seen her before," Sayaka says. Turning to me, she asks, "How do you know my name?"

"Well, it's true that we've never met, but I'm a friend of Madoka, so that makes you a friend of a friend," I say. "So you can't say this doesn't concern me at all. In fact, Madoka herself asked me to come talk to you, because she's worried about you."

"I… I see," Hitomi says. "But Miss Madoka has never mentioned you to us…"

"Really? Well, we only met recently, so maybe it just never came up somehow… but let's get back on topic. Miss… Shizuki, right?"

"Y-yes…"

"That's a cruel ultimatum you've given Miss Miki. It may be easy for you to express your feelings, but not everyone is as… mature… as you. Although maybe mature is not the right word, since it's kinda immature to make the ultimatum in the first place, plus you seem to be under this belief that love is first come first served…"

"It's fine!" Sayaka says. "I'm really not all that bothered!"

I grab Sayaka's soul gem hand and examine the ring closely. As expected, it's significantly darkened.

"Eh? Th-that's just—"

I interrupt what seems to be Sayaka trying to explain why she has the ring.

"Don't try to tell me you're not bothered when you so clearly are," I say.

Turning to Hitomi, I add, "Words can kill, Miss Shizuki. Do you want Miss Miki's death on your conscience?"

Hitomi and Sayaka gasp and protest at the same time.

"W-what!? M-miss Sayaka would never…!"

"W-what are you talking about!? I'd never…!"

I shake my head.

"That might be the case now, but after stewing over it for a few days, anything could happen," I say. "It's especially bad choosing to say it now, when Miss Miki is already feeling down."

Hitomi blinks. "Is that true, Miss Sayaka?"

"No, um…" Sayaka says. "It's… well…"

"Madoka is really worried about you, Miss Miki," I say. "I don't think she'd be that worried if there was nothing going on. And Miss Shizuki… I heard what you said, but are you sure you're doing this out of love?"

"Yes! I really do love him!" Hitomi says.

"It's not just because your mother's nagging you and he happens to be conveniently someone you know from a well-off family?"

Hitomi blinks.

"H-how… how dare you…"

Then she shoots to her feet, bowing slightly.

"This is ridiculous… I don't have to listen to this," she says. "Good day. Miss Sayaka… please think about what I said."

And with that, she turns and leaves the premises. I turn to Sayaka.

"Honestly, I don't really get what you're so worried about," I say. "So I'm probably a bad person to try and cheer you up, but… for a magical girl, depression equals death. So you can't afford to wallow in self-pity. You need to talk about it, whether it be with Madoka, Miss Tomoe, Miss Homura, or even Miss Sakura. Heck, maybe even Miss Momoe can give you a little nugget of wisdom. Get it off your chest and work things out. I'm sure you can come up with something."

Sayaka blinks.

"You… you're a magical girl too, aren't you?" she says.

"That's right," I say.

"And you already know about… about the soul gem?"

"Yes, I do, but like I said, I don't really see an issue with it."

"And you even know… all the other magical girls? Miss Mami, Homura-chan, Nagisa-chan, even Kyouko?"

"I wouldn't say all, but I've met each of those at least once, though I wouldn't say I'm close with any of them."

Sayaka's eyes narrow.

"You're not working with Kyouko, are you?" she asks. "Are you the type of person who doesn't deal with familiars?"

"I've dealt with familiars before," I reply. "Um… have you tangled with Miss Sakura?"

"Yeah… I don't like her very much," Sayaka says. "Although… she's looking after that stray kid, so I suppose she can't be all bad…"

Oh? So Kyouko has picked up Yuma in this timeline? That's interesting… I really wonder how the Magius events are going to play out with the Holy Quintet so different from how they are in the game. I scry on Yuma briefly and check to see if she has a soul gem ring, but she doesn't, so I guess she's just tagging along right now.

"Yeah, you should give her a chance," I say.

"But that aside," Sayaka says. "You really don't mind being a… a zombie?"

"I don't think of it like that," I say. "I mean… zombies usually don't breathe and have a heartbeat, right? Also, zombies are usually mindless mobs. If you wanted to compare our situation to something undead out of a game, I'd say the closest match is a lich."

Sayaka tilts her head. "A lich is usually just a skeleton though," she says. "That's even worse."

But the lilt of her voice suggests she's suppressing laughter, which seems like it bodes well.

"Well, I hate to say this, because I can't stand that little devil, but there is one thing I have to agree with Kyuubey on," I say. "I don't really understand why you'd care whether your soul is in your body or in your hand. Either way, you still have it in your possession, so what difference does it make? Okay, so there are some disadvantages to having it in your hand… it's more vulnerable, for example. But you can just adjust for that."

Sayaka sighs.

"Yeah… I don't think I can think the way you do, uhh… come to think of it, what did you say your name was?"

"I think I forgot to mention it," I say. "I'm Ashley Taylor."

"I can't get over the thought of being… like a zombie… or a lich, or whatever word you wanna use…"

"But you need to get over it, or else you will die," I say. "So, talk to people. Work something out."

At that moment, Madoka steps inside and runs over. She's out of breath like she's been running.

"Sayaka-chan… good, you're still here!" she says. "And Ashley-chan too…"

"So you really do know each other," Sayaka says. "I didn't quite believe it…"

"I just… saw Hitomi-chan," Madoka says. "She looked… angry… what did you say to her, Ashley-chan? I've never seen her… like that… before…"

"Yeah, I suppose what I said was kinda rude, wasn't it…"

"You only accused her of going after Kyousuke just to get her mother off her back, so yeah, definitely rude," Sayaka says.

Madoka blinks. "Ah… I never even… thought of that…"

Sayaka blinks. "Huh? Don't tell me… you think it could be true!?"

Madoka shakes her head. "I don't know. I don't want to say anything bad about Hitomi-chan. Still… her family's really strict and traditional, right? And the Kamijou family has a lot of money. So… I suppose what I'm trying to say is that it sounds like something that could possibly be true… but as for whether it is true, I have no idea."

"I get what you're saying," Sayaka says. "Huh… well, um… I've… got places to be, so… I'll see you later, Madoka."

"If you don't call, I will," Madoka says. "Because I am worried about you, Sayaka-chan…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll call," Sayaka says.

She grabs her food and runs out.

"By the way… have you met Yuma-chan yet, Madoka?"

"Eh? Um… not exactly," Madoka says. "I mean, she was with Kyouko-chan a few days ago when Sayaka was hunting a familiar and she jumped in… but I didn't get a chance to talk to her or anything. I only know her name because Kyouko-chan said it… but I did think it was strange. Why is there such a young child with Kyouko-chan?"

"If it's anything like other timelines, then she rescued Yuma-chan from a witch who killed the girl's parents," I say. "But I don't know why that happened instead of, well… not happening, if you get my meaning. Usually Yuma-chan shows up when Oriko is meddling to get you killed, but obviously that's not the case this time… although… I did see her one time when Oriko fought Walpurgisnacht herself… but that time she was tagging along with Oriko instead of Miss Sakura."

"All I really got from that is that time travel is really complicated," Madoka sighs. "Alright, well… I guess… oh, is she a magical girl?"

"Not yet… she does have potential. Oriko mentioned her as having the highest potential in the area next to you, if you remember. I think Miss Sakura is trying to discourage it, but I doubt that'll work forever."

"Alright, well… now that Sayaka-chan seems like she's cheered up a bit, I guess I'll just head home," Madoka says. "Thanks for talking to them, Ashley-chan."

"It's no problem," I say. "In fact I wanted to have that talk anyway, so you really helped in letting me know when the time was right. I just hope I haven't inadvertently made things worse."

Madoka smiles.

"After seeing Hitomi-chan like that, and Sayaka-chan just now, I have a feeling it will work out," she says. "See you later, Ashley-chan."

"You too."

On the way back to the Hayashi house, I meet up with Inui, and we run into a couple of Patricia's familiars, which we take down without any trouble. Once we're back, I flop down on my bed and check on Noriko. Inui flops down beside me as well. It looks like things are all set to play out as they always have – Noriko is playing the same game I remember, although she's not yet on a losing streak. In fact, just a minute after the vision opens, she wins a match. Still, she has consistently turned into a witch throughout a hundred or more timelines, so I'm pretty confident that things will go the same way this time.

I whip out my phone to send Mari a message.

"Hi… please don't ask me how I know this, but I think Naomi Noriko is going to need a grief seed sometime in the next hour or two."

It's more or less the same thing I sent her last time I witnessed this, but with less urgency. I wait for her response, which is exactly the same.

"Oh fuck, omw!"

I watch Noriko's gaming for awhile. After four or five more wins, she loses her first match… but then she wins the next three. Then she loses two in a row, and I can see that it starts to hit her soul gem a little. Still, her losing streak doesn't start until four or five games later. Her losing streak has reached five by the time I hear the sounds of Mari entering her house and running upstairs.

But then I close my vision, because there's something else I wanted to spy on tonight. This is also the day that Kirika murdered Komaki, after all. Obviously that won't happen this time, but I have a feeling the events that play out tonight will have a role in Koito's possible eventual contract.

March twenty-eighth. Asako Komaki is fighting against the witch that looks like a round dining table with a teapot on it. However, this time she is not alone.

"How dare you mock us!?"

The speaker is none other than Kure Kirika, who has just leapt at the witch and missed.

"Ugh! No lowly witch gets to make a fool of me!" Komaki shouts.

She gazes up at the witch, now hovering directly above her, and sighs.

"Well, it's almost over, anyway," she mutters.

Suddenly, a dome-shaped barrier flashes into existence around them, trapping the witch inside it along with Kirika and Komaki.

"You're not running away anymore!" Komaki shouts.

"I've got ya now!" Kirika shouts.

They leap into the air at the same time and attack the witch, effectively shredding her now that she has nowhere to dodge to. Komaki lets out a sigh of relief as the labyrinth crumbles.

"It's finally over," she groans. "These witches crop up like roaches, one after another… so annoying!"

She bends down to pick up the grief seed while Kirika looks around.

"Is someone there?" she asks.

She moves towards a nearby building, where Komaki's friend from school, Namekata Akira, is hiding.

"Oy, Miss Kure, where are you going?" Komaki snaps.

"I thought I heard something," Kirika says.

"Who the hell would be out at this time of night?" she retorts. "Come on, let's go."

"Right…"

The two of them power down and head off together. Akira peeks out from her hiding place and watches them go.

My phone rings, startling me out of my vision. It's Masuyo Mari, so I pick it up immediately.

"Hello, it's me, Mari," she says. "I don't know how you knew, but thank you for letting me know of the situation. I'm staying the night with Nano-chan."

"So she's okay, then?" I ask.

"Yeah, she's fine, and I finally managed to tell her the truth," Mari says.

"Which truth?" I ask. "The truth about witches, or about your identity?"

"The first one," Mari says. "I think I need more time on the second one."

"So Miss Naomi took that truth well?"

"Yeah, surprisingly," Mari says. "I think it's because she sort of sees it like a game to begin with…"

"And have you thought about letting me have the true Mari's grief seed for a little while?" I ask.

"About that… what is your experiment supposed to do?" Mari asks. "And what exactly would happen if the experiment went wrong?"

"I'll just lay out all the facts," I say. "Fact one: I know a magical girl who can transfer grief out of a grief seed, transforming it back into a soul gem. However, that grief all gets transferred into her soul gem."

"So she'd turn into a witch instead," Mari says. "That sounds like a terrible trade-off."

"Fact two: there is a way to channel accumulated grief into an attack, thus avoiding the witch transformation, but it requires certain special conditions."

"So your experiment is to get your friend to use her power under those special conditions?"

"That's essentially it," I say. "Whether the experiment succeeds or fails, the grief seed will be transformed into a soul gem. Failure would mean my friend also becomes a witch."

"That's pretty risky," Mari says. "Is your friend really up for that?"

"Well, that's why I have a second level of protection," I say. "I have another friend who said she's willing to make a wish to bring the first friend back if she turns into a witch."

"Huh, I suppose if a magical girl's unique power can do it, then a wish could as well," Mari says. "I almost wish I'd wished for that now… oh well. Then again, my wish allowed me to become close to Nano-chan in a way I never could've imagined before, so… it's not all bad."

"So you're no longer denying you're friends, huh?"

"I guess not," Mari says. "You'd already seen through it anyway, and I'm so grateful that she's safe that I don't feel I can even deny it to myself anymore… anyway, to answer your question, just stop by my place whenever you need it. Let me know first, so I know to wait for you."

"Alright… I'll let you get back to Miss Naomi, then."

"Goodbye, Miss Ashley."

So I've successfully prevented the birth of Elly. That's one witch down… but will I be able to save any more than that? I know Madoka wants to save every witch, but I'm almost certain that's not possible. Still, if I happen across any useful information – such as learning from Tamura that Elsa Maria was actually Ayano Hikari – then I suppose I will at least try to save them.

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.

Natsume Kako
夏目かこ

Age: 13
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Green
Origins: Shinsei Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green open book
Soul Gem: Green double parallelogram (open book) gemstone at her throat
Element: Forest
Weapon: Square-tipped spear
Powers: Repetition, reversal
Wish: "I want to bring back my family's happiness! I want things to be like they were before… I want Natsume Books back!"

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 8
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 1

Shizumi Konoha
静海このは

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Purple
Hair Colour: Silver
Origins: Sankyo Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue butterfly
Soul Gem: Purple five-lobed florette-shaped gemstone on the back of her left hand
Element: Water
Weapon: Double-headed halberd
Powers: Fog, illusions, healing
Wish: "I want to erase the main cause that tried to demolish the Azalea house."

Speed: 7
Magical Stamina: 8
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 9
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 3

Yusa Hazuki
遊佐葉月

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Amber
Hair Colour: Blonde
Origins: Sankyo Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Yellow five-lobed florette
Soul Gem: Yellow five-lobed florette-shaped gemstone at her chest
Element: Light
Weapon: Twin hook swords
Powers: Identify weak (and strong) points, sonic magic
Wish: "I want to erase the memories of the three of us from Azalea house."

Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 5
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 9
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 2

Mikuri Ayame
三栗あやめ

Age: 13
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Pink
Origins: Sankyo Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Pink rabbit head with zigzag mouth
Soul Gem: Green five-lobed florette-shaped gem at her throat
Element: Fire
Weapon: Crescent pole-axe
Powers: Invincibility, fire manipulation, spirit infusion
Wish: "I want Azalea house to continue to exist indefinitely!"

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 3
Defensive Power: 10
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 2

Aino Mito
相野みと

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Light brown
Origins: Daito Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green design of concentric circles and diamonds (similar to but not quite the same as the Puella Care symbol)
Soul Gem: Light brown four-lobed florette-shaped gem on her brooch (or, a four-leafed clover)
Element: Forest
Weapon: Bow
Powers: Connecting hearts
Wish: "I want the power to connect hearts."

Speed: 8
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 10
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 1

Ibuki Leila
伊吹れいら

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Turquoise
Hair Colour: Pink
Origins: Daito Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Pink heart encased in orange flames
Soul Gem: Blue heart-shaped gem on her hairband
Element: Fire
Weapon: Sword with shield-like hand guard
Powers: Flames of purification, healing
Wish: "I want things to go back to how they used to be between the two of us. I want Seika and I to be how we were before!"

Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 5
Offensive Power: 3
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 4
Learned Powers: 1

Kumi Seika
桑水せいか

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Violet
Hair Colour: Sky blue
Origins: Daito Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue dolphin
Soul Gem: Blue diamond-shaped gem on her right earring
Element: Water
Weapon: Whip
Powers: Aqua transferrence, fog, water manipulation
Wish: "I want to make it like Leila never jumped! Like this never happened! Bring Leila back to life!"

Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 3
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 4
Learned Powers: 1

Izumi Kanagi
和泉十七夜

Age: 18
Eye Colour: Grey
Hair Colour: Silver
Origins: Daito Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue crossed swords
Soul Gem: Grey oval gemstone on her monocle
Element: Light
Weapon: Riding crop
Powers: Mind reading, light manipulation
Wish: "I wish to know the reason why everyone hates Daito."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 2
Learned Powers: 3

Sarasa Hanna
更紗帆奈

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Purple
Hair Colour: Purple
Origins: Mizuna Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Pink eye
Soul Gem: Pink spherical gem with four protrusions as brooch
Element: Null
Weapon: Catchpole
Powers: Ability duplication
Wish: "Erase those worthless pieces of trash!"

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 8
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 1
Learned Powers: 4

Sena Mikoto
瀬奈みこと

Age: 13 (estimated age at death)
Eye Colour: Pale purple
Hair Colour: Sky blue
Origins: Daito Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue spiral
Soul Gem: Dark purplish-blue oval gemstone below her chest
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Hand mirror
Powers: Suggestion
Wish: "Please let Mother be free."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 1
Defensive Power: 5
Initial Power Usability: 3
Learned Powers: 2

Before you ask why some of the magical girls who appeared in this chapter don't have a profile above… well, I thought 10 was more than enough for one chapter so I omitted the ones that made no more than a brief cameo… plus Tsuruno, because I intend to feature her profile in the chapter where Iroha meets her. So, you'll have to wait awhile longer to see the profiles of Tsuruno, Asuka, Sasara, Shizuku, Ayaka, and Aimi.

There's quite a lot going on here, and frankly, I think it should have been split into two chapters… but I couldn't find a good splitting point, so I decided not to bother.

So Hanna and Mikoto are probably the single most important background characters in the entire Magia Record storyline, as I've had her point out here (giving her a monologue that never occured in the in-game event) – she's been around for a surprisingly long time, and her influence on the magical girls of Kamihama runs deep. Who knows who else might she have influenced? And Mikoto… well, let's just say that she's also incredibly important to the plot. Probably many of the readers already understand why, but I won't explain it in case there are some who aren't up to speed on the game's storyline.

Then there's all the other things going on here. Sayaka's contract, Kirika's contract, Alina's contract, and Oriko forming a team. Not to mention Hitomi's ultimatum, which Ashley has chosen to interfere with for the first time. And the identity of Elsa Maria (the witch Sayaka fights alone just before witching out) and Cecil (a witch Kyouko fights in Oriko Magica). And a pair of mysterious magical girls…

So anyway, I suppose you could consider this light spoilers, but… we're finally at the point where the focus can shift to Iroha. Stay tuned for her adventures in Kamihama next time! (It'll most likely be two more weeks, for the record. Don't expect more than two chapters a month for the foreseeable future. I'll still post earlier if I think it's ready, though.)