Magia: A New Hope

by Pentalithia

A Madoka / Magia Record fan suddenly wakes up in the world of magical girls, as a side character. Features Ashley Taylor. Note: In case it's not obvious, you should expect massive spoilers here for nearly everything in the franchise.

71. Legend of the Fox and the Tokime

Have you heard? Has anyone told you?
The Rumour of the Stardust Time Viewer!
Everyone wants to know the future, to see
their dreams, their hopes, their fate.
Send all of your messages to it,
and it will show you what you want to see!
But you mustn't believe what you see.
It is only the future for right now!
It could change at any moment,
through someone else's will, or your own.
You'll get sucked inside if that happens!
A hot rumour among the girls in Chuo Ward!
I wanna see!

---

Friday has finally come, so after school I help Inui pack up her things for the move to Fendt Hope. I've already explained to Mrs Hayashi that Inui has decided to move out, though I didn't mention Kamihama or anything, so I imagine she assumes Inui is returning to her father's place. But that doesn't really matter. I also indicated that I would be staying with Inui for the weekend.

"Okay… I think that's everything," Inui says.

"School transfer papers?"

"Got them."

"Um… so yeah, I guess that's everything… and I've packed my laptop and pyjamas and everything else I need… so let's get going!"

We head to the station and catch a train to Kamihama, heading for the old railway yard. As soon as we summon our feather robes, the barrier appears, allowing us to step inside.

When we enter Fendt Hope, there seems to be a buzz of activity going on. I ignore it for now, heading straight upstairs to drop off our things in our room, but as soon as that's done, I figure I should check it out. By a stroke of luck, we run into Mifuyu herself on the way down, so I accost her with my question.

"Miss Mifuyu… is something going on? There were a lot of people downstairs."

"Oh… you're… Miss Ashley?" Mifuyu says. "Yes… the Magius have called a meeting of all members. Didn't you get my message?"

"Oh… I haven't even checked since school ended… wait, did I ever give you my contact info?"

I check my phone, but there's nothing from Mifuyu.

"I definitely got it from Inui-chan," Mifuyu says. "Maybe I forgot to get it from you… my apologies."

She takes her phone out and taps it to mine to exchange info.

"Now that you mention it, I did see there was an email from you," Inui says. "But I had to pack so I didn't even look at it…"

"That reminds me, Inui-chan… you said you're transferring to Kosho Academy, right?" Mifuyu says. "Have you submitted your transfer papers yet?"

"Not yet," Inui says. "I was going to do it like… right now? But if there's a meeting…"

"The meeting shouldn't last long," Mifuyu says. "I believe the school will be open for two or three hours more, so there should be plenty of time."

Inui nods. "Alright… then I guess I'll go right after the meeting."

"Where is the meeting?" I ask.

"If you just follow me, I'll take you there," Mifuyu says. "Although I had one other thing to take care of first."

"That's fine. As long as we get there," I say.

A few minutes later, we find ourselves packed into a large assembly hall on the ground floor. The number of feathers seems to have swelled considerably since the last time we were here. I try to count the number of white feathers specifically, but at around twenty-four, I lose track of which ones I've already counted and give up.

Finally, the Magius walk out onto the stage with Mifuyu and another white feather in tow. As earlier, Mifuyu isn't even wearing her feather robe, and like the Magius is in her magical girl form. I can't tell who the other white feather is, though I have my suspicions.

"Attention please!" Mifuyu calls. "The Magius are going to speak!"

With some effort she gets everyone to quiet down, and then Touka steps forward.

"Everyone! As you know, our mission is to free magical girls from their curse! As magical girls, we have spent far, far too long in the shadows, when we are in fact superior to any ordinary human… but if we were to suddenly show ourselves, and people learned we could turn into witches, there'd be panic. Therefore, the first step is liberation, and to do that, rumours and witches are absolutely crucial! Unfortunately, there are some magical girls who refuse to believe in us! This is one of the reasons why we wear robes to keep ourselves anonymous! This is also why we have appointed this white feather to be the official instructor for all feathers!"

The unknown white feather steps forward. No… that's not right. She's not unknown anymore. As soon as Touka said 'instructor', I realized it has to be Kagura San. She pushes her hood back just a little, enough to reveal her face and confirm her identity.

"She will teach you techniques to fight without using your unique magic and weapons, which could give you away!" Touka says. "There will be training every evening, plus mornings and afternoons on the weekend, so make sure you attend whenever you can if you're worried about your anonymity!"

Then Touka falls silent, gesturing to San to step back, which she does, allowing her hood to fall forward again.

"Now… we've already lost several rumours to the veterans of Kamihama. Nemu… tell them."

Touka steps back, and Nemu steps forward.

"Of the five major veterans of Kamihama, one has joined us, two have aligned themselves against us, and the other two seem to be remaining neutral so far. The most experienced of all, Nanami Yachiyo, has already destroyed four rumours. Izumi Kanagi has also destroyed two rumours, and Miyako Hinano has also destroyed one rumour, possibly by accident."

I wonder who the fifth veteran is that they're referring to. Off the top of my head, there are quite a few more magical girls in Kamihama who could be considered veterans – Momoko, Meiyui, Asuka, even Tsuruno and Manaka could count. However, the fact that she limited it to five suggests that her cutoff excludes Momoko, which means there must be one I'm missing who's even more experienced than Momoko.

"The Rumour of the Crossing Path… the Rumour of the Infinite Hospital Bed… the Rumour of the Friendship Ending Staircase… the Rumour of the Séance Shrine… the Rumour of the Little Old Cocoa Shop… the Rumour of the Ghost in the Cell… and the Rumour of the Sobbing Shrooms. Those are the rumours we have lost so far. If the destruction of rumours continues at the present rate, Touka tells me we won't be able to collect enough energy for liberation, and I am almost at my limit for the number of rumours I can manifest."

Nemu then steps back, allowing Touka to take over again.

"You might be thinking that these girls are veterans, and therefore strong, and you'd stand no chance against them," she says. "But don't worry! They are each just a single person! We vastly outnumber them, so there's nothing to fear. We can't just let them walk over our liberation, now can we? Therefore! We'll assign you in groups to guard the most important rumours!" she says. "Mifuyu will handle the details of who guards which rumour! There's also tons of other things that need doing, such as herding the witches we're raising, or administrative work here at Fendt Hope, so some of you will be assigned those tasks instead of guarding. We've designated Mifuyu as the person in charge of personnel, so I'll let her explain anything that needs explaining!"

Nemu speaks up again without stepping forward. "The veterans are a few lone individuals," she says. "But we are legion. Ten thousand ants can even topple a titan… if everyone attacks them at once, even a veteran will have little chance to win. Therefore… please, don't let them destroy my creations."

Touka steps back, and this time Mifuyu steps forward.

"Thank you, Touka," she says. "We've compiled a list of rumours that we believe are the most likely to be targeted, and we will assign a group to guard each. Every group will have at least one white feather, so what I'm going to do is that I'll ask all the white feathers to see me in my office, and I will assign each a task. As for deciding which black feathers will aid you in your task, we can discuss that when I assign the task. I am open to allowing you to choose your own teams, within reason, but I can also assign members myself if you prefer. Keep in mind that there may on occasion be circumstances where you must reveal your identity to members of your team, so if you are uncomfortable with any member, please let me know and I will reassign you."

Mifuyu steps back, and then Alina steps forward.

"If you're chosen to run the witch farms, then you'll be reporting directly to me!" she says. "I expect to see you tomorrow morning in the underground chapel. Dismissed!"

And with that, the crowd disperses. I try to see if I can identify anyone, but it's basically impossible, so instead I try to intercept Mifuyu before she gets to the stairs. I find her with four other white feathers who must've had the same idea.

"…so you're that set on working together?" she says.

"Yes, indeed," one of the feathers says.

"For sure!"

I can't tell which is which yet, but those must be the Amane twins.

"Then… hmm… how about this? I'll assign you to guard the Rumour of the Misery Water. It's one of the more important rumours, so it makes sense to assign extra personnel in its defence."

That also confirms their identity, as it's the next rumour Yachiyo is scheduled to destroy, where she'll fight the twins.

"Very well, we shall do our best," Tsukuyo says.

"For sure! We won't let you down!" Tsukasa says.

The two of them move off after accepting a sheet of paper, and Mifuyu turns to the next person seeking her attention.

"You're… ah, I remember," she says. "You were the one who expressed interest in running a newsletter, right?"

"Yes, that's right," the feather says. "I can write up a single-page report daily, or if you prefer I could put together, say, a ten-page weekly report."

"Well, I do think that would be useful to have," Mifuyu says. "Very well, I'll just make it official and put you in charge of it. I will assign you at least one assistant, too. As for the format… I will leave that up to your discretion."

"Thank you very much, Miss Mifuyu," she says.

I guess that must have been Midori Ryo? I couldn't see her hair from behind though so I suppose I might be wrong. The last of the white feathers ahead of me steps forward.

"Um… is there something that's not dangerous?" she asks. "I don't think I'm cut out for rumour guarding or witch hunting…"

"There are lots of things that need to be done," Mifuyu says. "For example, there are various chores such as cooking and laundry."

"That's also a bit… I guess it's better than dangerous work though…"

"Well… that was just an example," Mifuyu says. "Is there anything you're good at?"

"N-not really… I just sort of… stumbled into this," the unknown feather says. "My wish was a total waste too… I probably wouldn't've lasted much longer if I hadn't joined you… I don't even know why I'm a white feather…"

"Okay… well, I'll give it some thought," Mifuyu says. "Come and see me later. I'll see if I can find something that doesn't put you in too much danger."

"Okay… thanks."

She moves on, and I step forward.

"Oh, Miss Ashley," Mifuyu says. "You had to leave right away, didn't you? I'm sorry, I should've taken care of you first… um… let's see…"

She scans a clipboard she's holding, then nods.

"Yes… I'll put you in charge of guarding the Rumour of the Stardust Time Viewer," she says. "Do you have any requests for team-mates?"

"Well, it'd be nice if I could work with Inui-chan and Kirika," I say. "Beyond that… whoever you think would be good, I guess?"

Mifuyu nods. "You should probably have a few more… okay, I'll pick someone out for you. Here's all the info on the rumour."

She extracts a sheet of paper from her clipboard and hands it to me.

"Good luck," she says.

"Thank you."

I turn to head for the exit, tucking the sheet away in my purse without looking at it. Inui follows me of course, and we store away our robes just before we exit the Fendt Hope barrier, after which I make a beeline for Chiaki's.

Riko is behind the counter today, still in her school uniform but with an apron over it, and spots me almost instantly, waving.

"Ashley-chan! It's been so long!"

"I guess it has been," I say. "Sorry about that, Riko-chan… I had a bunch of stuff to deal with…"

"Oh no, that's not a problem!" Riko says. "I'm just happy to see you again!"

She turns to her father, who's frying croquettes next to her.

"Um, Dad, since it's been awhile, can I…?"

"Go ahead, Riko," Mr Chiaki says. "You missed her last time she stopped by, so go have some fun this time."

"Thank you so much!" Riko says. "Thank you! And… I'll take Mameji for a walk while I'm at it!"

"Sounds good," Mr Chiaki says.

"Wait there for just a moment," Riko says. "Don't go anywhere! I'll be right back!"

She vanishes inside, and Inui looks at me.

"Who's Mameji?" she asks. "Her dog or something?"

Mr Chiaki bursts out laughing, and Inui shoots him a look. I chuckle a little too, then tell her.

"You hit the nail on the head, Inui-chan. Are you okay with dogs?"

"I wouldn't say I'm not okay with them," Inui says. "I'm not exactly a fan of them, but I can handle them as long as they don't growl or anything."

"Ehh… I can't wait to see your face when you unleash your doppel…"

Inui blinks at me. "Huh? Is it a dog or something?"

I decide to take a leaf from Yachiyo's book.

"Well… I choose not to answer that."

Inui pouts a bit. "Ashley-nee, come on!"

But Riko reappears at that exact moment with her dog, having shed the apron.

"So, um, Ashley-chan… who's your friend?" Riko asks.

"I'm Itsumi Inui, pleased to meet you!" Inui says. "I'm a friend of Ashley-nee!"

Riko blinks. "Ashley…nee… say, is it alright if I call you that too?"

I nod. "Yeah, sure, whatever… Inui-chan, I think I already mentioned, but this is Chiaki Riko."

"And this is Mameji!" Riko adds.

She bends down a little to pet the dog, who barks twice in greeting, his short tail wagging frantically.

"It's nice to meet you, Inui-nee!" Riko continues.

"Oh my god that's so cute!" Inui squeals. "Say it again, Rii-chan!"

"Um… Inui-nee?" Riko repeats hesitantly.

"Yes! That's me, Inui-nee!" She giggles a bit.

"So um… where should we go first?" Riko asks.

"How about school?" I suggest.

"Eh? You want to see my school?" Riko says. "They don't allow dogs, though…"

"That's alright," I say. "Inui-chan just has a bit of business there… if necessary, I can keep an eye on Mameji outside the gate."

"Okay… then let's go!" Riko says.

As we set off, she starts probing us further.

"So um… what kind of business do you have at my school, Inui-nee?" Riko asks.

"Well, I'm moving here," Inui says. "So I've gotta finalize the transfer."

"Ohhh! You're going to the same school as me!?"

"You got it!" Inui says. "Though obviously we won't be in the same class, but I'll be there if you wanna chat or something!"

"That'll be nice," Riko says. "I don't know any other magical girls there other than Tsukasa-chan…"

"Really?" I ask. "I heard the history club at Kosho had a bunch of magical girls…"

"Is that so?" Riko says. "Who'd you hear that from?"

"Um… I… choose not to answer?"

"Ashley-nee!" Riko protests. "That's not fair!"

"Do you know of others besides that?" Inui asks.

"Um… let me think… if I remember correctly, there should be a total of…"

I count off on my fingers.

"…eight… no, seven magical girls at Kosho Academy?"

"Where do you get that number from…?" Riko asks. "I don't know anything about a history club at Kosho though…?"

"Really? Maybe that's still in the future then," I say. "It could be that those three haven't become magical girls yet…"

Riko nods. "So taking off them, me, and Tsukasa-chan… there'd still be… at least two more?"

"Yeah, sounds about right."

"Why'd you say eight at first?" Inui asks.

"Uhhh… I accidentally counted myself? Since Kosho was actually one of the potential schools I chose for my exchange."

"Oh… it's too bad you ended up in Mitakihara instead," Riko says. "It could've been great doing stuff together every day…"

"That's true," I say. "But on the other hand, I never would've met Inui-chan if I'd come to Kosho, so I don't regret it at all."

Inui seizes me by the arm and leans in.

"I'm glad you came to Mitakihara too, Ashley-nee."

"But come to think of it… why are you moving, Inui-nee?" Riko asks.

"Um… well, to get some independence from my no-good Dad, I guess?" Inui says.

"Wow… you're moving out!?" Riko gasps. "That's amazing…"

"I don't know if I'd call it amazing," Inui says. "More like… necessary. Your Dad's really nice, Rii-chan, so you probably wouldn't understand."

"Well… I can't say I understand, but… I did meet Tsukasa-chan's Dad once…" Riko says.

"Oh? Didn't you only just meet Miss Amane, though?" I ask.

"Huh? No, I've known her like, forever… she's been a regular at Chiaki's since I was in… at least third grade…? I only recently found out she was a magical girl though."

"Ohhh, that's what it was, my mistake," I say.

"But… I don't think I ever told you about that, Ashley-nee…"

"Well… I'll let you in on a little secret, Riko-chan… as long as you promise not to tell anyone."

Riko nods. "Oh! A secret! Um… my lips are sealed!"

"The truth is, I've come back in time," I say. "Multiple times, in fact. I've been repeating the period between March sixteenth and April thirtieth over and over. You told me about Miss Amane once before, but you don't remember because it hasn't happened in this timeline."

"Oh… that's… really cool!" Riko says. "Is there some reason you've been repeating time? Are you on some huge mission to save everyone?"

Inui giggles. "Rii-chan, now you've hit the nail right on the head!"

"Well, something like that," I say. "Although, I regret to say that I may have made the version of you from those timelines very sad."

"Why is that?" Riko asks.

"Well… if I come back in time, then I no longer exist in that timeline, right?"

"Ohhh… I get it," Riko says. "But, you know… I'd definitely be sad if I found out, but… how would I even know?"

"Hmm, well… you have a good point," I admit. "Though Karin-chan could've told you in at least one of those timelines… anyway, enough about the time travel. Remember, tell no-one, okay? And if you see Izumi Kanagi, try not to let her read your mind."

"Oh… you mean the weird girl who talks like a soldier…?"

"So you do know her… I figured as much, since she's called the 'boss of the east' and everything."

"I don't really know her," Riko says. "I did run into her once by chance… she may be strange, but she seems nice enough…"

«Umm… Izumi Kanagi… isn't that one of the girls Nemu-chi mentioned?» Inui asks me privately. «Are we gonna have to fight her?»

«Unfortunately, I think it's pretty likely we will,» I reply. «But I think putting up just a token resistance should be enough if we encounter her while guarding a rumour…»

«I'm not looking forward to it…»

"Alright!" Riko says. "We're almost there! Do you want me to show you the way to the office, Inui-nee?"

"That would be helpful, thanks Rii-chan!"

"And I'll keep an eye on Mameji while you're in there," I say.

We round a corner and there it is, Kosho Academy in all its glory. Well… not that there's much glory here. Compared to Mitakahara Middle School or even Mitakihara High School, this one is just… ordinary, a fairly unremarkable school building that looks just a little run-down. It's a sign of Kamihama's class problem – the residents of Kosho and Daito Wards are looked down upon by the rest of the city, which probably means they receive less funding for projects such as upgrading the school buildings.

I accept Mameji's leash from Riko and open up a vision on the two of them as they head inside.

"So, the office is just over this way," Riko says. "Hopefully there'll still be someone there…"

They head inside, just in time to see the person at the office starting to pack up.

"Um, excuse me, Miss!" Riko says.

The woman looks up in surprise.

"Oh… if it isn't Riko-chan," she says. "Did you forget something at school today?"

"Uhh… no, it's not that," Riko says. "It's not me who needs something today… it's Inui-nee…"

The woman looks at Inui, taking in the different school uniform.

"Could it be… are you the new transfer student?" she asks.

"That's me," Inui says. "I'm Itsumi Inui."

"You're cutting it close," the woman says. "I seriously thought you wouldn't make it here in time… we still could've handled it Monday morning, but I prefer to have things dealt with in advance. You have the papers, right?"

Inui digs out the transfer papers and hands them over. The woman scans them and nods.

"Looks like everything is in order," she says. "Alright… you'll need a uniform, so let me just write down the address of the shop that handles our uniforms."

She grabs a scrap of paper and a pen and scribbles down an address, which she passes to Inui.

"Besides that… I think there shouldn't be any other problems," she says. "Just don't forget to get a sports uniform too."

"Of course," Inui says. "Not that I plan to do much sports, but I guess there's a minimum requirement after all… does this school do swimming?"

"We do not," the woman says.

"I can't say I'll miss it," Inui says.

"Okay, I can also get you your schedule and homeroom information," the woman says. "Just give me a minute or two."

She sits down at the desk and logs into the computer there, tapping away for a bit. A printer in the corner suddenly springs to life, and she heads over to grab the sheet that comes out, handing it over to Inui.

"There you go," she says. "I'm sure Riko-chan would be happy to show you how to get to your homeroom."

"Is it okay to take a quick look right now?" Inui asks.

"Hmm… yeah, I think it should be fine," the woman says. "As long as it's only a quick look. And I'll see you on Monday."

With that, she resumes packing up, and Riko leads the way through the halls towards whatever classroom was written on the printout. The room is locked when they get there, so Inui only peers inside very briefly before they turn around and head back outside. I turn off my vision once I catch sight of them with my eyes, and return Mameji's leash to Riko as soon as they exit the school gate.

"Welcome back!" I say. "I see it went smoothly, yay! Want to grab your uniform today?"

"Might as well, unless Rii-chan has something else she wants to do," Inui says.

"No, I'm okay," Riko says. "Just being with friends is lots of fun no matter what we do!"

"Hmm… but before that," I say. "Wanna check out the old shrine behind the school? Maybe we could have an interesting encounter."

"…was there a shrine back there?" Riko asks. "Now that you mention it, I feel like I've heard someone mention it before… and recently, in fact…"

"Let's do it!" Inui says.

So we head around to the back of the school and find a path leading into a small wooded area. Before we reach anything resembling a shrine though, a peal of cackling laughter breaks out from somewhere ahead, followed by a melodramatic voice shouting.

"I didn't know there was a place in this land that could connect to the other world! The day I reclaim my rightful power as the Supreme Overlord is not far off!"

As Riko squeals, I try to prod Ashley awake within me. For a few moments, there's no response at all, strangely. In fact, now that I think of it… when was the last time she surfaced? I know she was active when I saved Inui… I don't think I've heard from her since then, though?

"Huh!?" the mysterious voice says, wavering a bit.

"Uhh… w-what!?" Riko gasps. "What was that? Is… is it a curse? M-maybe we should've kept away…?"

"Ugh… no, I don't think that's a curse," Inui says.

I prod a bit more at Ashley's consciousness, and finally there's a response. She bubbles up within me, and I sort of sense her taking in the situation. Then her voice rings out in my head.

«Eh!? Ohhh, it's Rui-chan! What a treat!»

Huh? Hold on… she already knows who this is? How?

"Who's there!?" the mysterious voice shouts, that slight waver from earlier now gone.

"A-are you sure it's not a curse?" Riko asks nervously. "Or maybe a vengeful spirit?"

The mysterious voice clears her throat, then continues speaking in that strident, melodramatic tone from earlier.

"Those of you who have set foot on this land controlled by the reincarnated overlord… leave this place at once, before I unleash my true power!"

"Huh? I don't get it," Riko says.

That's when Ashley chooses to take control.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, I see," she says, nodding firmly.

Inui turns to us and blinks. "Huh? Are you…?"

"Do you understand it, Ashley-nee?" Riko asks.

"I completely understand!" Ashley proclaims. "It's a phase we all go through! Let me handle this!"

"Um… I really don't know what's going on, so please do," Riko says.

Ashley makes a peace sign over her left eye.

"Just leave it to me!"

Then she clears her throat and raises her voice, imparting just as much melodrama as the mysterious voice possessed. Though she claims it's a phase everyone goes through, I very much did not go through this phase, but I'm willing to bet that Ashley did, so that's why I prodded her to handle this situation. That, and she's the one who handled it in one of the actual events in the game.

"I never imagined that I'd encounter you in a foreign land!" Ashley says.

The mysterious voice gasps. "I-it can't be…!?"

Naturally, Ashley isn't finished yet.

"Ye who call yourself 'Supreme Overlord'! I am one who walks the same path as you! I have no intention of desecrating your sanctuary!"

"I never thought I'd meet a comrade from my previous life in a place like this!" the mysterious voice says incredulously.

"I would like you to refrain from unleashing your powers until my friends have departed from this place!" Ashley says.

"Very well," the other voice says, a little haughty. "I would also prefer to avoid exerting my powers meaninglessly."

"And one more thing!" Ashley says. "This friend of mine is a newcomer in this land! May I entreat you to protect her from harm whenever I am absent?"

The mysterious voice sighs. "I cannot ignore a request from a kindred spirit. I will do what I can."

"Thanks a bunch!" Ashley says, dropping the melodramatic tone and making that peace sign again. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we gotta go buy her uniform! I hope you end up in the same class!"

"Um… miss vengeful spirit…? Good-bye!" Riko says hesitantly. "Please don't curse me…"

As we all turn and head back, Ashley reassures her.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, Riko-chan!"

"Really!?"

"Yeah!" Ashley says, yet again with the peace sign.

"Yeah, I second Ashley-nee," Inui says. "That's no vengeful spirit, just another girl, probably around my age."

"You might understand once you get to the eighth grade," Ashley suggests with a giggle.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Inui says. "I mean, I'm not like that, am I?"

"Hmm… well, you do have a point, Inui-chan!" Ashley says, giggling a bit more.

Suddenly Ashley goes serious for a moment.

"Well… the day might come when I compete with her for power… but until then, I'm sure she'll be a great friend!"

Halfway through that, she does that peace sign again. I guess it's something of a trademark for her… I don't think I've done it even once myself.

"So, Ashley-nee, it's been forever," Inui says. "Where've you been?"

"Oh, I've been super-busy!" Ashley says. "You wouldn't believe the stuff I've been up to in this little head of mine! I suppose you could say I've been doing research, but… it's really not ready to share yet. Don't you worry, I'll tell you when I'm ready!"

"Of course," Inui says. "And what prompted you to come out now of all times?"

"What? Chelsea requested my presence, so I couldn't refuse!" Ashley says. "Besides, I got a chance to meet Rui-chan in person, so… ahh, wait, I guess you can't quite call that in person, huh? But still, it might've been short and sweet, but I had a blast roleplaying with her!"

"Ehh? That was all acting!?" Riko gasps.

"You didn't realize, Rii-chan?" Inui says.

"N-no… I really thought we were in trouble there…"

"Sorry, sorry!" Ashley says. "I didn't wanna ruin the mood by explaining, but I suppose I could've at least shot you a telepath, huh? My bad!"

"Also, um, Ashley-nee… you seem kind of… different," Riko says.

"Oh, right!" Ashley gasps. "You haven't met me yet in this timeline!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Riko says.

"Well, y'see, I'm the real Ashley Taylor," Ashley explains. "The one you've known all this time is someone else who's been borrowing my body, so to speak. Well… it wasn't by choice on either of our parts, but we've gotten used to the arrangement."

"Huh? So it's like you have two personalities?" RIko asks.

"Got it in one!" Ashley says. "Well now… which way, Inui-chan?"

Inui checks the address she was given and enters it into her phone, then points the way.

"This way," she says. "It's not far."

"Perfect!" Ashley says. "I can't wait to see how you look in a Kosho uniform!"

"You're really that excited?" Inui asks. "It's just a uniform…"

"Why shouldn't I be excited?" Ashley asks. "One of my best friends in Japan is taking a big step! It's a moment worth celebrating!"

«Though I wish you didn't have to rely on the Wings of the Magius to get away from your dad,» she adds telepathically.

"W-well… if you put it that way…" Inui says.

"Um, do you remember the first time I met Ashley-nee?" Riko asks. "Am I your friend too?"

"Don't be silly, Riko-chan," Ashley says. "Of course I'm your friend! And Chelsea and I totally share memories. That's how I knew that was Rui-chan back there, after all."

"Oh… is that so… um, then when you're… the other you… should I call you Chelsea-nee instead?"

Ashley shakes her head. "Nah, I only use that name because the alternative is to sound like I'm talking about myself in the third person," she says. "Chelsea's mostly thrown away her original name. You can just call us both Ashley. If you need to distinguish us, you can call her, uhh… 'serious Ashley' maybe? Or whatever other descriptor you can come up with."

"Okay… got it," Riko says.

We arrive at the clothing shop that sells the Kosho uniforms, and Inui heads inside to get fitted. It goes quite fast, and before I know it, she's changed into her new Kosho uniform and does a twirl for us to see. Since Riko has her dog with her, Inui actually comes outside where we're waiting for her to show it off.

"Nice! It looks great on you!" Ashley says.

"You really think so?" Inui says. "If I'm honest, I kinda like the Mitakihara uniform better…"

"Well, they're both cute," Ashley says. "So whatever floats your boat, I guess? I kinda wish the tie were more interesting though… I'd make it, oh, pink instead of black."

She and Riko both giggle a bit.

"That's just weird!" Inui says.

Inui tells the people at the shop that Mifuyu should have already sent the money in for her uniform, and they check and find that it is indeed already paid for, so they pack up her old uniform and the new sports clothes and we go on our way.

"So, now what?" Inui says. "Do you have some other friends we could visit?"

"Hmm… there's Karin-chan," Ashley says. "She's in the manga club so there's even a chance she'd still be at school… why don't we try it? Let's all go to Sakae General School!"

"Huh, that's quite far," Riko says. "I don't even know where it is…"

Inui quickly looks it up on the maps app on her phone.

"It's not all that far by train," Inui says. "And both schools are pretty close to a station, too. I'm all for it."

So we hop on a train heading west to Sakae General School. At some point on the train ride, Ashley sinks back down within me, giving me control back. Once we're off the train, we make our way to the school. This one is quite a bit more impressive than Kosho, though it still doesn't quite compare to Mitakihara Middle School. We head onto the school grounds, which seem to be deserted except for a single girl with pink hair laying on a bench, complete with a pillow. We do hear some yells from behind the school, though. Some sports club is probably practicing.

"I don't suppose that's her?" Inui asks.

"No, definitely not," Riko says. "She seems a bit old to be one of Karin's classmates, but maybe she knows if Karin-chan is still here?"

"I kinda doubt she knows," I say. "But if you wanna ask her…"

Inui walks up to the girl and leans down to examine her.

"I can't believe it… she's totally fast asleep," Inui says.

She gingerly pokes at the girl's face, causing her to squirm a bit. A few moments later, the girl opens her eyes and half sits up, rubbing at them.

"…huh…? Is it time to… go home already?" she murmurs.

"School ended a long time ago!" Riko says.

"Huh… I never noticed," the girl says.

"So um… who might you be?" Inui asks. "I'm Itsumi Inui, nice to meet you."

"Itsumi… Inui… is it?" the girl says. "My name… Yura Hotaru. I wish you'd just let me sleep…"

"Do you know where Karin-chan is?" Riko asks.

"Ahh… Karin… Misono Karin… is it?" Hotaru says.

"Yeah, that's the one!"

Hotaru just shrugs. "Haven't seen her since… Wednesday? I think? Maybe she's… in the art room?"

"How do we get to the art room?" Inui asks.

Hotaru gives rather vague-sounding directions, but I think it's just barely enough for us to find our way there.

"Um, Miss Hotaru, could I ask you a favour?" Riko asks.

"Depends…"

"Could you watch Mameji for just a few minutes?"

"Hmm… that doesn't seem… too difficult," Hotaru says, nodding.

So Riko passes her the leash, and she slips it over her wrist and pushes it up to the elbow, then lays down and grips her pillow, instantly falling asleep again. Riko kneels down to pet Mameji.

"We'll be right back, Mameji," she says. "You be a good boy until then, okay?"

The dog barks a couple of times, and then we head for the school, venturing inside and attempting to follow Hotaru's directions. Although we make a couple of wrong turns, there can be no mistake when we finally arrive at the art room, because it's filled with Alina's paintings and sculptures, those of them that she didn't destroy for that exhibit of hers. And Karin is there too, sitting at one of the desks and drawing fiercely. I knock on the door, and she glances up for a moment but keeps drawing. About thirty seconds later, she jumps up and slams the door open.

"I know, I know, I just need another ten… huh!? Ashley-chan and Riko-chan!? What are you doing here?"

"Sorry to spring this on you so suddenly," I say. "I was in the area and thought I'd drop by. Miss Yura gave us directions to this room."

"Eh? Where's she sleeping this time?" Karin asks.

"Outside on a bench."

"Geez, she's lucky it didn't decide to rain today," Karin grumbles. "So, um… are you… staying awhile?"

"I'm staying in Kamihama for the weekend," I say. "I have a few things to do, but I'm sure we can spend some time together both tomorrow and Sunday, if you want."

"Absolutely!" Karin says. "I only wish Alina were here today so I could introduce you, but she left early for once…"

«Eh!?» Inui contacts me privately. «Isn't that one of the Magius? Then… is this girl a member?»

«Yes and no,» I reply. «Karin has no idea what Alina is doing in her spare time.»

"Well, that's alright," I say. "By the way, I heard she had an exhibition at the art museum… maybe we could go see it…?"

Karin nods. "Oh yeah, I haven't been yet," she says. "That's a great idea! Maybe she'll be there too… although I doubt it… um, anyway, just give me another ten minutes to finish the page I'm working on, alright? Just ten minutes! Oh, but the museum will probably be closed by the time we get there…"

"We can go tomorrow then, right?"

"Yeah… then tonight, let's have dinner!"

"Sounds good," I say. "Mind if we wait outside with Miss Yura?"

"Sure," Karin says. "I really won't be long, promise!"

"Then I'll hold you to that!" I say.

We all head back out and settle down on a bench near the one Hotaru is snoozing on. True to her word, Karin emerges about ten minutes later, beaming at us for a moment before turning to gently shake Hotaru. Okay, so it's a little over ten minutes, maybe more like twelve, but close enough.

"Awawa!?" Hotaru gasps, her eyes snapping open. "Is it… morning already!?"

"Not morning," Karin says. "Dinnertime!"

"Oh… not really hungry," Hotaru says.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Karin says. "I bet you haven't eaten since lunch, right?"

"What? Was lunch really that long ago…?" Hotaru wonders.

"Just come on," Karin says. She glances at us. "Um… if that's okay…?"

"Of course it's fine," I say. "It's always nice to meet a new magical girl."

Karin blinks. "Huh? What!?" She looks at Hotaru. "Y-you're a magical girl!?"

"Oh… I suppose that happened," Hotaru says. "Yes… I am…"

"…I'm more surprised you didn't realize, Karin-chan," I say.

"W-well… it's not like I see her every day, like Alina-sempai," Karin mutters. "Anyway, just come with us, Yura-chan!"

Karin seizes Hotaru's hand and drags her up. From there onwards, the girl apparently decides to come willingly… either that or she just deems resistance as not worth her while. As the rest of us rise from the bench and join them in heading out from the school grounds, Hotaru plods along beside us in silence, looking constantly on the verge of dozing off yet somehow never quite getting there. Riko takes Mameji's leash back from her as well.

"So, where should we eat?" Karin asks brightly.

"Um… do you know any good places?" I ask.

"Hmm… there's always Banbanzai," Karin says. "Or we could try Walnut's…"

"Oh, do they do dinner?" I ask.

"I think so…?" Karin says.

"And Manaka-chan would be totally fine with Mameji too!" Riko adds excitedly. "So I wouldn't have to take him home first!"

"Well, in that case, I guess it's decided?" I say. "I'm not really in the mood for Chinese, anyway…"

"Oh, so Banbanzai is Chinese?" Inui says. "I mean, it does sound like it might be but…"

"Yes, it is," Karin says. "The most average food around."

"…is that supposed to be a compliment?" Inui asks.

"It's so average it's awesome!" Karin says.

"Um… I don't really get it…"

We catch a train north towards Walnut's and step into the restaurant. There's only one other customer at the moment, the blonde Mizuna student who Iroha spotted at the arcade playing pachinko. She's still in uniform and halfway through a rice omelette, although she seems to be spacing out a bit.

"Welcome!" Manaka says, appearing from the back. "Oh, Riko-chan! Haven't seen you for awhile… and… I think I've seen almost all of you somewhere before…"

"Well… last time I was here was with the same people," Karin says. "Oh… minus Yura-chan and Inui-chan, though."

Hotaru blinks at her.

"Huh? What about me?"

"Never mind, Yura-chan…"

"So, let me show you to a table," Manaka says.

She leads us to a table seemingly at random, and we all settle down. Riko carefully fixes Mameji's leash to the table's leg.

"So, what can I get you?" Manaka asks. "Something to drink for starters?"

"Could I get a milk tea?" I ask.

"Um… orange juice!" Riko says.

"Coffee," Hotaru says. "Black… with three lumps… otherwise… I might fall asleep on the food…"

"Is… is she okay?" Manaka asks.

"I'm fine," Hotaru mutters. "This is normal… for me…"

"Um, I'll have… uhhh… ginger ale," Karin says.

"I guess I'll have… green tea," Inui says.

"Okay, I'll get your drinks ready while you decide what to eat!"

Manaka whisks away into the back, and Karin tries her hardest to get Hotaru to select from the menu. After nodding off twice, Hotaru snaps awake and randomly stabs her finger at the menu.

"I'll have… that…"

"Ah… Greek… pasta?" Karin reads off the menu. "The heck is that…? Cold spaghetti with olives, feta cheese, artichokes, tomatoes, and cucumbers, tossed in olive oil… really? Cold pasta?"

"It's pretty common actually," I say. "Usually back home we'd call it a 'pasta salad'."

"It's fine," Hotaru mutters. "Everything here… is good… so I just pick… whatever…"

"Oh… have you been here before, Yura-chan?" Karin asks.

"Well… yes… now and then…"

Manaka returns with the drinks, distributing them among us.

"So! Have you decided?" she asks.

"Before that," I say. "I have a question. Most of your customers are magical girls, right?"

As I was hoping, my question apparently attracts the attention of that other girl. She looks up from her omelette and blinks, staring at us.

"Well… I've gotta admit you're right," Manaka says, deflating a little. "Saying 'most' is pushing it, but probably around half of them? Still… that only means they're the only ones who come all the way here! Our food is in great demand all over the city!"

"Well, it's really good, so that's understandable," I say. "Okay… I think I'll have some soup… maybe this curry one?"

"Got it," Manaka says.

"I want a rice omelette!" Riko says.

"I'll have the napolitan," Inui says.

Karin glances at Hotaru, who seems to have nodded off again, and sighs.

"Yura-chan asked for the Greek pasta," she says. "As for me, I'll have a rice omelette."

"Alright," Manaka says. "The food'll be ready in no time! Just you wait!"

And with that, she disappears back into the kitchen. I glance at the blonde girl in the corner, but she's gone back to her food, having apparently lost interest in us already. I take a sip of my tea while I await the food. After a couple of minutes, Hotaru suddenly jerks awake, looking around wildly for a moment, before spotting her coffee and gulping it down all at once.

"W-whoa!?" Karin gasps. "Be careful, Yura-chan! Isn't it hot!?"

"No… it's not hot at all," Hotaru says, already noticeably less sleepy. "Or rather… I just don't notice the heat."

Karin blinks. "Eh? You almost sound like you're wide awake!?"

"Isn't that what you wanted, Miss Karin?" Hotaru asks.

"W-well yes but… I've just never seen you like that before…"

Hotaru shrugs. "I don't really have a reason to drink coffee at school…"

"So school isn't important enough to be awake…?"

Inui giggles.

"The two of you must be very close," she says.

"Eh… not really," Hotaru says. "My only real friend at school is Akari-chan… though there's a couple others I'm close to…"

"Ouch…" Karin says. "That hurts, Yura-chan… I thought we were friends…"

"Well… it's not like we're strangers," Hotaru says.

"So um… how long have you been a magical girl, Yura-chan?" Karin asks.

"Uhh… how long was it?" Hotaru muses. "Was it one week? Or maybe two? Possibly three? Uhh… yeah… I can't remember. In fact, I don't even remember becoming a magical girl…"

Karin blinks. "H-how is that possible!?"

"I must've been half asleep," Hotaru says. "I don't even know what I wished for… not that it matters… as long as I get to sleep lots, it's all good."

"That's terrible though," Inui says indignantly. "Making a contract with someone who isn't even fully conscious… I didn't know Kyuubey would stoop so low!"

"Like I said, I don't really care," Hotaru says.

"Well… I care," Inui mutters.

"Um… I only just noticed now," Riko says. "But there's another customer… is it alright to be talking about magical girl stuff so openly?"

"There's no problem," I say. "That girl is a magical girl too, after all."

The girl in question suddenly gasps and shoots to her feet, planting both hands palm down on the table, making it very obvious that she's wearing a ring.

"H-h-how did you know!?" she exclaims.

"You see?" I say. "Look closely – she's wearing a ring just like the rest of us."

The girl looks at the ring on her hand and sinks back into her chair.

"Ah… I almost forgot that was there…"

"Um," Riko says. "I'm Chiaki Riko! Nice to meet you!"

"Huh!? We're doing introductions now!?" the girl gasps. "W-well… it's not like I mind though… I'm Nanase Yukika."

"Well… I guess it won't hurt," Karin shrugs. "I'm Misono Karin, and this sleepyhead is Yura Hotaru."

"Hiii there!" Hotaru says. "You can call me miss sleepyhead if you want!"

"Um, no, I think I shall pass on that," Yukika says.

"I'm Ashley Taylor," I say. "Please use my given name, as it's what I'm most used to."

"And I'm Itsumi Inui!"

At that moment, Manaka emerges from the kitchen, blinking at us as she bears down several dishes. She sets down plates in front of Hotaru, Riko, and Karin.

"Oh… you're chatting with Nanase-sempai now?" Manaka says.

Without waiting for an answer, she disappears once more, returning moments later with the food for Inui and me, as well as some meat for Mameji which she sets on the floor. The dog barks, apparently pleased at the attention, and starts eating.

"I'm a little surprised," she continues. "She has such a faint presence, most people just don't notice her there…"

"H-hey!" Yukika protests. "I get that I have a faint presence, but it sounds bad when someone else says it!"

"Sorry, sorry," Manaka says. "I'll never understand how you ended up on the student council with such a faint presence…"

"I don't understand it either," Yukika says. "Even if I'm just the lowliest member…"

"Still… your presence might be faint, but it's positively blaring compared to Futaba-chan…"

Manaka suddenly lets out a sigh, and I blink. That name… yes, it's the name of a magical girl in Kazamino, but I doubt that's who she's thinking of.

"Um… is something wrong, Miss Kurumi?" I ask.

"Oh, it's just… Futaba-chan usually shows up like clockwork for my special bentos," Manaka says. "But she didn't come today… I realize it sounds silly to be worried after just one day, but she's come every day like clockwork ever since I first met her in January, so it's a bit concerning…"

"I see," I nod. "So you last saw her yesterday?"

Manaka shakes her head. "I sell my bentos at St Lilliana's on Thursdays… so I last saw her on Wednesday. I'm sure she'll show up on Monday like nothing happened… I'm probably overthinking it."

Yukika nods, apparently agreeing.

"Yeah, I don't know who this girl is, but there's no reason to worry about a single missed lunch date," she says. "If she's missing on Monday, then you could start to worry…"

"I agree," Inui says. "She was probably just too busy today. Or maybe she ate with a friend or something."

"That would be nice," Manaka muses. "I mean, she didn't seem to have any friends, so if she actually made a friend…" She frowns slightly. "But that just doesn't seem likely… I know pretty much all the magical girls at Mizuna Girls' School, so I think I would've heard something if they made friends with her."

"Did you know Sarasa Hanna?" I ask.

Manaka tilts her head. "Who?"

"Never mind…"

"Why does that name sound vaguely familiar…?" Yukika muses.

"Why would her friend need to be a magical girl?" Inui asks.

"Well… apparently normal people can't see her," Manaka says.

"Ehh!?" Inui gasps. "Is that her unique magic…?"

"I guess so," Manaka says.

"Still… it could also be someone from another school, right?" Inui says.

"Yeah, it could be," Manaka admits. "Anyway, I've kept you from your food for long enough! Please dig in!"

Although she says that, both Hotaru and Riko are over half finished already. Yukika responds to the suggestion by quickly finishing off her omelette, so Manaka heads over to claim her empty plate, and everyone else who'd been paying more attention to the conversation, including me, quickly gets down to eating.

"Will you be having dessert today, Nanase-sempai?" Manaka asks.

"Oh yes, that would be lovely!" Yukika says. "Perhaps a slice of cheesecake…?"

"What flavour?" Manaka asks. "Today I have chocolate, blueberry, and banana."

"Banana sounds nice," Yukika says.

"Then I'll go fetch that for you," Manaka says.

She heads into the back with the empty plate and returns a couple of minutes later with a plate of cheesecake, with chocolate drizzle added on top for decoration. Yukika begins to eat it slowly, savouring every bite.

By the time I'm finished my soup, Yukika has finished her cake, and Manaka takes over the credit card machine so she can pay… which might just be the first time I've actually seen someone use a credit card since coming to Japan. Then she rises, coming over to our table. She bows a little.

"It was lovely to meet all of you," she says.

"Yeah, you too," I say.

"Until we meet again," she says.

And with that, she leaves the restaurant. Manaka, seeing that most of us are finished, comes over to our table.

"Would you like dessert as well?" she asks.

"Not me, I think I'm full," I say.

"Chocolate cheesecake!" Riko says.

"Maybe some apple pie if you have it…?" Karin ventures.

"Hmm… I think I'm good," Inui says.

"Too sleepy for dessert," Hotaru mutters.

The effect of the coffee has apparently already worn off, and also Hotaru is the only one who hasn't yet finished eating, although she's almost there.

"Understood," Manaka says.

She heads into the back room. A couple of minutes later she emerges with two plates – a slice of chocolate cheesecake with some sort of red drizzle, and a slice of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Riko samples the drizzle first.

"Oh… it's raspberry… I think?"

"That's right," Manaka says. "So… how will you be paying… cash, I assume, but are you splitting the bill or…?"

"Um… provided I have enough on me, I'd like to make this my treat today," I say.

"Eh? Are you sure?" Karin asks. "We can totally split it…"

"We could, but I don't want to ask Riko-chan to spend her allowance on dinner…"

"You do have a point," Karin admits.

Manaka shows me the receipt, and my eyes go to the bottom, where the total is written. It seems to be within my means, so I nod. Ashley's family is actually mildly wealthy, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised I have enough…

"Yeah, I'll just pay for everyone," I say.

I dig out some cash and hand it over, then settle down to wait for Karin, Riko, and Hotaru to finish eating. Once everything's finished, Manaka takes our plates, and we head outside.

"That was delicious," Karin says. "But this was such a surprise, Ashley-chan… you just came out of nowhere."

"Sorry about that," I say. "I've been busy lately, but Inui-chan had something to do in town so I was accompanying her."

Karin looks at Inui and nods.

"Let me guess… that's a brand-new school uniform?"

"You got it!" Inui says. "I'll be starting school there on Monday."

"But Ashley-chan's not transferring, right?"

I shake my head. "No, I'm not," I say. "My plans basically remain the same… I'll stay at Mitakihara High School until summer break, spend some time here over the summer, and then return to California for my final year of high school."

"Then we can go to the beach together later," Karin suggests.

"Yes, that would be a possibility."

We head back to the station and catch a train south, splitting up when we disembark to transfer to an east-west line. Karin and Hotaru head west, while the rest of us head east. Then we drop Riko and Mameji off at Chiaki's before heading back towards Fendt Hope. We don our feather robes and step inside.

When we enter the building, we find Mifuyu standing there in the lobby with several black feathers. Besides that little group, the lobby seems to be abandoned. Mifuyu spots us and beckons, so we approach her.

"Welcome back," she says. "I've selected the rest of your team members."

"Okay, cool," I say.

One of the black feathers gasps.

"Ehhh!? I-is t-t-that…!?"

That voice… huh? Is it…

"Oh, it's Tamu-chan," Inui says. "I never thought we'd see you here…"

"Ah, so you already knew each other," Mifuyu says. "I thought that might be a possibility, since you both came from Mitakihara… but that helps. She just joined a couple of days ago with two friends, who I'm also assigning to your team."

So… Yoshida Tamura, Ayano Hikari, and Masumi Chihana have all joined the Wings of the Magius and will be on my rumour-guarding team? I totally wasn't expecting this…

"I'll leave it up to them whether they want to introduce themselves," Mifuyu continues. "Besides that, I'm adding two other girls to your team, for a total of eight."

Including myself and Mifuyu, there are eight people in this little group, so I guess that's everyone… no, one's missing? Oh… I think the missing one is Kirika. I look around at the assembled black feathers. So, setting aside myself, Mifuyu, and Inui… there are two with green hair peeking out from beneath their hoods, and I think one of them is Tomomi. Tamura is the one with black hair peeking out, and there's a nervous-looking girl with light brown hair and another with a hint of red hair. I'm not sure if she's the same red-haired black feather I saw on the day we joined… but probably not?

"So, uhh… I guess I'm the leader?" I say. "Um… so, do you want to do introductions? Or would you prefer to remain anonymous? If that's the case, we could come up with nicknames instead…?"

"I don't really mind," Tomomi speaks up. "I'm Tomomi Thrussel… you can all call me Tomomi-chan if you want. I came here all the way from Yukuni."

"I'm Itsumi Inui, but feel free to call me whatever you want," Inui says. "I'm from Mitakihara."

"Um, well… my name is… Hifumi Chiyoko… I'm from Futatsugi… I just joined today…"

That's the other unknown one, then. So she's the one who'll later take back news of what's been happening here in Kamihama to those who would form the Promised Blood… unless there's another magical girl from Futatsugi in the Wings of the Magius…

"M-m-m-my n-name is… Y-yoshida… T-t-tamura…"

It seems like Tomomi and Inui introducing themselves has basically created a chain reaction…?

"Um… Ayano Hikari…"

"Masumi Chihana… the three of us are from Mitakihara."

So I was right about those two… and that makes everyone.

"Any idea where Miss Kirika is?" I ask.

"I haven't seen her today," Tomomi says. "I think she missed the assembly, too…"

"I guess I'll send her an email, then," I say. "Oh, and… as for me, you can call me Lita."

Inui looks at me in surprise, so I give her a telepathic explanation.

«I don't want my name to spread to Futatsugi… so please call me Lita or Lita-chan in front of this team. It's a nickname that Kisaki Emiri came up with for me in another timeline. The you of that timeline was also present then, actually.»

«I see… alright, Ashley-nee, I'll do as you say.»

I take out my phone and compose an email to Kirika.

"Hey, just wondering where you are? We got an assignment from the Magius, and you're on my team, so you should stop by the HQ."

I then briefly check up on her with my clairvoyance… and find her at Oriko's house. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by that though. She's completely devoted to Oriko, after all.

"So, um… about how much time would you say we need to spend guarding the rumour, Miss Mifuyu?" I ask.

"That's a difficult question," Mifuyu says. "Obviously we can't expect you to watch it at all times… I would say, just do what you can. In fact, you don't all have to watch it at all times. You could take shifts, and call in the others if something happens."

I nod. "Okay… that makes sense," I say. "In that case… how about we assign two-person shifts throughout the week?"

"I have other things to do," Mifuyu says. "So I'll leave you to discuss this amongst yourselves, but… two other things. Miss Kagura's combat training should still last another hour, so I recommend you all attend at least a little to get an idea of what's required."

I nod. "Got it… I'll make this quick."

"And lastly, while you're not required to fight witches, if you do get any grief seeds, it would be great if you would donate them to the Magius," Mifuyu says. "Of course, if you need one because you're leaving town for a bit, that's a different story, but other than that, we need all the grief seeds we can get for liberation."

"I'll keep that in mind," I say.

Mifuyu gets up and leaves the lobby, and I continue my suggestions.

"Okay, so… there are seven days in a week, and seven black feathers in the team," I say. "So… I'll assign each of you a day. Or… no, I think it's not enough to have just one watcher each day, so I'll assign everyone two days. Let's see… Tomomi-chan can have Monday and Wednesday… Miss Hifumi can have Tuesday and Thursday… Inui-chan can have Wednesday and Friday… Miss Yoshida can have Thursday and Saturday… Miss Ayano can have Friday and Sunday… Miss Masumi can have Monday and Saturday… and Kirika can have Tuesday and Sunday. Kirika's not here, so I'll let her know later. Your duties should be to determine if anyone seems to be, well… poking around, I guess? So, if you see anyone like that, you need to call in reinforcements. And the other reason there's two each day is so that at least one can be watching at all times, as much as possible. There's bound to be times when something comes up that you just can't get out of."

The black feathers all nod as I pull up the notes app on my phone to record the choices.

"On weekdays, you should keep watch until around dinnertime, I'd say, so… roughly seven or eight o'clock? We'll revise the schedule if guarding a rumour that only comes out at night, but…"

I pause to extract the info on the Stardust Time Viewer and look it over.

"Yeah, as I thought, this one isn't constrained by time of day – it's just a specific location. For weekends, we'll have additional shifts. The girls I just designated take the evening shift. For morning and day shifts, we'll work things out each week based on who's available when, so… who can take the morning shift tomorrow? Say from around six or seven until lunchtime."

There's a show of hands, and I pick two of them. We continue like that, picking two for tomorrow afternoon, two for Sunday morning, and two for Sunday afternoon. I also let them know where in town the guard duty needs to take place. Then one of the black feathers raises her hand. It's Chiyoko.

"What about you, Lita?" she asks. "Aren't you supposed to help out too?"

"Of course," I say. "I have other things to do as well, but I'll help out where I can. For this weekend…"

I ponder what I have to do this weekend… surprisingly little? The only thing I really want to do is to check out that shrine on the roof, plus spending some time with Riko and Karin.

"I'll join you for probably four out of the six shifts," I say. "I'll be skipping out on the Sunday evening shift to get back to Mitakihara at a decent hour, and there's something I want to do tomorrow morning, but other than that I don't really have any plans. Unless something unexpected comes up, that is."

"So you won't be there on weekdays?" she asks.

"Most weekdays I won't," I say. "Unless you call for me, or I have another reason to be in town."

"Do you truly believe in the cause of liberation?" she asks.

"I firmly believe that magical girls should be freed from the curse of becoming witches," I say. "Any more questions?"

The black feathers look at each other, but there are no further questions forthcoming, so I decide it's time to move on.

"Okay, then… how about we head to the training grounds for a little bit?" I suggest.

---

After about half an hour of Kagura San's training, only Inui, Chiyoko, and I have gotten the hang of infusing our magic into chains in order to attack. Still, the others aren't completely without progress, so I suggest that they continue to join the evening and weekend training sessions until they get the hang of it. Then we split up, Inui heading to our room while I seek out the offices of the Magius. They're on the top floor and clearly labelled, so it's not hard. I knock on Nemu's door. After a moment, a voice invites me in, so I push the door open and step inside.

Nemu is sitting at a desk, apparently writing something. She looks up as I enter.

"Yes? What is it?" she asks.

"I wanted to ask you about a specific rumour, Miss Nemu," I say.

"Oh? Which one is it?"

"The Rumour of the Witch Induction Device."

Nemu nods. "That's not one of the ones being spread, however. It does not need guardians. What is your interest in it?"

I take out the cube containing Virginia, which I've been holding onto ever since accidentally hatching her grief seed in the chapel. Nemu blinks in surprise.

"Miss Alina was kind enough to capture this witch after I accidentally hatched a grief seed down in the chapel," I say. "And I was wondering if there might be a way to make use of this mistake to turn the one grief seed into two grief seeds. She recommended that rumour and suggested I ask you for details."

"I see," Nemu says. "The Witch Induction Device was indeed intended as a tool for raising witches, so Alina set you on the right track. Although normally we wouldn't allow members to use it for their own personal benefit… this is a good opportunity to test that it works as expected, so I will allow it just this once."

"Oh… you haven't actually tested it yet?" I ask.

"In fact, it's not quite finished," Nemu says. "I am still in the process of finalizing it. I will summon you when I am ready to test… most likely tomorrow, or Sunday at the latest. What is your room number?"

I tell her the number of the room I'm sharing with Inui, and she nods.

"If you're not there when I need you, I will ask Mifuyu to contact you," Nemu says. "You should endeavour to come as quickly as possible."

"Okay… thank you, Miss Nemu."

Then I join Inui in our room, and find her without her robe on and already in pyjamas, so I banish mine as well and quickly get changed.

"So um… who gets the top bunk?" I ask.

"Can't we just share the bottom bunk?" Inui says.

"Well… it's not that I mind sharing with you, but… these bunks are quite a bit smaller than the bed at the Hayashi house," I say. "Do you really think we can both fit?"

"I think so!" Inui says. "It might be a bit of a squeeze, but I think it'll work!"

"Well… I suppose we can try it at least once," I say. "But I reserve the right to switch to the top bunk from tomorrow onward if it proves to be too much of a squeeze."

"Okay, I guess that's fair," Inui says.

I take out my laptop to note down a few things, then get changed into my pyjamas and climb into bed with Inui. It's less of a squeeze than I thought it would be, but… will it be okay? I guess I'll find out…

---

Inui and I gaze up at the abandoned building of Mizuna Hotel, building three.

"There's really a shrine up there?" she asks.

"Apparently," I say. "Let's find a way to sneak inside…"

We circle the building, finding a loading bay at the back where one of the doors has been left ajar, its lock apparently destroyed. This was also how Iroha got inside. We push the door open and climb the twenty flights of stairs to the top, where we find the door to the roof similarly ajar since Iroha broke it down a few days ago. We step outside, and there it is, just a small shrine resting on the roof of the building. The basin that would normally contain water for washing up appears to be dried up, and apart from that, there is only the main shrine front and a tiny sanctuary built behind it. The two statues are very clearly fox statues, rather than the typical lion dogs, and the four-leaf clover emblem of the Tokime is visible on the shrine's roof. There is also a sign set off to the side, which appears to have writing on it.

"Huh, it's really here," Inui says. "And that symbol… isn't that the Tokime crest…?"

"Did you learn that from Professor Satomi's book? I don't remember seeing it in there though…"

Inui shakes her head. "No, it's in history books and stuff," she says.

"Hmm…"

I head for the sign and try to decipher the writing. It is in Japanese, but it's a little faded and uses some kanji that I don't know. I end up pulling out my phone to use as a dictionary.

"Huh… it seems to be saying this shrine is dedicated to Kuzunoha," I say. "Why would there be a shrine here dedicated to her? Even assuming she existed, she's from the Heian era, long before the Tokime existed…"

"That's a good question," Inui says. "I've never heard of anything to link the Tokime with Kuzunoha or Abe no Seimei either…"

"Although, I did note that Kazura no Youha is written with the same kanji as Kuzunoha," I say. "And I can't believe that's a coincidence."

"You have a point there," Inui says. "It doesn't seem like that could be a coincidence…"

At that moment, a third voice enters the conversation.

"Huh? There's other people here!?"

I spin to face the newcomer, who has just hopped over the fence bordering the rooftop. I blink in surprise. Did she fly, or…? Anyway, she has short black hair and is dressed in casual clothes. I'm not quite sure if she's someone I should know, but with a feat like that, I don't need to see her ring to know she's a magical girl.

"Uhh… why didn't you come in through the door?" I ask.

"Well, I didn't want to damage the place more than it already is," the girl says. "So I opened a window one floor down and jumped up… did you break the door down?"

"Oh… well… the lock was already broken when I arrived, so…"

"I see… I guess I'll use the door next time. So, what brings you to an old, abandoned place like this?"

"I saw it from the train and was intrigued," I say. "So I came to see for myself."

"That's all?" The girl shrugs. "Well, curiosity is a good enough reason, I suppose. By the way… you're both magical girls, right? I'm Natsu Ryoko, nice to meet you."

Oh! So she's the girl from… what was it called again… right, Jouan Temple! And she's also a branch member of the Tokime Clan, or will be once they go public.

"I'm Itsumi Inui! It's really nice to meet you!"

"And I'm Ashley Taylor," I say. "Do you come here often, Miss Natsu?"

Ryoko shakes her head.

"Not often, no. I've come here a few times before, though."

"So… what brings you to an old, abandoned place like this?" I ask.

She chuckles. "I suppose it's fair that I answer the same question as you," she says. "This place has a connection with my family history, you see."

Inui blinks. "Wait, are you implying you're… descended from the Tokime Clan!?"

Ryoko blinks. "Huh? How'd you guess?"

"Well, I recognized their crest," Inui says, pointing at it.

"Ah, interesting," Ryoko says. "These days I don't think there are a lot of people who'd recognize it, outside of academics… but yes, the Natsu family is apparently descended from a branch of the Tokime Clan… although, I only learned of this fairly recently. A couple of weeks ago, at most."

"Oh? How'd you find out?" I ask.

"Well… Gramps got a strange phone call," Ryoko says. "They claimed to be from the Tokime head family… which he apparently thought was extinct. From what I can tell based on the little he told me about it, they demanded he hand me over to them, but… he denied my existence, apparently. They didn't explicitly name me, just asked for his granddaughter or something like that."

"Were you already a magical girl at that point?"

"Yes, I've been a magical girl for several months," Ryoko says.

"They were probably looking for a girl who could make a contract," I say. "So even if he'd told them about you, they would've rejected you… though it's still probably better if the Mikoshiba doesn't know you exist…"

Ryoko blinks. "Huh? You seem like you know quite a lot about the Tokime Clan…?"

"Well… I know some things, at least. However… what I don't understand is why there would be a shrine here dedicated to Kuzunoha. Do you have any idea, Miss Natsu?"

"Oh, this shrine?" Ryoko says, nodding. "Well… all I can really tell you is the story I heard from Gramps. Is that okay?"

I nod. "Sure."

"So, as the legend goes, when the Tokime Clan came here to this island, they were accompanied by two others who were not of the clan," Ryoko explains. "One was an alchemist, whose name seems to have been forgotten, and the other was a fox spirit, Kuzunoha, who was mourning the death of her daughter, Seimei. It was the two of them that helped the Tokime settle down in this new land, and while the alchemist is said to have grown old and died, the legend states that Kuzunoha has watched over the Tokime ever since."

"And that's the entire legend?"

"Pretty much," Ryoko says. "If you listened to Gramps tell it, it'd be a little longer, but… I think that covers all the actual content."

"So basically, according to this legend… Kuzunoha is still alive, is that correct?"

"Well… according to the legend, yes," Ryoko agrees.

"But it claims the alchemist died… how the heck did that happen…?"

"What do you mean?" Ryoko says. "I mean, she was human, right? Of course she'd die…"

"She didn't die though," I say. "That's the thing… she's still alive right now. I've spoken to her. That's part of how I know so much about the Tokime."

Ryoko blinks. "Huh!? Are you serious? She'd have to be hundreds of years old!"

"Around seven hundred, I think," I nod. "Yeah. She's that old. And she's a magical girl."

"Oh, I get it," Inui says. "We're talking about Pernelle, right?"

"Yes, sorry Inui-chan, I suppose I should've mentioned her name from the start."

"Well… all I can tell you is what I've heard from Gramps," Ryoko says. "Sorry."

"Yeah… perhaps I'll ask Pernelle about Kuzunoha when I next see her," I say. "I'm sure she can tell me more."

Come to think of it, I think she even mentioned Kuzunoha last time, and I just missed the significance of it.

"Um, did I mishear you or um… does this story from your granddad claim that Abe no Seime was a woman?" Inui asks.

"Well, I'm not quite sure," Ryoko says. "But it does sound that way, doesn't it…? It'd be weird if she had a son and a daughter with the same name."

"That's quite an understatement," I say.

"Say, um… this Pernelle, is she living somewhere close by?" Ryoko asks. "Because, I'll admit, I've been a little curious about the Tokime ever since Gramps told me about them, so…"

"She's currently staying in Asunaro," I say. "That said, she hasn't been involved with the Tokime for centuries, so she won't be able to share anything up-to-date about them."

Ryoko nods. "Yeah… that's fine," she says. "Thanks."

She steps over to the shrine and transforms, slapping her hands together to pray. Her uniform resembles a cross between traditional Japanese clothing and Western clothing – like a knee-length kimono with petticoats. Her right leg is bare, but her left leg is covered in a black stocking, and she wears black boots with red soles. Her soul gem is like a flame pinned in her hair, with a similarly flame-like ribbon attached. She also wears a black scarf.

After a minute or so of praying, she powers down and turns to us with a smile.

"Well… I've done what I came here for, so… I'll be on my way. Seeya."

And just like that, without waiting for any further response, she heads through the door and vanishes into the depths of the building. We head down as well. After all, we still have an outing scheduled with Karin and Riko at the art museum.

---

April ninth. Iroha transforms and steps into the Mirror Mansion once again. Mitama isn't there this time.

"Well… here I am again," she says.

But before she can enter the labyrinth, someone else unexpectedly barges in behind her.

"Wait a minute!"

Iroha yelps and spins to face the entrance. The culprit is Tsuruno, also transformed.

"O-oh, Tsuruno-chan!" Iroha says. "You scared me…"

"Yep, yep!" Tsuruno says. "Iroha-chan, you were going to head into the Endless Mirrors, right?"

"Oh, w-well… yes."

"Then I will, too!" Tsuruno says. "Let's go in together!"

"Ah… sure…"

So they step into the labyrinth together.

"No letting your guard down, Iroha-chan!" Tsuruno says sternly. "Anything could happen in here! But don't worry! I'll be here to support you as your magical girl sempai! Leave it all to me! Yep, yep!"

"Why were you there, anyway, Tsuruno-chan?" Iroha asks.

"I come here a lot to train!" Tsuruno says. "I can fight against myself here. I make a pretty great sparring partner, if I do say so myself!"

Iroha chuckles. "That's so like you, Tsuruno-chan!"

Tsuruno giggles.

"But actually," she mutters under her breath. "Though I tried to make this seem like a chance meeting… there's another side to the story…"

While she mutters to herself, Iroha is looking around warily for familiars and not really paying attention.

"Yachiyo asked me a favour, after all," Tsuruno continues muttering. "She said, 'If you see Miss Tamaki in the Mirror Witch's Mansion, please go with her, as it could be dangerous for her to go alone.' Well, I can't blame her for worrying… even I struggle with this place sometimes. Yachiyo has a real knack for sensing what's going down… she said, 'Miss Tamaki might show up sometime soon', after all… and I'm no slouch either!"

At this point, Iroha seems to notice all that muttering and turns to look at Tsuruno.

"Did you see my acting back there?" Tsuruno mutters. "Super natural! Spiritually transcendent, even! The gods of acting descended to bless me! Who'd have thought that my acting skills were the mightiest too? How far can I go!?"

"Um, excuse me…?" Iroha says.

"W-wha!?" Tsuruno gasps.

"You've kinda been talking to yourself," Iroha says.

"Wha— um, r-really?" Tsuruno says. "What did you hear…?"

"Um… something about spiritual… something?" Iroha says.

"Oh yeah!" Tsuruno says. "Yeah, that's right! You have to strengthen your spiritual focus!"

"Spiritual… focus?"

"Yes! Concentrate really hard, like this!"

Tsuruno closes her eyes and scrunches her face up in concentration.

"Huh? Oh, um, okay…"

Iroha tries mimicking her, with limited success.

"Y-yeah!" Tsuruno says. "If you do that, uhh… you uhh… might hear a mysterious voice speaking to you!"

"A voice…?"

"So listen!" Tsuruno says. "Listen hard! Listen hard, and—"

Suddenly a peal of laughter breaks out from somewhere nearby.

"There!" Tsuruno says. "I definitely heard a voice! …huh?"

"You're right!" Iroha gasps. "I hear it too!"

"I wasn't expecting that!" Tsuruno gasps.

Iroha blinks. "Um… what do you mean?"

"Well!" Tsuruno says. "That's easy, it means, uh…?" Suddenly she blinks. "Wait a sec! I know that voice!"

At that moment, Kisaki Emiri pops out from around a corner.

"Wowzers!" she says. "Like, what a thrill that was! Never had such a scare! Totes awesome!"

"…Em… Em… Em… Emily-sensei!?" Tsuruno gasps.

"Hm?" Emiri says. "Hey, is that Tsurupi? Whoa! It's been forever! Like at least a couple weeks! How are ya?"

"Sensei! Long time no see!" Tsuruno says.

"Is she one of your… friends, Tsuruno-chan?" Iroha asks.

"Please, she's too amazing to be just a friend!" Tsuruno says. "She guides the lost to the answers they seek! She rocks!"

"Who, me?" Emiri gasps. "Oh please, no! I'm nothing special!"

Suddenly three duplicates of her appear from around the same corner.

"Yeah, no way!" the second one says.

"We're totally friends, Tsurupi!" the third one says.

"Like, didn't I say it before?" the fourth one says. "For real, don't call me 'sensei' or whatever!"

Tsuruno blinks.

"W-what the…!?"

"Is this…!?" Iroha gasps.

"This place is packed full of copies of Emily-sensei!" Tsuruno exclaims.

"Yeah!" the first Emiri says. "Outta nowhere it was like, poof! And we got, like, 'moulded' or something!"

"Then Mitama-cho was saying that, like, there'll be more of us!" Emiri the second explains.

"Ohh, d'you know Mitama-cho?" Emiri number three asks. "She's like the Coordinator or whatever…"

"She's super hot!" the fourth Emiri says. "She's… how to put it… super sexy!"

"And I'm not at all!" the first Emiri laments. "Totally not sexy!"

"So true!" the second Emiri says, giggling a bit.

"Where d'ya even get sexiness, anyway?" Emiri the third wonders.

"Maybe at a convenience store?" Emiri number four suggests.

"Of course not!" Emiri the first retorts.

The other three of her burst out laughing.

"So um…?" Iroha says.

"Oh, just call me Emily!" the first one says.

"J-just what is happening here!?" Tsuruno gasps. "Emily-sensei!"

"C'mooon!" the first Emiri protests. "Stop calling me that!"

"Meh, whatever!" Emiri number two says. "So I like…"

"…came here with two friends!" Emiri the third finishes.

"One wasn't like, a friend friend, but more like… a mentoring friend," the fourth Emiri explains.

"And so!" the first Emiri says. "She goes like, 'I'm totes curious about this place so I wanna visit!'"

"So, we grabbed another friend and came here," Emiri number two says. "Like, so far so good, right…?"

"Then we were strolling along, and… bam! Suddenly I'm all alone!" Emiri the third says.

"Totally lost!" the fourth Emiri says.

"I was all like, oh snap! What now…?" the first Emiri says. "Then I noticed another me!"

"Right in front of me!" Emiri the second says. "And there were a lot more, too!"

"We were like, ooh, cool!" the third Emiri says.

"And then Tsurupi showed up!" Emiri number four says. "That's what happened… I think!"

"You were able to make friends with your own copies!" Tsuruno says. "Amazing! In so many ways! You sure are on a completely different level, alright!"

"B-but," Iroha speaks up. "Well, um…?"

"Who's that, Tsurupi?" the first Emiri asks.

"Glad you asked!" Tsuruno says. "This here's my good friend, Tamaki Iroha!"

"Oh, y-yes!" Iroha says. "Nice to meet you!"

"Tamaki Iroha?" the first Emiri muses. "Iroha…?"

The other three also repeat her name in turn.

"What…?" Iroha asks. "Uhh… what's wrong?"

"How about Irorin?" the first Emiri suggests.

"Huh…?"

"No… how about Iiroh?" the second Emiri suggests.

"I kinda like Roiha," Emiri the third suggests.

"We could take the Tama from her surname and go with Tama-kichi," Emiri number four suggests.

"Um… I don't…" Iroha protests.

"Wait, Iroha!" Tsuruno says. "They're brainstorming!"

"Yeah, okay," the first Emiri says. "Now then…" She clears her throat. "It has been decided… we will go with… Roha!"

"Woohoo!" Tsuruno cheers.

"Roha… wait, is that supposed to be me!?" Iroha asks.

"We had a tough time deciding between that and Iro-Iro," Emiri number two says, dead serious.

"But the 'ha' gave it just that bit of edge!" Emiri the third explains.

"So, yeah, like, nice to meetcha, Roha!" the fourth Emiri says.

"O-okay," Iroha says.

"Yo! Roha!" Tsuruno says.

"N-not you too, Tsuruno-chan!" Iroha gasps.

"By the way, sensei, who was it that came along with you?" Tsuruno asks.

"Ah, I almost forgot!" the first Emiri gasps. "I better get to looking for them! Seeya later!"

She seems to be addressing her copies when she says that last bit.

"Oh right, okay!" Emiri the second says.

"Guess we'll get going, too!" the third Emiri says.

"We can wander around over there to start or whatever," Emiri number four says.

"Oui, oui! Au revoir!" the first Emiri says.

Iroha stares as the copies disperse and disappear from sight.

"W-what just happened…? They just left…!?"

"Even the way they leave is awesome!" Tsuruno gasps.

"H-how could they… w-why… th-they just scattered, l-like magic…" Iroha stutters.

"Hmm? But I'm the main event here," Emiri says. "Or, well, the main Emily, I guess! All those other versions, they're just copies of me, right? So I gotta be the one who tries to find my friends, y'know?"

"B-but that's… they…! D-did they all just agree to do that…?" Iroha wonders. "H-how!?"

"Huh? Well… um… we just, like, chatted it over and decided?" Emiri says.

"Ch-chatted it… over…!?" Iroha gasps.

"That's the power of multiple senseis!" Tsuruno exclaims. "They know each other like no-one else!"

"So, Roha!" Emiri says.

Iroha seems to be spaced out a bit and doesn't respond.

"Roha!" Emiri repeats.

"Oh, you're talking to me!" Iroha gasps. "Y-yes?"

"I gotta favour to ask you and Tsurupi," Emiri says.

"Your wish is our command!" Tsuruno exclaims. "Right, I-ro-ha?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Iroha says. "Wait what!? You changed my name again!"

"Aww, you mean it!?" Emiri exclaims. "Yaaay! Thank you! It'd be such a super massive help! What I wanted to ask you gals to do is to help me find them!"

"Oh… you mean your friend and your sempai, right?" Iroha says.

"Exactly!" Emiri says.

"Then, you'd better tell us their names!" Tsuruno says.

"Right, their names are… Myako-sempai and Rikki!"

"Hmm… and can you describe them for us?" Tsuruno asks.

"Let's see, Myako-sempai… I guess she's kinda like… maybe a squirrel monkey? Cause she's mega cuuute! And Rikki is all trim and polished. Like, I'm always telling her, 'You're totally it, girl!' She totally stands out! Like, in an amazing way!"

"Ugh, where could they have gone?" Tsuruno wonders.

"I don't think they're that far away," Emiri says.

"Huh… and what's your reasoning for that?" Tsuruno asks.

"Just a hunch?" Emiri says.

"Aha!" Tsuruno says.

As Tsuruno and Emiri chat, Iroha holds back a bit, looking nervous and more than a little suspicious, staring at Emiri. Eventually Emiri notices.

"You okay?" she asks. "You've been, like, staring right at me, all bug-eyed…"

"Oh, n-no!" Iroha says. "Nothing's wrong!"

"Oh wait, I got it…!" Emiri says. "Do I have a zit!? Did it just pop out while I wasn't looking? Where is it!?"

"Oh… no, there's not… not really," Iroha says.

"Tsurupi, Tsurupi!" Emiri exclaims. "One zit check, please!"

"Got it!" Tsuruno says.

She leans down to peer closely at Emiri's face, hemming and hawing a bit, then straightens up again.

"It's all good!" she says, making a circle with thumb and forefinger. "Looking as hot as ever!"

"Really!?" Emiri says. "Yaaay!"

They continue walking and chatting, taking out familiars now and then as they appear, until a new voice calls out from somewhere.

"Heeey!"

"Huh? What's that?" Iroha wonders. "Someone calling out to us…?"

"Ah!" Emiri gasps. "That might be her!"

"Really!?"

"Uh-huh! That voice… that's Myako-sempai's voice!"

Iroha looks in the direction of the voice and spots a girl there, with short green hair and cat-ear ornaments. She wears a dress with a green and white striped skirt bearing a diamond pattern down the centre and grey pads on the hips, both of which also have gold polka dots, and the skirt's hem is first white and then gold. The upper part of the dress is blue, with her flower-shaped soul gem placed just below her chest, and she also wears something that looks like a lab coat. She hefts a duffle bag that appears to be stuffed to the brim with test tubes, each of which contains a different colourful liquid. That's Miyako Hinano, one of the veterans of Kamihama.

"Heeey!" Hinano calls. "Emiri! There you are!"

"Myaaakooo-seeempaaaaaaaiii!" Emiri shouts, leaping forward to glomp her. "I'm sooo sorry! I lost track of you somehow…"

"No, you found us so it's fine," Hinano says.

Emiri steps back, looking a little confused. "Uh… yeah…"

"And who are all these people?" Hinano continues.

"Um… this here is Tsurupi," Emiri says. "And this here is Roha!"

"Tsurupi and Roha!" Hinano says. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Miyako Hinano!"

"H-hi," Iroha says, a little nervous.

"Right back at ya!" Tsuruno says. "Hey, you know, you're definitely… you really are like a squirrel monkey! You're sooo cute!"

"Uh oh…!" Emiri gasps.

But Hinano just chuckles. "Thank you!" she says.

"Ehh!" Emiri says. "Hey…"

"Something wrong, Emiri?" Hinano asks.

"You're supposed to say it!" Emiri exclaims. "Don't be lame!"

"Say what?" Tsuruno asks.

"Oh my god, she's totally… she's gotta be a copy!" Emiri exclaims.

"A copy…!?" Iroha gasps.

"No way!" Tsuruno gasps.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you talking about, Emiri?" Hinano protests.

"What did I say?" Emiri says. "Don't pretend like you're the real deal! Cause the only Myako-sempai is Myako-sempai!"

"Hang on a sec… what do you mean?" Hinano asks.

"Enough!" Emiri shouts. "Now you're, like, really making me mad! Where's the real Myako-sempai!?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Hinano protests. "How do I know you're not a fake yourself?"

"How dare you!?" Emiri protests. "E is for Emily and Emily is me!"

Tsuruno stares at the two of them, at a loss for words.

"Huh? What? Uhh…?"

Iroha on the other hand watches the altercation intently as Emiri starts to make cutesy growly noises.

"For real though, stop!" Emiri says.

Suddenly she attacks Hinano, whipping her spade-tipped tail around to try and smack her in the face. Hinano doesn't just let it happen, of course, but she's slow to dodge and still takes a blow to the shoulder.

"Woaaah!" Tsuruno gasps.

"Nope, no, with a side of no way, and a topping of no chance!" Emiri shouts.

"E-emily!" Iroha says. "I-isn't that going a bit far!?"

"I know her!" Emiri exclaims. "When I says she's like a squirrel monkey, she hits me! And! Annnnnd! Whenever I get lost, you get super mad! Cause you care about me too! So that's why I know… you're definitely not the real Myako-sempai!"

By the time she's finished that rant she looks to be on the verge of tears.

"Emily-sensei…?" Tsuruno says.

"Emily… you really care deeply about her…!"

"And? So what?" Hinano retorts.

She swings her duffel bag at Emiri, knocking her to the ground.

"Eeeek!" Emiri squeals.

"Oh no!" Iroha gasps. "Emily!"

"Whoa!" Tsuruno gasps. "Are you okay!?"

"Owwwwie!" Emiri squeals.

"All this meddling and fussing!" the fake Hinano exclaims. "So annoying! Drawing all these lines to separate us! You just be good little girls and let me use you in my experiments…!"

Hinano plucks out several test tubes from that bag of hers and starts to combine them together.

"So now her true colours are showing!" Tsuruno exclaims. "You can't fool Emily-sensei! Come on, Iroha-chan!"

"Y-yes…!"

Emiri picks herself off and dusts herself off, glaring daggers at the fake Hinano.

"I… am… super, super pissed off right now!" she screams.

She leaps at Hinano, smashing the test tubes out of the fake's hands without even noticing the blood as her hands are cut by the sharp glass, but when Hinano tries to punch her in the face, her form wobbles and disappears before coming back into focus behind the fake, bringing her tail up to smack Hinano in the face. Tsuruno leaps forward, lighting her fans on fire, and attacks the duffel bag itself, setting it alight. Hinano gasps and disentangles herself from the bag, flinging it away. Suddenly it explodes, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. Iroha, mostly protected behind Tsuruno, shoots the fake to finish her off, then runs forward to apply her healing magic to the other two while Tsuruno lets out a relieved sigh.

"A mighty victory for us!" Tsuruno announces.

"Holy cow!" Emily exclaims. "That was a big pain in the butt! Thanks muchly, Tsurupi!"

"No problem!" Tsuruno says. "I am trying to become the mightiest, after all!"

"I thought you said you already were…" Iroha mutters.

"And you… Iro-Iro!" Emiri says. "Thanks a bunch!

"Y-yes!" she gasps. "A-and you changed my nickname!?"

Emiri giggles. "I wanted to give this one a test run, too!"

"Hey, Emily," Iroha says. "There's something I need to apologize for…"

"Huh? To me?" Emiri asks.

"Yes… I thought you might also be a copy…"

"Wait a sec, Iro-Iro!" Emiri exclaims. "Or maybe I should call you Roha!"

"Huh…!?" Iroha says. "W-what is it…!?"

"I think I'm, like… sensing something! It's my oh-so-useful Myako-sempai radar!"

"R-radar…?"

Emiri points in a direction.

"Thattaway!"

And promptly runs off.

"Emily!?" Iroha gasps.

"Emily-sensei!" Tsuruno calls. "Well alright then, we better get going! Come on, um… uhh…"

"O-oh, you can call me Iro-Iro or Roha or whatever you want!" Iroha says.

"Uh, well… okay, let's go, Iroha-chan!"

They take off and quickly catch up with Emiri, who's pausing at every intersection to look around wildly.

"Here! Over this way!" she shouts.

"So, she's around here?" Tsuruno asks. "Uh, but…"

"There's no-one around," Iroha observes.

"Look, look!" Emiri exclaims. "Here!"

She indicates a sort of crevice in the labyrinth wall.

"There's a… gap… in the labyrinth?" Iroha says.

"Y'see… Myako-sempai gets herself squished into gaps like this one a lot!" Emiri says.

"She does?" Iroha asks. "Th-that's why you led us here…!?"

"I see," Tsuruno says. "It's like when you drop change behind the counter and try to pick it up!"

"Now, how about we have a little look-see around for her," Emiri says. "Here goes nothing!"

She plunges both hands into the gap and feels around for a bit, while Iroha and Tsuruno look on incredulously.

"Mm, not there, hmm…" Emiri mutters. "There! Ooh, I hooked something! And it's wriggling on my hook! Uhh. I mean, hand!"

She braces herself against the wall and pulls, dragging Miyako Hinano clear from the gap and sending them both flying into the opposite wall together.

"W-whoa!" Iroha gasps.

"She really came out!" Tsuruno gasps.

Hinano picks herself up and looks around.

"Where the heck am I…!?" she asks.

"Myako-sempai!" Emiri says, glomping her.

"Ah! E-emiri!" Hinano shouts. "Where have you been all this time!? You're always doing this, spacing out and daydreaming! No wonder we got split up! You're such an airhead! Can't you keep all that dumb stuff in your free time!? Honestly, quit making me worry so much!"

Emiri giggles. "Myako-sempai! Now we're even-stevens!"

"Even what…?" Hinano says. "How so…!?"

Emiri squeezes her a bit tighter, and Hinano squeals a little.

"You realize I'm the one who fished you out of that gap, right!?"

"Shut it!" Hinano exclaims. Then she sighs. "What luck… I get knocked unconscious, and when I wake up, I'm hooked by Emiri… what's with this place!? It's ticking me off, but it's really interesting, too!"

"Um!" Tsuruno speaks up.

"What!?" Hinano gasps. "Huh? Uh… who are you, exactly…? I feel like we may have met before…?"

"Umm… are you the squirrel monkey girl?" Tsuruno asks.

"Emiriii…!" Hinano shouts. "What garbage have you been saying about me!?"

Hinano thonks her on the head, and Emiri squeals a little.

"This must really be her!" Tsuruno says.

"Yes, definitely!" Iroha says.

"Myako-sempai, focus!" Emiri says. "There's more important things right now! What happened with Rikki…?"

"Mm… Rika! Right!" Hinano gasps. "Well, after I got separated from you, I lost Rika, too… and then I got knocked out…"

"Aww… so that's when you, like, got stuck in that gap…"

"Urgh, that wasn't on purpose," Hinano mutters.

"So, do you know about where you were split up from, uhh… Rikki?" Iroha asks.

"Uh, well… speaking of which, who is this, Emiri?"

"Oh, I'll introduce you!" Emiri says. "She's, uhh…"

But before she can finish her sentence, both of them fall dead silent, and Tsuruno and Iroha also look startled. They remain silent for several seconds, as if listening intently to something. Then they start shouting.

"Huh? What!?" Emiri gasps. "What is even going on right now?"

"Hey, Rika!" Hinano shouts at the top of her voice. "What's up with you!? Rika! Rikaaa!"

"I don't hear anything," Tsuruno says.

"Myako-sempai… what do you think she meant by 'say my goodbyes'?" Emiri asks. "Cause I'm totally clueless!"

"She said she wanted to go deeper and deeper into the mirrors?" Iroha muses.

"So she's saying goodbye cause she's going all the way in to the end?" Emiri asks. "Goodbye… like… goodbye for good!? I don't get it! What's gotten into her!? Hey, Myako-sempai! What's she doing!?"

"Calm down, Emily!" Hinano says. "Calm down, then we can think it through! Okay? First Rika went missing… and just now, she told us 'goodbye'."

"How could she leave us here and then just be like, 'later'!?" Emiri exclaims. "There's definitely no way she'd ever say that."

Hinano blinks. "That's it! There's no reason for her to ever do something like that!"

Hinano growls a bit, prompting Iroha to speak up.

"Uh, hey, calm down!" she says.

"I'm fine!" Hinano retorts. "Cool as a cucumber! Okay, let's say she did say that! Even if she did come here, planning to do something like this from the start… what the hell was the point in bringing us along with her?"

"Yeah, that's a good point," Iroha says.

"Right," Tsuruno says. "If she really wanted to leave for good, she would've gone alone."

"And there's one more thing!" Hinano says. "Why would she blurt out goodbye to all the people here?"

"Oh yeah… I didn't realize earlier, but Rikki doesn't even know Roha or Tsurupi!" Emiri says.

"In short, there's a lot of suspicious things going on here!" Hinano says. "I smell something fishy!"

"Then you're saying…?" Emiri says.

"Bingo!" Hinano says. "That voice was from a copy of Rika!"

"Yeah!" Emiri says. "F'real, that's gotta be it!"

"It was a trap set by Endless Mirrors!" Hinano says. "Trying to draw us in further on a wild goose chase!"

"But this still means we aren't any closer to finding Rikki," Iroha points out.

"True, we're back to square one," Hinano says.

"We gotta go look for her!" Emiri says. "We should definitely hurry!"

"Of course!" Hinano says. "But, uhh, let's cover all our bases."

"Cover all our bases?" Tsuruno says.

"First order of business!" Hinano announces. "Searching for Rika! I'll handle that, along with… umm… you over there…?"

She indicates Tsuruno, who nods.

"The mightiest magical girl, Yui Tsuruno!"

"Oh yeah, Tsuruno, that's it… I thought you seemed a bit familiar," Hinano says. "You were the one who… never mind, there's no time to dig up the past. Will you help me out?"

"Of course I will!" Tsuruno says. "Yep, yep!"

"And as for you with the pink hair!" Hinano says.

"Y-yes?" Iroha says.

"That's Roha!" Emiri says.

"Okay, Roha!" Hinano says. "Yakumo Mitama seems like she's knowledgeable about this place. Can you ask her?"

"Ask Miss Mitama!?" Iroha gasps. "Um, alright! I'll do what I can!"

"Thanks a bunch!" Hinano says. "I owe you guys one! Oh, and Emily!"

"Yup!" Emily says.

"We're searching for someone in unfamiliar territory," Hinano says. "The more people, the better. So that's why I want you to bring back people to help us search!"

"Got it!" Emily says.

She takes off at a run, while Iroha moves at a more sedate pace in the same direction. Before long, she emerges into the Mirror Mansion lobby. There's no sign of Emily or Mitama… but then Mitama suddenly emerges from one of the side rooms.

"Oh! Iroha-chaaan!" she calls.

"Eek!" Iroha gasps, spinning to face her.

"Hi there!" Mitama says.

"Geez, you scared me!" Iroha protests. "Don't shout at me from behind like that!"

"Oh, but when scaring someone, isn't it common to do it from behind?" Mitama asks. "Besides, you're the one who popped out in front of me!"

"Huh? Really? Well, you might be right…"

"I certainly am! Honestly…"

"Well, I'm sorry about… hang on! That's still no excuse to scare me!"

"Oh, that?" Mitama says. "I just thought it would be fun! Anyway, your eyes were darting everywhere. Are you looking for someone?"

"Oh, right! I was looking for you!"

"Who, me?"

"Yes, you see, we have a situation in Endless Mirrors," Iroha explains. "Um… Emily and um… Miyako Hinano? They got separated from their friend… Rikki… or Rika…? And then she suddenly contacted us all telepathically to say goodbye, and tell them she was going to venture further in… oh, but that might've actually been a copy…"

"I see, I see," Mitama muses.

"So I was wondering if you might know something about what's going on," Iroha finishes.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Mitama says. "The one that spoke to you all telepathically is definitely a fake."

"Huh!? You're so positive…"

"Why should I beat around the bush?" Mitama asks. "Besides, we're running out of time!"

"We are!?"

"Yes… Rika said she was going deeper into the mirror, didn't she?"

"That's right! She did!" Iroha says. "But wasn't that a fake?"

"But even a fake is a copy of the real Rika," Mitama says. "Which means… she may have spent too long staring into the mirrors."

"What?"

"She may have glimpsed the abyss that lies in the depths of Endless Mirrors."

"An… abyss? What does that mean?"

"I've told you enough for now."

"You can't be serious!?"

"We can talk more later."

"But!"

"You'd better hurry and get back in there," Mitama says. "Don't you remember what I just said? We're running out of time!"

"Right…"

"I'll tell you what I know next time. For now, you should go back in."

"Um, well, I—"

"Hurry!"

"O-okay!"

As Iroha turns and plunges back into the labyrinth, Mitama takes out a handful of mirror coins, muttering to herself about something. Iroha pulls out her soul gem, presumably to track Tsuruno's magic. She barrels through a trio of familiars without even noticing, and after a minute or two catches up with Tsuruno and Hinano, who have now been joined by a twintailed blonde girl in a red and white dress.

"Miss Miyako! Tsuruno-chan!" she calls.

"Ah!" Tsuruno says. "I know that voice!"

"That's Roha!" Hinano says.

"Looks like I made it in time!" Iroha says. "I just got back from asking Miss Mitama! After I told her what we know, she said 'that's a fake' right away!"

"Ohhh! Hinano-chan!" Tsuruno exclaims.

"Yeah, I heard her," Hinano says. "I won't hesitate now!"

A second copy of the blonde girl suddenly emerges from somewhere.

"You're so mean, Miko-sempai," she says.

"There's more of them now!?" Tsuruno gasps.

"That proves it!" Hinano says.

And then a third one shows up.

"Miko-sempai… you're sooo mean!" she says.

"Farewell," they all say in unison. "Farewell."

Then a couple more show up to join the chorus of farewells, smoothly surrounding them before they even have a chance to react. One of them slips in between Tsuruno and Hinano, another between Tsuruno and Iroha, and a third between Iroha and Hinano, splitting the three of them up.

"Oh no! We're surrounded!" Iroha says.

"And they've split us up!" Tsuruno says.

"Crap!" Hinano says.

Tsuruno growls and lights her fans on fire.

"I'm gonna break through them! Flame Waltz!"

But even though she manages to take out several copies, at this point they're just showing up in droves. It's not even like they're appearing from around corners… it's almost like they're literally creating duplicates of themselves on the fly. Iroha holds off the nearest ones with her bolts, while Hinano somewhat manages to slow the spread by throwing some of her test tubes into the crowd, which explode and release a very poisonous-looking bright green gas cloud.

"They're multiplying way too fast!" Iroha says.

"I didn't think they could do that!" Hinano says. "This is bad news! If we don't think of something, we're toast!"

"Hold on a minute!"

That's Emiri's voice.

"Ah! You made it!" Hinano says.

Emiri bounces into the midst of the crowd, swiping at any copy that comes within range with both tail amd fists, and she's accompanied by a silver-haired girl in white robes with a blue trim, who looks rather nervous as she grips her scythe defensively, doing the minimum necessary to keep the copies off of her.

"It's time for Emily's big return!" Emiri announces.

"Great timing!" Tsuruno says.

"Wait, so that girl…?" Iroha says.

"Look who I brought with me!" Emiri says. "I found the perfect assistant!"

"Oh! It's you!" Hinano says.

"Uhh, h-hello," the silver-haired girl says.

"Isuzu Ren!" Hinano exclaims.

"How lucky can ya get!?" Emiri says. "I was racing around like a headless chicken, yelling 'Someone!? Anyone!?', but the second I got outta the mansion, there she was! Cure little Renki!"

"Wow!" Hinano says. "Wait… why was she out there?"

"I'm not, uh, sure either," Ren says. "I just felt really uneasy for some reason, and I couldn't calm down… so I went on a walk to, um, t-try to relax, and I ended up here."

"Ah… that's, um… kinda impressive, in a way," Hinano says. "Given how far you live from the Mirror Mansion…"

"Well then, you!" Tsuruno says.

"Um, yes!?" Ren gasps.

"I'm Yui Tsuruno, the mightiest magical girl! And this here's Roha! Her full name's Tamaki Iroha!"

"Um, nice to meet you!" Iroha says.

"Anyway, I'm the mightiest, and even I'm having a rough time of it right now," Tsuruno says.

"Get over here!" one of the copies suddenly says, grabbing Tsuruno's arm.

"Whoaaa!" Tsuruno gasps.

She spins and kicks the culprit in the face, sending her flying.

"See what I mean?" she says. "This place is nuts!"

"Whuh-oh!" Emiri gasps. "Guess I spoke too soon saying we were super lucky."

"It's okay… uh… don't worry," Ren says.

"Huh?" Emiri blinks at her.

"I absolutely can't allow this!" Ren says.

The copies start to chant in unison again. "Let's end this already… let's end this already… farewell… I have to go… deep into the mirrors…"

Ren takes a deep breath and shouts at the top of her voice, startling everyone. A few tears leak from her eyes.

"Don't you dare imitate Rika-chan!" she screams.

"Ren…" "Renki…" "Miss Isuzu…" "Ren-chan…"

"I'll… I'll get rid of the fakes!" Ren says. "I… I will! I'll… do it!"

She closes her eyes and grips her right hand over her chest, holding her scythe down at an angle and shrinking its blade down into nothing more than a feather. Bluish motes of light begin to swirl around her, and she opens her eyes and spins her staff, transferring it to her other hand and holding it high in the air as it gathers those motes, becoming a blinding surge of blue power that swirls around her.

"We'd best stand back," Hinano notes. "I think she can make sure that doesn't hit us, but if it did… we'd be goners…"

She's too late, however. Ren screams out her attack at the top of her voice.

"Nirvana, Soul Salvation!"

And then all that blue energy spins out in all directions, raining down indiscriminately on the copies. A single blow from one of those energy blasts is enough to instantly obliterate a copy, leaving behind no trace, not even a mirror coin. Fortunately, Hinano proves to be correct on her first point, and the blasts even swerve to avoid striking Emiri, Hinano, Tsuruno, or Iroha. When the light show clears up, there's not a single copy remaining.

"Great!" Hinano says. "Now all we have to do is find the real one… she's likely nearby, though."

"I'm on it!" Emiri says.

"Um, uh!" Ren says. "I think… she should be, um… that way!"

"Right! Let's go!"

Emily takes off in the direction Ren indicates, and everyone else hurries after her. Sure enough, after turning a corner or two, they find the same girl laying on the ground, unconscious.

"Rikki!" Emiri shouts.

"R-rika-chan…!" Ren gasps.

The two of them kneel on opposite sides of Rika, Emiri shaking her a little while Ren just gazes at her worriedly and clasps her hands together as if praying. Before long, Rika stirs and opens her eyes.

"Huh?" she says.

"Thank goodness!" Ren says. "You're awake!"

"What? Ren-chan…"

"Whoa! Glad you're okay, Rikki!" Emiri says.

"Honestly!" Hinano says. "You had us worried sick!"

"Oh my gosh Myako-sempai, you're one to talk!" Emiri protests.

"W-whatever!" Hinano says.

"Emily… Miko-sempai…" Rika says.

"Woohoo!" Tsuruno says.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Iroha says.

"Um… who are you?" Rika asks.

"I'm Takami Iroha! It's nice to meet you! Though I wish it was under better circumstances…"

"I… I see," Rika says. "I'm Ayano Rika…"

"So… how did this happen?" Tsuruno asks.

"I really don't remember very well," Rika says. "Before I got here I was wondering how my makeup looked… and there's tons of mirrors in this place, y'know? So I thought I'd just do a little check in one of them… then I got kinda absorbed, checking one little thing after another… so I guess I must've stared into it really deeply. And then someone appeared behind me… and that's all I can remember."

"I see…" Tsuruno says.

"Well, enough about that," Hinano says. "Let's get out of here!"

Ren helps Rika to her feet, and everyone works their way out of the labyrinth, with Ren gripping Rika's hand like she might evaporate if she let go. Mitama's no longer in the Mirror Mansion lobby, so after a round of goodbyes and a few reintroductions, everyone splits up to go their own ways.

---

I'm at the Kamihama Planetarium in Chuo Ward, together with Tamura and Chihana, when I spot a familiar face. It's Izumi Kanagi, Kamihama's boss of the east, and the person who has apparently already defeated two rumours in the east.

«Tamura, Chihana… do you see the girl with short, silver hair?»

«Yes, I see her,» Tamura says.

«Wait, is she an enemy!?» Chihana asks.

«Possibly,» I say. «She's the one who Nemu named as having defeated two rumours. Could you call the others over?»

«I'll do it!» Chihana says.

Kanagi is looking around the place, but the three of us aren't together – we're spaced out to avoid attracting too much attention. Of course, we don't have our feather robes on right now, either. Besides us there are five or six other people wandering around and looking at various exhibits. For some reason, however, Kanagi spots me and moves straight towards me.

«Huh? Why's she approaching you?» Chihana asks.

«No idea,» I say. «But I suppose I'm about to find out.»

"Good evening," Kanagi says. "It has been quite some time, Miss Ashley Taylor."

Huh? How does she know my name? This should be the first time we've met. I blink at her.

"Huh? Have we met before?"

"Oh… did you forget?" Kanagi asks. "We had quite an interesting encounter last summer, did we not?"

"Last… summer?"

I prod at Ashley within me to jog her memory.

«Ashley… were you in Japan last summer?»

«Huh? Yes, I was here with Mom, why do you ask?»

«Did you talk to this girl?»

«No… I was in Tokyo… I'd never been to Kamihama before I met you.»

"Are you sure you have the right person?" I ask.

Kanagi nods. "There is no mistaking that face, nor that magical signature."

Magical signature? But last summer is before we became a magical girl. Even if they'd somehow met last summer, how would she know our magical signature? Or… no, wait, could it be that she can detect magical potential in ordinary humans? There was never anything in the game to suggest she could, though, and other than Kagome there was never a girl who spent the vast majority of her screen time pre-contract, so even if she had that power there wouldn't've been an opportunity to demonstrate it in the game. Basically… I can't point to any proof that she has such a power, nor to any proof that she doesn't.

"Um… m-maybe you could… refresh my memory a little?" I suggest

Kanagi nods. "I ran across you in Endless Mirrors. As I recall, you were running from something."

This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Why would Ashley be in Endless Mirrors? Or rather… it's not even possible, given she was only in Tokyo… I'd thought for a moment that maybe Kanagi was in Tokyo for some reason and met her there, but that also doesn't seem to fit now. Although Endless Mirrors does have an ability to connect to its offshoot labyrinths, at that point in time there shouldn't be any significant offshoots yet.

"From something… like… a pack of familiars and copies?"

"No… from what I recall… you were rambling about things I did not understand, and then suddenly said you had been attacked by aliens," Kanagi says.

"Aliens…? What the heck…?"

"Ah… now that I think about it," Kanagi says. "It was likely your other personality who was active at the time. You… or she…? …mentioned that the other personality, Chelsea, had been… knocked out, I believe would be an apt description. Perhaps that could explain why you do not remember…?"

I blink at her again. Okay… this is about as weird as it could possibly get. She clearly knows that there are two personalities within me and even knows my original name from the other world, which essentially confirms her own theory that she spoke to Ashley back then, not me. But that's not possible, right? I only made a wish last November, so at the time she's referring to, Ashley definitely wasn't a magical girl, and I didn't even exist in this world. And I haven't told anyone about my true name, other than a few of my closest friends. Mary did somehow know it without me telling her, but she's evolved into something different and appears to specialize in divination magic, so she's an exception. Kanagi does have mind-reading magic, so she could learn my true name that way, but if I recall correctly she can only use that magic while transformed, so she hasn't had a chance yet.

"None of this adds up," I say. "Not only do I not remember it, it actively contradicts what I do remember…"

Kanagi looks surprised. "Really? Even so… I am quite certain. There is no doubt that it was you."

"I… I guess I have no reason to disbelieve you," I say. "But I'm really not sure how that could've happened."

Huh? Wait a second, Ashley and I were attacked by… aliens? Suddenly the memory of that strange, incomprehensible conversation from my vision comes back to me, and the seemingly sinister tone it took at the end. Could it be… them!?

"Wait a second… these aliens," I say. "Did Ashley happen to describe them to you?"

"I believe you described them as… a 'heat haze'," Kanagi says.

Oh my goodness… it really is them!? I don't understand though… why would they attack me? How is it that it happened almost a year ago? The only possible explanation is…

"Then…" I begin.

But I trail off, not sure if I should even say it.

"Perhaps… it may not have happened yet for you," Kanagi suggests.

However… it seems Kanagi has had the same idea. I guess there's no need to hold back in that case.

"Right… that was my thought as well… but it's pretty hard to believe…"

Kanagi shrugs. "I find it pays to keep an open mind when it comes to magic," she says,

"Yeah, you're right… anyway, it's nice to meet you…"

I'm about to say her name when I realize it might be better to pretend I don't know it.

"Izumi Kanagi," she says. "Since you are here… would you like to assist me in my investigation?"

Well, that's awkward. If she's here to investigate the rumour, I can't really help her with that.

"Um… depends on the investigation."

"Lately, there have been strange rumours in town," Kanagi says. "I am tracking one in particular, and it led me to this planetarium."

"Well… I haven't been in town for very long, so… I'm sorry," I say. "I doubt I'd be of much help."

"I see… no matter," Kanagi says. "I can handle it on my own, anyway. That aside, it was a pleasant surprise running into you here. May we meet again."

"Yeah… see you later…"

And with that, Kanagi moves away, leaving me staring at her back. What exactly was that about? Is something other than Homura destined to fling me back in time? Is it an accident or intentional? Should I try to avoid it, just go with the flow and let it happen, or actively try to bring it about?

In any case, this probably isn't the time to think about it. If it's fated to happen, I can think about it when it happens… though I don't believe in fate. If it's my choice, I can think about it when the opportunity arises. Right now, I need to focus on the present. After looking around and taking in everything in the room, Kanagi has already stepped up to the terminal that forms the nucleus of this rumour.

According to the supplementary info Mifuyu gave us, the rumour is activated by typing into that terminal. Its official purpose is a guest book of sorts, where people can enter their names to be recorded as having visited the planetarium. However, the rumour is supposed to activate if you type in sentences instead. I open a vision on Kanagi to see what she's typing in.

"Show me how I will destroy Kamihama."

She presses the submit button, and then we're all sucked into a vision of sorts. I'm not sure why we were all included, maybe because we're watching her? It shows Kamihama being ravaged by a creature vaguely resembling a lion's head and wielding four massive swords. I'm pretty sure that's Kanagi's witch form? Her body isn't visible, so I guess it's a witch rather than a doppel.

"So I suppose you're saying I'll destroy Kamihama when I finally turn into a witch," Kanagi muses. "That seems acceptable to me."

I'm not sure whether she's genuinely accepting the future shown, or just playing along to trigger the rumour. According to the rumour data I have, the correct thing to do is to reject the future you're shown. If you don't, it draws you inside and imprisons you. And sure enough, the vision fades away, replaced by a rumour barrier with those strange floating kanji. I quickly first transform and then summon my feather robes before she spots me, and I sense Tamura and Chihana doing the same.

«Lita! We're almost there!»

It's… Tomomi's voice, I think?

«Good… we're inside the rumour's barrier right now,» I respond.

The rumour itself shows up, a massive hourglass filled with glittering sand. I guess this rumour doesn't have minions? Kanagi transforms and whirls to face it, just as Chihana jumps in between with Tamura.

"Huh?" Kanagi says. "Oh… so you must be the Wings of the Magius. Are you here to protect the rumour?" she asks. "Already getting tired of having them destroyed right under your noses, is that it?"

"In a nutshell!" Chihana declares. "We won't just let you do as you please!"

Right on cue, the rest of our team pops into the barrier – Tomomi, Chiyoko, Inui, Hikari, and even Kirika. Kanagi blinks in surprise at the seven black feathers facing her.

"Well… it appears you are smart enough to face me as a group," she says. "However, I will not be holding back, so if you find this hurts a little, you have only yourself to blame!"

Despite putting up as fierce a fight as they can, the black feathers under my command are no match for Kanagi. Perhaps some of them might have been able to defeat her with their unique magic – though I'm not even sure what that is for most of them. But fighting with the chain techniques learned from Kagura San, they don't stand a chance. Inui is the last one standing, and it's around then that I step forward to put a stop to it.

"I think that's enough," I say.

"Oh? There were more of you?" Kanagi says. "Huh? Wait…"

"Stand down," I say. "We've lost this battle."

"Alright," Inui says.

She backs off, allowing Kanagi to directly face the rumour. The Stardust Time Viewer apparently attacks using the glittering sand within it – expelling clouds of the stuff as a smokescreen, whipping it up into tornados, and swinging them towards Kanagi. Unfortunately, it looks like Kanagi's mind-reading powers also work on rumours, and she's able to avoid every attack with ease. It takes her less than a minute to get in close, cracking the glass of the upper chamber with her riding crop before calling down a rain of laser beams from above.

The labyrinth collapses, ejecting us back into the observatory, still in our robes. Although there are still a couple of normal people in the room, they don't even give us a second glance. Perhaps the robes have some enchantment to rebuff the attention of normal people. We and Kanagi just sort of stare at each other for a few minutes, during which all the ordinary people in the room move on.

"So," she finally says. "You are with the Wings of the Magius, is that correct?"

"That would be correct," I say.

She looks at me specifically, narrowing her eyes, and contacts me telepathically.

«I never thought we would become enemies the next time we met,» she says.

«I'm sorry it came to this too,» I reply. «I would've preferred not to face you at all.»

«So… you've aligned yourself with that suspicious organization?»

«In a manner of speaking,» I reply. «I agree with their goals, at minimum.»

«Their goals certainly sound noble,» Kanagi says. «But I can't trust someone who won't share their methods.»

«That's understandable,» I say. «I won't try to ask you to join or anything.»

"Well," she says out loud. "I'll let you go, this time."

With that, she powers down and leaves the room. I immediately power down too and desummon my robes, followed by Inui and Tomomi. After a little hesitation, the others also follow suit, which makes this the first time I've actually seen most of their faces. Chihana has short, messy red hair and wears slacks and a hoody. Hikari has light brown hair in twintails and wears a pale blue skirt and white blouse. Tomomi wears her dark green hair in a ponytail, but with one forelock framing her face. By some coincidence, Chiyoko's hair is the same colour as Tomomi's, but it's cut short except for a whip-like ponytail at the back, a bit like Yukika's style though a little rougher around the edges. The rest of course I've already seen – Inui, Kirika, and Tamura.

"S-so um… now what?" Chiyoko asks nervously. "A-are we going to… to get in trouble?"

"I honestly have no idea," I say. "But really… there wasn't a whole lot we could've done against Miss Izumi…"

"M-maybe if you'd helped us…"

"You're right," I admit. "I should've helped you… I was just confused by what we spoke about just before, so I was a bit spaced out…"

That's not a lie. Even after telling myself it's not the time to think about it, it's hard to actually prevent my mind from wandering back to the topic. Is there even something that could've thrown me back in time like that?

"Oh… is that how it was?" Chihana says. "What did you talk about? I couldn't hear it from my hiding place."

"Umm… how should I put this," I say. "She seemed to think we'd met before? But it looks like she mistook me for someone else…"

"Huh…"

"Anyway… you can all go back to whatever you were doing," I say. "Except those of you who were on duty. I imagine we'll be assigned a new rumour to guard, so we may as well get on it as soon as we know which one it'll be."

"Okay… you'll let us know?" Chiyoko says.

"One way or another, yes," I say.

"Then I guess… we'll see you some other time," Chiyoko says.

They leave the observatory one at a time, perhaps so that they won't be seen together, and once it's just four of us remaining – myself, Tamura, Chihana, and Inui – we leave together.

"You didn't need to come, Inui-chan," I point out.

"Sure, but it's not like I had anything better to do," she says.

"Well, it's not like I have a problem with it…"

We head for Fendt Hope, summoning our feather robes once more to gain access, and I ask one of the feathers in the lobby where Mifuyu is. After a few minutes, I find her directing several feathers in unpacking some supplies. As before, she's not wearing her feather robes.

"Excuse me, Miss Mifuyu?"

She turns to look at me.

"Ah… you're… Miss Ashley? What can I do for you?"

"Well… I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news," I say. "But Miss Izumi just destroyed the Rumour of the Stardust Time Viewer a little while ago…"

"Ah…" Mifuyu sighs. "Well… I suppose it can't be helped. It was almost inevitable that this would happen to someone. I'll let the Magius know. Also… I can assign you a new rumour to guard."

She looks through her clipboard for a moment before extracting a page.

"Here you go," she says. "You're less likely to run into Miss Izumi for this one, as it's near city hall – the Rumour of the Puzzle Tile Lock."

"Okay… thanks for understanding," I say.

"It's no problem," Mifuyu says. "I hope your second assignment goes better."

"Yeah…"

I explain the situation to Chihana and Tamura, and ask Inui to pass on the details to the others. Then the three of us leave Fendt Hope once more to begin our watch on the city hall.

---

After spending more time with Riko and Karin in the morning, I'm on afternoon shift with Inui and Hikari when I receive an email from Mifuyu.

"Miss Ashley, Nemu has requested your presence in her office as soon as possible."

"Well… it seems like I've been summoned by the Magius," I say.

"Um… is it because of our failure yesterday?" Hikari asks nervously.

"I don't think so," I say. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if that also comes up… but if we were being scolded, I'd expect Miss Touka or Miss Alina to be the one to do it, not Miss Nemu. Well… I guess I'll just go and see. I think I should be back in about an hour."

"Okay… we'll still be here if that's the case," Inui says. "Good luck!"

On my way back to Fendt Hope, I somehow stumble into an accessory shop. I'm confused… I'm not even sure how I ended up here? Looking around to scope out the area, I spot something familiar – an accessory made of red ribbons. I get it now… I've been caught up in a rumour. The ribbon accessory seems to draw me in, and I end up giving into the urge and paying for it.

As I step out of the shop, I nearly run into a woman with brown hair to her shoulders.

"Oh! Pardon me!" I gasp.

"No, I'm very sorry," the woman says. "I should have been paying attention too."

"Ah… um… don't mention it…"

As she turns to walk off, I spot something pink on the ground and stoop to pick it up. It's a scrunchy which somehow looks very familiar. I whip out my phone to snap a photo of it before accosting the woman.

"Um, excuse me? Did you drop this?"

The woman turns to look and blinks.

"Oh my, thank you so much!" she says, accepting it from me. "Thank goodness… I'm really glad I didn't lose this…"

I may not be Ashley, but I try to play along with the script. It should be fine… right?

"It's pretty cute… is it important to you?"

"It's something my daughter made for me," the woman says.

"Then that makes it super important, right?"

"Yes, it's very precious to me," she says. "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it!"

As she turns to head off, she mutters to herself.

"I'll have to store it away so I don't lose it again…"

I watch her go for a few minutes, then compose an email to Inui explaining what just happened, attaching the photo. Once I've sent it, I return to Fendt Hope, donning my feather robes and heading for Nemu's office. She summons me in when I knock.

"You're late," she says. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"The chapel."

"In that case… could I stop by my room for a moment?"

"Ah… I suppose you have a grief seed? Then meet me on the ground floor."

I decide not to point out that I have more than one. We split up, and I stop by my room to leave my grief seeds on the desk. Then I make sure I have the cube containing Virginia and the evil nuts I intend to feed to one of her familiars, and hurry downstairs.

Nemu spots me and turns without a word, and I follow her down the stairs.

"By the way," I say. "About the meeting the other day… you said there were five major veterans but only named three of them? Who are the other two?"

"Naturally, Mifuyu is also one of them," Nemu says. "The other… I only heard of her from Touka, but apparently there is a magical girl at her school named Irina Kushu who has been at it for several years. Although she apparently did get involved with a rumour, she didn't destroy it."

Ah! So she was counting Kushu as one of them… I'm not actually sure when she contracted, but she was noted as someone experienced, so it seems somewhat plausible to put her in the same category as Yachiyo and Hinano. Also, if Kushu has already gotten involved with a rumour, that implies that Ikumi has already joined… I already knew her friend Ryo had joined, but I didn't remember which of them should have joined first. It may also imply that Yukika was already a member when I spoke with her earlier… but that one I can't be sure of.

We continue the rest of the way to the chapel in silence. Once we're there, she takes out her book and focuses, manifesting the rumour into existence. Its labyrinth immediately swallows us up, and the rumour itself appears before us, a massive spider-like construction of mechanical arms emanating from a central point, with a tank at the end of each similar to the ones in the Freezer. I think I've seen this scene somewhere, though I can't quite remember where… possibly in the Magia Record anime?

"Okay, now you may release your witch," Nemu says.

I take out Alina's cube and squeeze it hard. It pops like a balloon, releasing Virginia into the rumour's labyrinth. The witch doesn't form her own labyrinth, though I'm not sure whether she's simply detected it's not necessary or if something about this place inhibits it. She does, however, summon several familiars.

"Let's capture the witch first," Nemu says. "Just a moment…"

One of those mechanical arms on the rumour suddenly extends, smacking the witch with the giant tank on the end and absorbing her into the tank itself

"Excellent," Nemu says. "It looks like capturing a witch works as planned… now I'll capture one of the familiars."

The same action is repeated, this time capturing a familiar.

"You may destroy the remaining familiars."

I summon a swarm of Teddy Drones and bombard all the free familiars with beams until they're destroyed.

"You're surprisingly open with your magic," Nemu observes. "Having seen that, I could easily identify you in a crowd."

I shrug. "We're also the only ones here, right? And you don't have a way to share a magical signature with someone else, do you?"

"That's true," Nemu says. "Next… have you determined what you can feed the familiar?"

"I had one idea," I say. "How should I feed it… do I need to climb up there?"

"Just a moment…"

The entire rumour rotates like a carousel, and then the tank containing the familiar plants itself right in front of me.

"There you are – simply push it through the glass."

I take out one of the evil nuts and thrust it into the tank. The familiar snatches it from me and seems to absorb it, growing a little larger in the process.

"Was that… a grief seed?"

"Not exactly…"

"Regardless… it seemed about as effective as I thought a grief seed would be," Nemu says. "Let me try an actual grief seed."

She steps up to the tank, taking out a grief seed that's almost used up and thrusting it through the glass. As before, the familiar absorbs it and grows a little larger. The grief seed actually seems more effective than the evil nut though. Nemu nods.

"So a real grief seed, filled with grief, is definitely the most effective," she muses.

Then she turns to me.

"Did you have anything else to feed it? At this rate it's not going to mature into a witch."

"I have a few more of those things," I say.

I take out the remaining evil nuts, five in total, and thrust them all into the tank at once. This time when the familiar absorbs them, it begins to glow as it starts to undergo a sort of metamorphosis into a witch.

"Ah, I should have asked you to hold one back," Nemu says. "Touka would have been interested in studying them…"

"Sorry," I say. "I didn't think of that… I just used all the ones I had."

"Where did you get those from, anyway?" Nemu asks.

I decide to make up a plausible story.

"I found them," I say. "There was another magical girl who attacked me, and I was forced to fight… but during the fight she used up too much magic and turned into a witch, so I was forced to defeat her. When I checked out her hideout, I found those. I suppose she must've made them using her magic."

"I see," Nemu says. "I'm sure Touka would be disappointed to hear that… so I suppose I'll refrain from telling her at all, to keep things simple. Do you wish to defeat the witches now?"

"Um, sure, but… probably one at a time is best?"

"Very well…"

The original Virginia is unceremoniously spat out from her tank, and she immediately turns on Nemu and I. However, I resummon my swarm of Teddy Drones and repeat my strategy from earlier. Although it's not as effective on the witch as it was on the familiars, it does pin Virginia in place. I then summon Teddy Mk II and soar into the air above the bombardment, where I take out my sword and extend it to its maximum length before slashing down at the witch, bisecting her from head to toe despite her armour. I'm actually a little surprised it was so effective…

"I see Touka judged you correctly," Nemu observes. "You are probably almost on par with veterans such as Mifuyu or Nanami Yachiyo…"

"Do you really think so…? I've been at this for less than a year…"

I capture Virginia's grief seed and store it away.

"Just from what I have seen so far, you appear to have a variety of magic," Nemu says. "And your strategy, while a little simplistic, is quite effective. This is no doubt why Touka recommended you to be a white feather. She may have simplified it to 'strength', but it was not raw power that she was referring to."

"I see… um… so, did she tell you about me after that meeting with her?"

"Yes, she seemed quite impressed," Nemu says. "It's not often that she specifically calls out a new recruit like that. I think you're only the third to be praised by her."

"I suppose the others are Mifuyu and the instructor…"

"An astute observation," Nemu says. "Are you ready for the second witch?"

"Yeah, throw her at me anytime."

I bring down the second instance of Virginia in the same way as the first, snatching the grief seed and stowing it away.

"So, um… how'd this experiment go for you, Miss Nemu?"

"From my standpoint, it is a resounding success," Nemu says. "Though I am sure Touka will have thousands of complaints… but such is the way of things. Thank you for your assistance. You may leave now."

"Okay, but… how do I—"

Before my sentence is finished, I'm ejected from the labyrinth and find myself back in the chapel. I break into a run so as to leave the chapel as quickly as possible. Once I'm back at the ground floor, I proceed at a more sedate pace to retrieve my other grief seeds from my room. After pausing to send emails to Elise, Hijiri, and Oriko, I depart from Fendt Hope and rejoin Inui and Hikari on their watch.

"So um… how'd it go?" Hikari asks. "Are we… in trouble?"

"She didn't even mention the Rumour of the Stardust Time Viewer," I say. "Seems she wanted my help for a little experiment with a brand-new rumour, though I'm not quite sure why she chose me."

«Liar,» Inui says privately. «You asked for that, didn't you!?»

«Well… yeah, I did,» I reply.

«So… what are you going to do with Miss Chihiro now?»

«Huh? You knew?»

«Of course I knew, you dummy! You made it really obvious back when we were at Pernelle's place!»

«I didn't realize it was quite that obvious…»

«At least to me it was,» Inui says. «I bet the other Ashley's not happy about it either, is she?»

«Well… she hasn't said anything, but… I suspect you're right,» I say. «Actually, I've barely heard a peep out of her since we saved you this time around… other than yesterday when she responded to a question, and the day before when I called her out on purpose to interact with Miss Mizuki.»

«Right, she did say she was busy… I wonder what she was researching…»

«No idea, but she hasn't been taking control of my body, so I'm not sure what she could research just in my head…»

"Um," Hikari speaks up. "Y-you're not saying anything rude about me… are you?"

I blink at her.

"Ah, no, just discussing private matters," Inui reassures her. "You didn't even come up in the slightest."

"Ohh… okay."

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know someone named Ayano Rika, would you?" I ask.

Hikari blinks at me.

"Uhh… where did you hear that name…?"

"I met her once, awhile back, here in Kamihama," I say.

"W-well… I do just barely know her," Hikari says. "We're only second cousins or something like that, but since we live so close together and our grandparents get along well, we usually visit on New Year's… but we've barely spoken three words to each other in the last three years."

Second cousins implies that the grandparents in question are siblings, right? I'm not quite sure if I can assume that they're brothers though… a man taking his wife's surname is somewhat precedented in Japan from what I understand, even if it's not that common.

"I see… so basically, you don't really get along, is that it?"

"Y-yeah… basically," Hikari says.

«So back to the original question,» Inui says. «What are you going to do to her?»

«I'm going to take her to Pernelle's place,» I reply. «And once Pernelle's finished her analysis, I'll escort her… or them? …home.»

«Well… I guess it's better than leaving her with Pernelle…»

«I do feel a little bad, doing this,» I admit. «I seized the opportunity when it arose, but it's still kinda… I mean, if it doesn't work out, I'll be really sad.»

«At least you understand… by the way, what was that email about? Some woman almost lost a hair scrunchy… is that… important somehow?»

«It could be, if you happen to get caught up in a certain rumour,» I say. «So I wanted to pass it on just in case. What the woman said, and the appearance of the hair scrunchy… they could both be important.»

«I see… well… I'll keep it in mind, then,» she says.

---

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.

Yura Hotaru
由良蛍

Age: 17
Eye Colour: Pink
Hair Colour: Pink
Origins: Sakae Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Yellow crescent moon face
Soul Gem: Blue oblong gem on a pendant
Element: Water
Weapon: Moon-shaped pillows
Powers: Dream world pocket dimension
Wish: "Let me sleep a little longer…!"

Speed: 2
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 1
Defensive Power: 4
Initial Power Usability: 2
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Nanase Yukika
七瀬ゆきか

Age: 16
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Blonde
Origins: Mizuna Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Red rabbit head
Soul Gem: Red heart-shaped gemstone on a chain hanging from her throat
Element: Light
Weapon: Rapier
Powers: Grows stronger when close to death, attracts troublesome situations, regeneration
Wish: "What I want is the feeling of being alive!"
Affiliation: Wings of the Magius (rank: Black Feather)

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

Hifumi Chiyoko
皮布美血夜子

Age: 13
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Green
Origins: Futatsugi, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Black spider
Soul Gem: Circular green gemstone at her navel
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Twin deer horn knives
Powers: Silk, poison
Wish: "Make the bullies suffer."
Affiliation: Wings of the Magius (rank: Black Feather)

Speed: 3
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Ayano Hikari
綾野ひかり

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Light brown
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue pair of interlocked chain links
Soul Gem: U-shaped blue gemstone just below her chest
Element: Forest
Weapon: Twin tonfas
Powers: Enhanced telepathy, advanced connect
Wish: "I don't want to be separated from Chihana!"
Affiliation: Wings of the Magius (rank: Black Feather)

Speed: 9
Magical Stamina: 2
Offensive Power: 1
Defensive Power: 1
Initial Power Usability: 1
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Masumi Chihana
真澄千花

Age: 14
Eye Colour: Yellow
Hair Colour: Red
Origins: Mitakihara, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Red skull
Soul Gem: Red circular gemstone on her scarf
Element: Fire
Weapon: Twin shotguns
Powers: Explosions, forgetfulness
Wish: "I want the debt to be annulled."
Affiliation: Wings of the Magius (rank: Black Feather)

Speed: 7
Magical Stamina: 4
Offensive Power: 8
Defensive Power: 3
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Natsu Ryoko
南津涼子

Age: 16
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: A town just north of Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Red flame
Soul Gem: Red flame-shaped gem on her hairclip
Element: Fire
Weapon: Keisaku
Powers: Authoritative pacifist pocket dimension
Wish: "I want to expose the whole truth behind the attempt to demolish Suitoku Temple."
Affiliation: Tokime Clan

Speed: 5
Magical Stamina: 5
Offensive Power: 8
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 7
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

Miyako Hinano
都ひなの

Age: 18
Eye Colour: Yellow
Hair Colour: Green
Origins: Chuo Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green biohazard symbol
Soul Gem: Green four-leaf-clover-shaped gemstone just beneath her chest
Element: Forest
Weapon: Flasks and test tubes filled with various chemicals
Powers: Explosions, poison
Wish: "I want to live, so I can do more and more experiments."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 6
Offensive Power: 6
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 7
Learned Powers: 2

Isuzu Ren
五十鈴れん

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Silver
Origins: Shinsei Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Blue unfilled circle
Soul Gem: Navy teardrop-shaped gemstone just above her chest
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Winged staff / scythe
Powers: Nirvana (obliteration of souls), grows stronger when close to death
Wish: "I don't want to die! Please, let me live!"

Speed: 8
Magical Stamina: 9
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 5
Initial Power Usability: 5
Learned Powers: 0 (unknown)

---

So this chapter is brought to you by a long weekend holiday, which enabled me to finish the first draft of chapter 72 yesterday. Since this chapter was also finished, I figured I might as well proofread it and put it up mid-week. The next chapter will be posted this weekened.

I'm not quite sure, but I think this might be the first time Ashley has been truly flummoxed by an unexpected development. No matter how much she knew about the game or previous timelines, there's no way she could've possibly predicted that the one person she'd been avoiding (to honour her promise to Pernelle) actually already knew her.

Aside from that and the second installment of the mirrors story, this is mostly meeting new people and following up clues. Quite a few new people in fact. And seeing that Kanagi's almost as gung-ho about erasing rumours as Yachiyo is… this is never explicitly stated in-game as far as I know, but given how many rumours she's able to mark down on the map when they finally meet up, I don't think there's any other explanation.

I'm not sure if it was clear, but Ren is the girl mentioned in the previous chapter who can destroy grief seeds with her magic. Had her bolts actually struck Iroha or the others, they too would have been utterly obliterated without a single trace, starting with their soul gems. The fact that her Nirvana obliterates soul gems, grief seeds, and mirror coins alike could perhaps be taken as a clue to the true nature of mirror coins…

No revisions to report this week. Maybe that's good news? I don't really know. Oh, but perhaps I should mention that I started copying the fic over to AO3, as a mirror. Unfortunately it can't import directly from FanFiction-Net, so it'll be a slow process (just the first nine chapters so far). Therefore for the time being this remains the only place to read Magia: A New Hope as it releases. Likely AO3 won't catch up until this is either completed or put on hiatus. That said, if there are people not reading because they hate FanFiction-Net, and they don't mind waiting longer for chapters… there's another option now.