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.

77. Whispers of Broken Wings

Have you heard? Has anyone told you?
The Rumour of the Dreaming Mirror!
Oh, if only I could go back in time to that day…
Oh, if only I could do it all over again…!
Well, if you're the lucky winner of our lottery this week,
then you're officially invited to a dream of that 'what-if' world!
The entry fee? Priceless!
Just pass a test of your heart,
and you'll get a special chance
to make your own 'what-if' come true!
But non, non, non!
Just one word of advice: if you flunk out,
you'll never, ever wake up again!
It's a rumour that all the fine young ladies
in Hokuyo Ward are talking about.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall…!

---

"Welcome!" Manaka says.

"Thank you," Inui says.

"Ah, it's you two again," Manaka says. "And you've brought someone new again!"

"U-um, it's nice to meet you…?" Rui says.

"Say, um, Miss Kurumi," I say as we settle down at a table. "You have some connection with St Lilliana's, right?"

"Well… a little bit, yes," Manaka says.

"Have you ever heard anything about a student there named Irina Kushu?"

"A student at St Lilliana's?" Manaka says. "Hmm… no, I'm afraid not, sorry. Probably the only student I could name there is Kaharu Yuuna – she's the student council president, you see. Oh, but she's just an ordinary girl, not a magical girl."

"Ugh, are you serious!?" Inui says.

"What, do you know her?" Manaka says.

"Not her," Inui says. "I just hear about her family in the news now and then, and I wish I didn't… but to think she was even the student council president…"

"Oh, well, from what I understand she's totally a sheltered princess," Manaka says. "So, whatever the Kaharu Group might be up to, whether good or bad… I'm sure she has no knowledge of it whatsoever."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Inui grumbles.

"Um… have you heard the rumour of a vampire around here?" Rui asks. "Or in Hokuyo Ward, technically."

"Oh, that?" Manaka says. "I hear it now and then, yeah, but I don't think there's anything to it."

"Why do you think that?" I ask. "I mean, even if you don't believe vampires exist, the logical next guess would that be it's a magical girl."

"You do have a point," Manaka says. "I suppose it could be… but the rumours are too vague to substantiate in any case. I've never run into a magical girl that fits them, either. Anyway, I'm sure you didn't come here to chat. What can I get you?"

We place our orders, and Manaka disappears into the kitchen to prepare the food.

"Seems like she doesn't know anything," Rui says.

"Not that I expected her to," I say. "I mean, there was a chance, but it was a slim one."

When Manaka returns with the food, Inui presents the other question on her mind.

"Say, Mana-chi, can I ask you something?"

Manaka blinks. "Mana…chi…?"

"How long have you been a magical girl?"

"Hmm… I think it's almost exactly one year now," Manaka says. "Give or take a week."

"So, do you know about what happened last year?" Inui asks. "I heard there was some tension between magical girls of the east and west."

"Oh, that," Manaka says. "I wasn't really involved, but I did hear a bit about it, yeah."

"So, what actually happened?" Inui asks.

"It's not that complicated," Manaka says. "There were reports of magical girls from the west attacking those from the east and vice versa, and it came close to inciting all-out war."

"When you say reports… does that mean they weren't true?"

Manaka nods. "A new witch appeared in Chuo Ward around that time. It had the ability to create copies of other magical girls."

"Huh? This sounds familiar somehow," Inui says. "The Mirror Witch?"

"Oh, so you already know of it," Manaka says. "Yes, the witch was later lured to what is now known as the Mirror Mansion. Have you been there?"

"No… Ashley said it was dangerous to go alone," Inui says. "So I didn't. Anyway, you're saying the Mirror Witch was the cause of the tension?"

Manaka nods. "Yes, apparently. From what I've heard, the figureheads of the east and west – namely, Miss Izumi Kanagi and Miss Nanami Yachiyo, respectively – came to an agreement, mediated by Mifuyu-sempai."

"And that's why the city was divided in half," Inui says.

"Technically, it was divided into four parts," Manaka says. "East, west, central, and north. Hokuyo Ward was not involved in that situation at all and isn't included in the agreement, and Chuo Ward, the centre of the tension, was designated as neutral territory."

"Did a lot of magical girls die?" Inui asks.

"As a direct result of that? I don't know of any myself," Manaka says. "There were a few magical girls back then who aren't around now, though. I don't know exactly what happened to them, but I did hear that some girls challenged the Mirror Witch and never returned."

"So Ashley wasn't exaggerating when she said it's dangerous," Inui says.

"The Mirror Witch is a really strong witch," I say. "If she continues to elude capture, she could probably become the next catastrophe class witch…"

"Like Walpurgisnacht, you mean?" Manaka says. "I won't deny that's possible, but I doubt the Mirror Witch is anywhere close to that yet."

"I'm not saying she is," I say. "Only that she could get there if she goes undefeated for long enough."

"There's actually another witch around here that I'd be more worried about," Manaka says. "You know all those egg-like familiars that pop up all over the city? Apparently no-one's ever seen the witch herself… and I heard from Mifuyu-sempai that those familiars have been around for at least seven years."

"Oh, the Witch of Symbols," I say. "Yes, you're quite right… and there's also the Vagrant Witch, that one with signpost familiars…"

"That one doesn't seem all that strong, but it does keep popping up over and over again," Manaka says. "Maybe the original witch is elsewhere… we only face offshoots here in Kamihama."

"Somewhere deep in the mountains," I say.

"Who knows?" Manaka says. "Anyway, I'll leave you to your dinner."

Another customer has just entered, so she goes to take their order. We eat mostly in silence. Finally, the meal finished, I hand over some cash to Manaka and the three of us head back out.

"S-so um… where should we…?" Rui says.

"Hmm… why don't we swing by St Lilliana's first?" I suggest. "The sun hasn't fully set yet, so she might still be there."

"O-okay," Rui says. "Um… do you know the way…?"

"Roughly," I say.

"We can just use the map app to show us the way," Inui says.

"Or that works too," I say.

Inui takes out her phone and unlocks it. "St Lilliana's Academy, right?"

"Correct," I say.

"Alright… this way!" she says.

We follow a road heading roughly north towards the hills. After several minutes, we arrive at the imposing building that is St Lilliana's Academy, the prestigious private school for girls. Apparently it even has an elementary division, for Touka is a student there… although I suppose it's also possible she skipped a grade or two and is enrolled as a first-year middle school student, what we in North America would call a seventh-grader. We stop at the main school gate, which is swung closed but has been left a little ajar, enough for a few people to slip through. There's a light in the gatehouse, and a smattering of lights in the main building, so there's definitely some people still at school, but there's no-one visible on the grounds.

"W-whoa, it's… huuuge!" Rui gasps. "It's like a castle… it doesn't even compare to Kosho Academy…"

"Yeah, Kosho's pretty run-down," Inui admits. "It was a bit of a letdown transferring there from Mitakihara Middle School, which has all the latest gadgets… though it's fine, and I've already gotten used to the change. Still… this beast's on a whole other level."

"You got that right," I say. "This is the school for sheltered princesses who don't understand the world…"

"That again?" Inui says. "I'm sure there are types like that here, like Miss Kaharu, but there must also be hard-working students whose parents are struggling to pay tuition… or even some who have a scholarship…"

"That's true," I say. "In fact, Miss Kurumi applied to enter this school… but she didn't quite make it, apparently. Still, it shows that regular people can enter, at least in theory."

"Ohh, I had no idea," Inui says.

"Okay…"

I take out my soul gem and feel for magic presences. Sure enough, there's a presence in the school. In fact, there's actually two presences – one is clearly a magical girl, but the other feels like a rumour.

"Can you sense that?" I ask.

Inui and Rui follow my example, also sensing for magical presences, then nod.

"There's… a magical girl," Rui says. "But… there's also… something… different…? Not a magical girl… not a witch… but some sort of magic…"

"That… that's a rumour, isn't it?" Inui says.

"It sure is," I say. "So let's avoid the rumour, okay?"

"What do you mean by a rumour…?" Rui asks.

"It's a strange sort of magical creature that exists to enforce a rumour," I explain. "If you get caught up in it and try to go against the rumour, it'll attack you… but as long as you don't get caught up, or if you go along with it instead of against it, you'll be okay. That said, going along with it is usually not good for your health, so try to avoid them if you sense them elsewhere in town."

Rui nods. "I've actually sensed magic similar to that a few times, but I could never find the source," she says.

"They do tend to be difficult to locate, especially if they're not associated with a specific location," I say.

"So, should we go after the magical girl?" Inui asks.

"Well… I have a feeling we'd get weird looks if we were spotted on the school grounds," I say. "Actually, I guess that applies even if we're just standing here, though… I wonder if there's any other students around?"

"The grounds do seem to be deserted," Inui says. "But the gate's still ajar… and there are lights, so there's clearly a few people still around."

"Some of those lights could be cleaning staff," I say. "Maybe a few teachers staying up late to mark papers… and of course, our target who's presumably taking supplementary lessons…"

"Huh? I think the presence is moving," Rui says.

"Oh, you're right," I say. "She's… sort of vaguely coming closer, I guess…?"

"No, I don't think she's coming any closer," Inui says.

She's probably right – the presence is moving laterally, not really coming closer or receding further. A minute or two later though, the presence does begin to move noticeably closer, and then the main doors swing open and a figure emerges, her silver hair glinting in the lingering light of dusk. She crosses the grounds, making for the gate where we're gathered, but halfway across she stops, looking right at us for a few seconds. Then she reaches back and tucks a few stray strands of hair behind her ear before continuing towards us. After slipping through the gate, she turns to look at us, her face utterly devoid of emotion. Up close, it's clear that her hair is actually really long and gathered into a loose ponytail. There's a black scrunchy constraining it around shoulder level.

"You three," she says. "What do you want?"

"W-well, um… we heard a rumour of a vampire…" Rui says.

"And?" the girl says. "You came all the way here… just for a stupid rumour?" She shrugs. "Well, in a manner of speaking, I suppose you've found her. The rumour's about me, apparently. Took me long enough to realize that, though."

"Um, are you… Irina Kushu?" Inui asks.

Unexpectedly, the girl shakes her head.

"No, no, no," she says testily. "Why does everyone mispronounce my name? It's Irina Kusch. Just Kusch, no ooooh on the end."

I blink. "Huh? Wait a second… that's not a Japanese name then… is that your surname?"

"Oh…? You can tell?" she says. "Yes, my parents are from Europe, so Irina is my given name and Kusch is my surname."

"I see…" Inui says. "I'm sorry for getting it wrong."

"It's fine," Irina says. "I'm used to it."

"My name is Itsumi Inui," Inui says. "And these two are Mizuki Rui and Ashley Taylor."

"Another European name…?" Irina says.

I nod. "I'm an exchange student from California. That's why it was so obvious to me that your name was not Japanese."

Actually, now that I think about it, the characters in Magia Record may have also commented on that aspect of her name…? I can't quite remember, but I think that happened.

"Huuuh… but really, why are you here? You can't expect me to believe the rumour is the only reason."

"Well… we heard there was a veteran magical girl around these parts," Inui says. "So I thought it might be nice to meet you! There wasn't really any deep reason to it."

"Huuuh… someone's calling me a veteran…?" Irina says.

"Well, how long have you been a magical girl for?" Inui asks.

"Uhh… about… three… four years… I think?" Irina says. "Most of that time wasn't around here, though."

"Then that definitely makes you a veteran!" Inui says. "Don't you know that most magical girls don't even last a whole year?"

"Well… I had some idea," Irina says. "I did lose a friend who was a magical girl… I didn't know how long she was one, though. Only recently did I find out that she contracted just before we met…"

"I also heard you had quite a stash of grief seeds," I say.

Irina frowns. "I can guess who you heard that from… but I lost most of them to the rumour."

"Ohhh, you got caught up in the rumour, huh?" Inui says. "Are you okay?"

Irina nods. "I'm fine… in fact, I'm glad I got caught up in it."

"Huh… that's weird," Inui says. "Unless it's another one like… but Miss Nemu said…"

She trails off, frowning a little.

"If you know about rumours, are you in the Wings of the Magius?" Irina asks.

"The what…?" Rui says.

"W-well, um…" Inui says.

"Rui-chan, please don't speak of this to Riko-chan," I say. "But… the Wings of the Magius are a shady organization working to free magical girls from their fate."

"U-um… that doesn't sound like a bad thing," Rui says.

"It's not a bad thing, at a basic level," I say. "The problem is their methods… the end justifies the means, in their mind."

"So you're adversaries to the Wings of the Magius," Irina says. "I see…"

"By the way, have you met any of the other magical girls who go to your school?" I ask.

"Huh? There are others?" Irina says.

"There definitely are," I say. "The ones I know for sure are Satomi Touka and Chihiro Karen."

Inui gasps. "Ah! You're right! I only realized just now, but Miss Kusch's uniform is the same one Touka-chan wears! I thought there was something familiar about it…"

"Well, she's from a wealthy family, and a mathematical genius to boot, so I guess her father decided to send her here," I say. "There might also be a magical girl here named Yuzuki Hotori."

"Oh… that sounds familiar," Inui says. "I think I heard that name once at Fendt Hope…? Only the surname, mind you…"

"So she is one, then," I say. "There's probably at least one more besides them, too."

"Other than Miss Makino and Miss Nanase not long ago, the three of you, and Miss Natsu, I haven't seen any other magical girls for a very long time," Irina says. "At least one year… maybe two…"

Wait, what? She knows Natsu Ryoko? Now that's a bit of a surprise. Although I guess St Lilliana's isn't all that far from Ryoko's village, so maybe I shouldn't be so surprise that they'd run into each other at least occasionally.

"Oh, you know Miss Nanase…?" Inui says.

"I wouldn't say I know her," Irina says. "I met her, once."

"You've got a point," Inui says. "It's hard to get to know someone from just a single meeting…"

"U-um… since we're all here," Rui says. "W-why don't we… hunt a witch…?"

"I prefer to fight alone," Irina says.

"But you've got lots of grief seeds, right?" Inui says.

"Didn't you hear me say that I lost most of them?" Irina asks.

"Even if that's true, with the number of witches around here, I'm sure you've gathered a lot more since then," Inui says. "If you could build up that many once, you can do it again, right? So it's not like you need to fight witches every day…"

"But if I don't, they might kill someone," Irina says. "Hmm… alright, if you insist, we can fight a witch."

"What made you change your mind so suddenly?" Inui asks, startled.

"The fact that I don't really need grief seeds," Irina says. "You're correct, I have five or six on me right now… it's nothing compared to what I lost, but it's still quite a lot, I'm told."

"T-that is a lot," Rui gasps. "I usually only have one, or at most two…"

"I don't have any most of the time," Inui says. "I use them up about as fast as I get them. Though that has changed a bit since I came to Kamihama – there's just so many witches here compared to Mitakihara."

So we end up following Irina as she tracks down a witch, which turns out to be the Vagrant Witch, Lucy – an offshoot of that monstrous witch near the Tokime village, the same one I mentioned in our conversation with Manaka. Watching Irina fight, it's easy to see at least one reason why she doesn't need many grief seeds – she appears not to use her unique magic at all when facing familiars, relying instead on pure physical combat using her weapons. She wields something like a sabre or rapier in her right hand, and a shorter, broader-bladed sword in her left hand. The rapier's blade has a red sheen to it, while the short sword's blade has a blue sheen.

This also represents the first time I have seen Rui fight, or even transform for that matter. She wields a scythe with a wavy blade, cutting down a familiar with every swing, and I can sense the magic in her every attack. Her perfect hit record probably isn't a matter of pure combat skill – Lucy's familiars may not be the most agile, but even I miss a few swings here and there. She's probably using her magic to ensure she always hits the brain every single time. I don't quite remember what her magic is, only that it was able to save the life of a cat… maybe it's a sort of life-saving magic that can be reversed to end lives.

Once we reach the witch's chamber though, Irina yawns, stretches, and banishes her weapons, stepping aside to allow us to take on the witch. I connect with Rui, since as I recall her magic is also of the darkness element, which makes us highly compatible. After receiving my power, she swings her scythe twice at the air.

"Behold my ultimate attack, which saps the life from my enemies! Final Dead Emblem!"

The attack name itself is in English, apparently. I'm sure she has some bizarre kanji rendering of it in mind, too. The attack stops the witch in her tracks thanks to my charm magic, allowing all three of us to jump in and shred her while she's not resisting.

"I guess you're not bad," Irina says, yawning again as the labyrinth collapses.

"You can keep the grief seed, Rui-chan," I say. "That is, assuming it's fine with Miss Kusch."

"Like I said, I have plenty," Irina says.

"A-are you sure?" Rui gasps.

"I have a few already," I say. "So I don't desperately need one right now."

"And I have a fresh one right now, too," Inui says. "So I'll be fine at least until tomorrow."

"My current one's almost used up, so that's helpful," Rui says. "Thank you…"

"So, Miss Kusch… is there any chance I could convince you to tell us the story of how you got entangled in a rumour?" I ask.

"Well… hmm… the night is young, and I don't really have anything else to do," Irina says. "Sure… I'll tell you a story."

We find a nearby park to sit down, and she begins the tale.

---

Irina was half-asleep, on her way to school. The sun had not yet set, but was low enough that she could manage to stay awake.

"Mommy, daddy, look what I found!"

The voice of a little girl intruded on her consciousness, jolting her to full wakefulness for a moment.

"Aneka-neesan…" she mumbled. "Wish I could say goodbye… one last time…"

The little girl's father stepped up to her, startling her. She stared at him for a moment.

"Excuse me, miss," he said.

He held out an elaborate-looking hand mirror.

"I believe you dropped this."

Irina looked at the mirror, blinking several times in confusion as she struggled to remain conscious.

"Ah… um… that's not mine," she said.

She couldn't retain consciousness long enough to make out his response, however, and when she next jolted awake, the mirror was still in her hands, and the family was nowhere in sight. She wondered if she'd imagined them. It wouldn't be the first time she'd hallucinated in the early hours of the evening. Maybe she'd just picked the mirror up herself and imagined the rest of the encounter.

"Ah… I gotta… get to school…" she mumbled.

She managed to put one foot in front of the other, and eventually, St Lilliana's academy loomed before her. There were a number of girls standing outside the gate, most in the St Lilliana's uniform, chatting about random trivia, like vampires and similar nonsense. One girl, however, wore a purple uniform of… of… she couldn't remember the school's name, but the two schools frequently had shared events, so she saw that uniform fairly often. The girl appeared at first to have short blonde hair, but as she turned to peer anxiously through the half-closed school gate, her whip-like ponytail was revealed. She was not engaging in conversation with the others, simply standing there in silence.

Suddenly Irina tripped and fell with a groan. In her half-conscious state, the slightest bump in the road was enough to throw her off-balance. The impact jolted her to full wakefulness though, and she got to her feet almost immediately. The purple girl took a couple of steps forward.

"Um… are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm… fine," Irina said.

"Please be careful," the girl said. "You could have seriously injured yourself."

"Thanks," Irina mumbled. "Gotta hurry… supplementary… classes…"

"Huh?" one of the other girls said. "Are you a student here…? I do not believe I have seen you before…"

"S'fine," Irina said. "I'm still a student… somehow…"

She slipped by the girls and darted through the gate. Their voices wafted back to her, picking up a new topic – some rumour about a magic mirror or something.

She'd barely taken five steps when she nearly collided with a girl heading the other way, with an armband bearing the badge of the student council.

"O-oh, sorry!" Irina gasped.

"It's okay," the other girl said.

Irina's sharp ears picked up the conversation as the student council member reached the gate.

"Sorry I'm late!" she said. "You must be… Miss Nanase, correct? You're here to discuss our next exchange meeting?"

"Ah, yes!" the girl from the other school said. "I'm Nanase Yukika."

"Please follow me," the student council member said.

As a result, the two of them ended up sort of following Irina as she made her way towards the school building.

"Um, so, has the date been settled yet?" Yukika asked.

"It has not," the student council member said. "We have floated ideas of a flower-viewing party, but if we choose that option, the date will depend on the cherry blossoms. It seems they are supposed to be somewhat late this year, so it may even be after Golden Week."

"Oh, that's a lovely idea," Yukika said.

"The other option under consideration is a moon-viewing party in September," the student council member continued.

"That's quite a long way away," Yukika mused. "Perhaps we could even do both…"

They reached the school building, and Irina headed left while the other two headed right, so she didn't get to hear much more of the conversation. She located the classroom where the supplementary classes were supposed to be held and entered it. As usual, there was no-one else there. Occasionally, she would be joined by some other student who had done poorly on some test or other, but most of the time, she was the only one taking the supplementary classes.

She took a seat at one of the desks, and lay her head down on the desk to wait for the teacher to arrive. However, when she awoke some time later, it wasn't to the teacher's voice but instead to a strange noise and a flash of light.

The mirror she'd received from that man was sitting on the desk before her, and she blinked at it. She'd thought that encounter had been a dream, but seeing the mirror again right in front of her proved otherwise. Could it be related to the rumour those girls had been discussing earlier…?

Next to the mirror lay her notebook, where she'd gotten it out in preparation for the lesson. However, the page it lay open to was covered in writing. The entire text of the Rumour of the Dreaming Mirror was laid out right there in front of her. It was her own handwriting, yet she didn't remember writing it. She read through the whole thing three times, frowning in confusion.

"It's almost like a riddle…?" she muttered.

She got to her feet and grabbed the mirror and notebook, then headed out into the halls just as that girl from the other school rounded the corner and spotted her.

"Oh! It's you!" Yukika said. "Um, I'm Nanase Yukika… I'm a first-year high school student at Mizuna Girl's School."

"Eh? Um… Irina Kusch," she replied. "Kusch is my surname… I'm a third-year middle school student here at St Lilliana's. I think… I might be dreaming…"

"W-well… I don't know about dreaming, but there's definitely something troublesome going on here," Yukika said. "Why don't we investigate together?"

"Sure," Irina said.

"So, pardon my curiosity, but what were you doing alone in a classroom?" Yukika asked.

"I was waiting for the supplementary class to start," Irina said. "I don't come to school during the day, so I have to take supplementary classes every evening."

"Why don't you just come during the day?" Yukika asked, startled.

Irina sighed and didn't answer, but Yukika pressed the point.

"Do you have some sort of illness?" she asked. "Or something else troubling you that you can't come during the day?"

"I can't wake up," Irina said. "Not during the day. I just can't. It's hard enough to stay awake now, in the early evening."

She began to nod off even as she said that.

"Um, are you asleep…?" Nanaka asked after a moment.

The question jolted her to wakefulness again.

"I-I wasn't sleeping!" Irina gasped. "Since I don't attend at all, I have to come in for these classes every evening and get at least an eighty percent on everything."

"I'm surprised that such a high-class school would allow that," Yukika said.

"That's true," Irina said. "I have to keep high grades to pass, but since I literally cannot wake up during the day, they didn't drop me out and came up with this arrangement so that I could at least have a chance to graduate."

They fell silent and continued walking for awhile, but it eventually became clear that something was wrong. They should have reached a corner already.

"You know… were St Lilliana's halls always this long?" Yukika asked. "It feels like we've been walking forever without turning a corner…"

"Maybe it's because of the dreaming mirror," Irina said.

"What on earth is that…?" Yukika asked.

"No idea…"

"Huh? Do you hear that?" Yukika said.

A voice lilted through the halls, singing some sort of upbeat pop song. It seemed to be coming from a classroom somewhere up ahead. Yukika and Irina quickened their pace and located the specific classroom the singing was coming from. Yukika knocked on the door, and the voice abruptly cut off, turning into a fake cough as Yukika opened the door. The girl within was clad in black robes with a fur-lined collar and a white design along the hems that resembled eyes, and she wore a gaudy golden pendant at her throat. The symbol on the hood itself could either be wings or the antennae of some kind of insect – it was impossible to be sure.

"Pardon the interruption," Yukika said.

"Who on earth are you…?" Irina asked.

The girl cleared her throat. "J-just think of me as… as a nameless black feather…"

Yukika and Irina looked at each other in confusion.

"A black… feather…?" Yukika said.

"Yes… from the Wings of the Magius…?" the black feather said hesitantly.

"Ah, is that some sort of organization?" Yukika asked.

"A group of magical girls like yourselves," the black feather said.

Yukika and Irina looked at each other, blinking, and spoke over each other.

"You're a magical girl!?" they gasped.

"You didn't even realize!?" the black feather gasped.

"It never even occurred to me that Miss Kusch might be a magical girl," Yukika said.

"I was just half-asleep so I didn't really think about it," Irina said.

"Anyway, I am Nanase Yukika."

"Oh, right… Irina Kusch… my surname is Kusch."

"So, um… which one of you dragged me in here?" the black feather asked. "At least one of you has to have an idea of how we got here… maybe you cast a weird spell before bed, or opened a door that is never opened, or received something from an older man…?"

"Oh, yes," Irina said. "Some man gave me this."

She extracted the mirror from her pocket and showed it off. Strangely, it didn't reflect her image, yet the other two girls were reflected like normal.

"Ohh, I know this rumour," the black feather said. "I heard it lets you redo the past…"

She recited most of the text of the rumour, just as it had been written in Irina's notebook, though she missed a few parts and altered a few words. Irina nodded.

"Yeah, that's more or less what was written in my notebook when I woke up," she said. "It was in my handwriting, but I didn't remember writing it…"

"Well, that explains why you're in here," the black feather said. "But why did the two of us get sucked in…? I only came to this school to drop something off for Lady Touka… I can't believe I ended up getting sucked into a rumour…"

"I probably got sucked in because of my magic," Yukika said. "It always drags me into troublesome situations like this, usually without warning. This time it seems like Miss Kusch is the star, though. After all, she's the only one not reflected in the mirror, right? Plus, the mirror was given to her. Miss Kusch, is there something from your past that you wish to redo?"

"Hmm… actually, there is," Irina said. "There's someone I'd like to meet again, someone I never got a chance to say goodbye to – my neighbour, Aneka-neesan."

Yukika nodded. "Then we'll help you so we can all get out of here!" she said.

The black feather nodded too. "This is probably some sort of test," she said. "That must be why the three of us are here together. Miss… Kusch, was it? Can you think of any reason at all why three unrelated people would suddenly meet like this?"

"Hmm," Irina said. "Actually, it reminds me of a book I was reading a few years ago…"

"What might this book be?" Yukika asked.

"It's called Il Mare d'Otranto," Irina said. "It's volume four of a series of children's novels called Le Favole dell'Addio, by a foreign author I'm quite fond of."

"Um, what language is that…?" the black feather asked.

"Italian, of course," Irina said.

"Right…"

"So, what's the book about?" Yukika asked.

"Well… the main character is searching through their dreams for a long-lost soulmate who went missing," Irina explained. "She enters a world of dreams and memories of the past, where she meets two friends and goes on a long journey together with them. The journey starts with a long corridor, much like we just saw before we found this, uhhh… black feather…"

"So far it seems like everything is matching up," Yukika said.

"The only thing is, the first person I'm supposed to meet is a fencer," Irina said. "But you don't seem much like the fencer from the book, Miss Nanase."

Yukika transformed and brandished her sword, a thin-bladed rapier.

"I may not look much like it, but I do have a sword!" she said.

"Oh, it's even a fencing sword," Irina said.

Having shown off her weapon, Yukika powered down again before continuing to speak.

"You're right though – I'm closer to a 'Villager A' than some major character… I really don't have the air of a fencer."

"This sounds like less of a children's book and more of an eighth-grade syndrome book," the black feather muttered.

"What on earth is eighth-grade syndrome…?" Irina asked.

"Uhh, never mind," the black feather said. "It doesn't really matter."

"Okay, so if you're filling in for the fencer," Irina said, "then next we should follow a mysterious voice and befriend a joyful ghost…"

"That seems to fit too," Yukika said. "After all, we heard the singing and met this… black feather."

"Y-you heard that!?" the black feather gasped. "That's kinda embarrassing…"

"And you're sorta dressed like a ghost, too," Yukika added. "This is Miss Kusch's dream, right? So I guess it's her interpretation that matters."

"So, what's the main character of this book like?" the black feather asked.

Irina transformed, brandishing her weapons.

"She is the last inquisitor!" she proclaimed. "The final exorcist!"

"P-p-please don't exorcise me!" the black feather gasped.

"It's alright," Irina said. "You're the good ghost, after all."

She powered down again.

"So… this is some sort of test from this book you've been reading, right?" Yukika said. "We've got the swordsman and the joyful ghost, so what's next?"

"Hmm, what was it," Irina mused. "Oh yes… I think… we have to go to an ancient library…?"

"You're not sure…?" Yukika said. "You read the book, didn't you?"

"Well… I never finished it," Irina said. "It was in a library… I only had time to read the first few chapters before I had to leave. Aneka-neesan read the whole thing though, and she told me a bit about it… I'm pretty sure there was an ancient library."

"You couldn't find the book again?" Yukika asked. "Couldn't you just go back to the library…?"

"That was when I was visiting Italy for the summer," Irina said. "I don't even remember which library it was. None of the libraries in Kamihama have it… it's a rare book even in Italy, apparently."

"But you said it was by your favourite author, didn't you?" the black feather said.

"Yes… I've read other books by that author," Irina said. "I just never managed to read that one… I've always wondered how it ended, so every so often I daydream about it…"

"So… you don't know how it ends?" the black feather asked.

"No… Aneka-neesan never told me that part," Irina said.

"So we're just stumbling through the dark…" the black feather muttered.

"Hmm," Irina said. "The closest thing to an ancient library around here would be the St Lilliana's school library… it's not that ancient, but it must be about a hundred years old at least."

"Do you know how to get there?" Yukika asked.

"What do you take me for?" Irina retorted. "I am a student of this school, you know."

"But you never go to class," Yukika said.

"That doesn't mean I don't know my way around the school," Irina said. "Sometimes I have to go do homework in the library, you know."

She led the way back into the hallway, descending to ground level and heading out into the grounds. As they passed a fountain with a statue depicting a woman, perhaps the school's namesake, Yukika broached the next question.

"So… what are we supposed to do once we get to the library?" she asked.

Irina paused to consider the question, then extracted the scrunchy from her hair and pressed it to her cheek.

"We need to collect memories," Irina said. "The main character in the book was collecting the memories of their lost soulmate, who was a princess buried beneath the castle. Once she'd collected all the memories, the princess woke up and escaped from the dream world they resided in."

"Wow, for someone who hasn't even read the book, you've sure memorized a lot of the plot," Yukika said.

"I'm not so sure," Irina said. "I'm probably slipping some of my own imagination into the story… I'm sorry for not knowing the full story."

"Why'd you take your hair down, though?" Yukika asked.

"The scrunchy is a gift from Aneka-neesan," Irina said. "I thought it might be relevant."

When she stopped walking, starting to drift off, the black feather stepped up and tentatively poked her, jolting her back to wakefulness.

"I-I wasn't sleeping!" Irina gasped.

She continued walking towards the library.

"I used to read a lot of fairy tales and children's books," she said. "That's how I met Aneka-neesan… we quickly became fast friends. It almost felt like I'd met her before, somewhere… I had just moved to another country, but it was through our shared love of books that we bonded."

"Have you often gone overseas?" Yukika asked. "Or was Japan the new country you moved to?"

Irina shook her head. "I was born in Japan," she said. "We moved around a lot – I've lived in Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Hungary, Russia, and various other countries… so I can speak most of those languages at least a little, but I can only really hold a conversation in German."

"You were born in Japan?" Irina asked. "Your name doesn't sound Japanese, though. Are you a half?"

Irina shrugged. "Probably about one-eighth Japanese?"

"Wait, if you didn't know Italian very well… did you read a Japanese translation of that book?" Yukika asked.

"It was a German translation, actually," Irina said. "We spent a bit more time in Germany than other countries, and Dad even spoke German at home sometimes. Aneka-neesan apparently read the original Italian though."

They arrived at the library, which was apparently still unlocked, and Irina made for the children's section. After a minute or so she plucked two books off the shelf – the first two volumes of the series.

"What have you found there?" Yukika asked.

"It's volumes one and two of Le Favole dell'Addio," Irina said. "Apparently a Japanese translation…"

"Is there anything odd about it?" the black feather asked.

"Let me see," Irina said.

She opened the second volume, and there was a flash of light. She saw before her the first witch she'd ever seen, and there was her younger self cowering as a familiar raised its sword to cut her down… but then Aneka zoomed in, a fuzzy presence cutting down all of the familiars before turning upon the witch itself, charging up magic in the palm of her hand and firing a beam powerful enough to tear the creature in two. Fuzzy didn't mean she was hard to make out – it was a description of her outfit. It would probably be called a Santa outfit if not for the colour, blue like the sky.

"Wow!" the younger Irina said. "You used magic! Just like the princess did in the book!"

Aneka turned to face her with a smile.

"It's nothing that amazing," she said. "In fact, you're capable of it too, just like the heroine."

And then she was back in the library. The light released from the book she'd opened was absorbed into the scrunchy she still held in her hand.

"Okay, I guess the memory has been absorbed into the scrunchy," the black feather said. "We probably need to absorb more memories before we can leave…"

"Um… d-did you both see that?" Irina asked. "The memory…"

"Indeed we did," Yukika said.

"That's… so embarrassing…"

The black feather giggled a little, but smothered it at a look from Irina.

"A-anyway," Irina said. "The next step is… finding a lantern… or at least something like it, something that would be used in older times…"

"What about… a projector?" Yukika said. "The audio-visual room would probably have one. They aren't used much these days, not when you have literal computer screens at the front of every classroom."

"That would probably work," Irina said. "Sorry for not knowing the whole story."

They left the library and headed back to the main school building.

"Miss feather… are there any other rumours?" Yukika asked. "Do these black feathers of the… what was it… Wings of the Magius…? Do they have anything to do with what's going on?"

The black feather gulped.

"Uhh, ahh, well… yes, there are more rumours," she said. "I'm a low-ranking member though, so I don't know that much. I've already told you everything I know about this particular rumour. I'm sorry I can't be of more help…"

"What's with that robe, anyway?" Irina asked. "Is that how you really look when you transform?"

"Oh yes, I was wondering the same thing," Yukika said. "I think I've seen a girl in that robe before, near Mizuna Girl's School…"

"Arrgh, enough…!" the black feather groaned.

Suddenly she threw her robes off or something, or more accurately, there was a flash and they were gone. Underneath she wore a standard black-and-white maid's outfit… except for the length of the skirt, which stopped around mid-thigh. She did a curtsey, flaring her skirt out.

"I'm actually everyone's maid idol, Ikumin!" she said. "Makino Ikumi, at your service!"

"W-whoa, your character suddenly changed…!" Yukika gasped.

"This is the real me, sweetie!" Ikumi said. "But you mustn't tell a soul about this, pretty please?"

"I promise!" Yukika said.

"Yes, of course," Irina said.

Ikumi transformed, but it was still a maid uniform, only more elaborate now – purple striped stockings, purple hearts on the skirt, an external corset-type vest-thing, and some extra frills.

"Huh? What did you just…?" Irina said.

"I was dressed as a maid because I work at a maid café and was on my break," Ikumi explained. "So that was just my work uniform. This is my magical girl form. As for the black robes, they're to protect each girl's privacy, so please refrain from asking questions about them in the future."

"I deeply apologize, Miss Makino," Yukika said. "I did not intend to force you to reveal your secrets…"

"I'm sorry too, Miss Makino," Irina said.

"Oh, there's not the eensiest thing for you to worry about!" Ikumi said. "And please, just call me Ikumi! Say, um… do you suppose it's okay for me to still play the ghost role in my maid outfit?"

Yukika smiled. "Well, Miss Ikumi… the ghost was supposed to be cheerful anyway, so I imagine it to be fine."

They reached the audio-visual room and found it to be unlocked, so the three of them headed inside. Yukika switched the light on, and Irina spotted a projector on a shelf in the corner, so she walked over, plugged it into a wall outlet, and switched it on as well. Then she found herself experiencing another memory.

"Congratulations!" Aneka was saying. "You did a really good job, finding that witch's barrier and telling me about it! Thanks to you, I was able to save a lot of people!"

But the younger Irina seemed to be spaced out and not really listening.

"Oh, look at the time!" Aneka said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Irina-chan!"

And with that, she ran off.

Then the scene shifted. The younger Irina was sitting in a chair facing sideways in front of the window, in her pyjamas – essentially a slip that reached to her hips, leaving her legs exposed. A starry sky was visible outside the window, and the thinnest sliver of light that was the new moon.

Aneka was there too, also in her pyjamas. She sat on the floor, leaning up against Irina's bed. And Kyuubey was also there, curled up on Aneka's lap.

"This was like a dream to me," the younger Irina mused. "Watching you fight just like the princess in the story, Aneka-neesan… it's fascinating. I wish I could fight alongside you, and yet… in a few more hours, morning will come, and this dream will end…"

"Do you want to become a magical girl too, Irina-chan?" Aneka asked.

Kyuubey raised his head to gaze at her.

"Are you willing to accept the fate of fighting magical girls in exchange for a wish, Irina Kusch?" he asked.

"Yes… yes, I think I'm ready to make a wish," the younger Irina said.

Aneka smiled. "Then allow me to welcome you to the team," she said. "I've been waiting for this day when you'd join me, Irina-chan."

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

"I wish… I wish morning would never come," the younger Irina said.

Kyuubey drew out her soul gem, and she transformed, brandishing her newfound weapons and striking a pose.

"Oh my god!" Aneka gasped. "You're just like the last inquisitor, Irina-chan!"

"Yes!" the younger Irina said. "Now we can defeat witches and their curses together!"

"No, no, no," Aneka said. "The line is 'purge them together'! But that wish of yours… it really startled me, but it's actually quite like you, Irina-chan. Here…"

She reached out and grabbed her purse which was laying on the ground nearby, and dug out a black scrunchy which she held out to Irina.

"You were just reborn today as a magical girl, so think of this as a birthday present of sorts," she said.

The younger Irina accepted it and pulled her hair forward over her shoulder, using the scrunchy to form a ponytail.

"I've been preparing for this day for a long time, you know," Aneka said. "It's like I just got a new little sister, one who believes in my dreams."

"Yes!" the younger Irina said. "Can… can I call you onee-chan?"

Aneka chuckled. "Well… Mom and Dad might be pretty shocked, so… probably not…"

The memory ended there, and Irina found herself back in the audio-visual room. As before, some light was transferred from the projector into her scrunchy. She switched the projector off again.

"So you're also chasing a dream with a friend," Ikumi said. "Just like me…"

"That memory resonates with me too," Yukika said. "For I thought I was dreaming when I made my wish."

"I see," Ikumi said. "Miss Kusch is always sleepy, so I guess that means we all have connected dreams in common…"

"I probably just don't get enough sleep," Irina said. "My wish completely altered my sleep cycle… I fall asleep the moment the sun rises and can't get up until evening. But because of the supplementary classes, I have to get up before sunset, which means that most days I just haven't gotten enough sleep."

"So you are saying that the moment the sun rises, you fall asleep?" Yukika asked. "No matter what?"

"That's right," Irina said.

"That must be pretty inconvenient at times," Yukika said.

"What if you're running a little late getting home…?" Ikumi asked.

"Then I conk out in the middle of the road," Irina said. "My family got a lot of doctors to check me out, but they couldn't do anything to help, so that's why I go to school in the evening while I'm still sleepy. I can manage to force myself to stay awake until the sun sets. It's like if a normal person had to get up at three in the morning to get to school. But if I don't take these makeup classes every day, I won't be able to graduate."

"Do you know anyone in your class?" Ikumi asked.

"I don't even know what my classmates look like," Irina said. "I've never seen them, not even once. I do fully wake up by around midnight, but that makes it hard to purge witches too, since I have to make it home before sunrise."

"Hang on, what's all this about 'purging' witches?" Ikumi asked. "I've never heard someone call it that before… have you, Miss Yukika?"

"No, I haven't," Yukika said.

"The main character in that series, the last inquisitor, uses the word 'purge' when dealing with vampires and demons," Irina explained. "Oh, sorry, I'm getting a bit hungry…"

She took out a small plastic box filled with grape tomatoes and plucked one out of the box.

"Ah, would you like one?"

"N-no, um, I'm good," Ikumi said.

"Thank you, but I must politely decline," Yukika said.

As Irina bit the tomato in half, Ikumi blinked at her.

"I just noticed, you sorta have little fangs there," she said. "It's super-cute!"

Irina just shrugged. Once she'd sated her hunger on the tomatoes, she stowed the remainder in her bag, and the three of them left the audio-visual room.

"I can't help but notice that the evening is going on for an awful long time," Ikumi said. "It's like it's never going to end…"

"Maybe it's because this is a dream," Irina said.

"Indeed," Yukika said. "It could be that when we return to reality, we will find that no time has passed at all."

"Oh, I hope so," Ikumi said. "I need to get back to the café before they start missing me…"

"Do you think collecting these memories has something to do with redoing the past?" Yukika wondered.

"I'm not sure," Irina said. "Maybe it's actually a mental test to see if I'm worthy of redoing the past…"

"But didn't you want to redo your meeting with Miss Aneka?" Ikumi asked.

"Well… yes," Irina said.

"Come to think of it… the text of the rumour said the entry fee is 'priceless'," Ikumi said. "What does that even mean…?"

"Generally it means something of such great value that no price could compensate for it," Yukika said. "Something unique and irreplaceable, for example."

"I wonder if that means changing something in the past could have a huge cost to Miss Kusch," Ikumi said.

"So, where do we go next?" Yukika asked.

"Um… let's go back to the fountain," Irina said. "I think there was something about… gazing into the water to see the past… or something like that. Or was that from a different book…?"

"Well, it's probably fine even if it is," Yukika said.

"What do you mean?" Irina asked.

"I mean, this is your dream, right?" Yukika said. "You're free to imagine whatever you want it to be… it doesn't matter if it's off from the actual book."

"Yeah, I think so too," Ikumi said. "After all, you've been right about each location so far."

They headed back outside to the fountain, and Irina leaned forward to gaze into the water. After a few moments, there was another flash, and she found herself viewing another memory. This time, she saw herself talking with Aneka's parents.

"I'm afraid she hasn't returned home since she left for school yesterday," Aneka's mother said.

"Alright…"

"Have you heard anything, Irina-chan?" Aneka's father asked.

"I haven't," the younger Irina said. "I haven't seen her since last night."

"Well, we'll let you know if we find anything, okay?" Aneka's mother said.

"I think I can guess what's coming next," Ikumi muttered.

The younger Irina stepped back out into the darkened street and transformed.

"I've gotta find her," she said. "If Aneka-neesan died to a witch, this would be all my fault since I can't wake up during the day to fight alongside her."

She made for the school, where she sensed a powerful witch. After a few minutes of tracking it, she located the witch's labyrinth and hopped inside. Even the familiars were quite powerful, but after taking out twenty or thirty of them she worked out a way to avoid them by blending into the shadows. A few familiars discovered her anyway, but it was easier to take them out when they could only intermittently track her location.

Finally, the younger Irina arrived at the central chamber of the witch's labyrinth. She charged in with guns blazing, so to speak – flames erupting from her rapier, frost swirling about her main-gauche, surrounded by a cloud of bats carved out from the shadows. The shadow bats raced ahead of her, dive-bombing the witch and interfering with her attempts to attack, and seconds later, Irina herself followed suit, slashing a hole in the witch's body with her flaming sword and then thrusting both weapons into the gap. Hot and cold came together and exploded, throwing her back and mortally wounding the witch.

…or so she'd planned. It certainly did do a lot of damage, but as she landed on the ground, the elemental energies fading from her weapons, she saw the witch begin to recover. She faded into the shadows to avoid detection, and waited a few moments while the witch looked around, trying to find the person who dared to attack her. This caused the witch to present its back to Irina, at which point she erupted from the shadows once more, carving them up into bats that charged alongside her. One weakness of this witch was that it seemed unable to move all that quickly, so as the witch continually turned to try and see its attacker, the younger Irina continued to move to stay behind her. Slash, stab, stab, slash, slash, stab… the cycle seemed to go on forever.

After a couple of minutes, she could no longer maintain the shadow bats, but at least the witch was also showing signs of flagging. The younger Irina decided that now was the time to finish it. She called up the elemental energies on her swords once more and leapt into the air, brandishing them as she did a back-flip to bring herself directly over the witch.

"Unleash! Seraphic Trial!" she shouted.

She crossed the blades, and then gravity did the rest – slicing clean through the witch's body, the severed sections propelled apart by the explosion where hot met cold.

It worked. The labyrinth collapsed, and Irina snatched the grief seed out of the air before collapsing on the ground, panting from the exertion. After a few seconds of catching her breath, she checked on her soul gem. It was in bad shape, probably about ninety-five percent corrupted.

"You seem like you're having trouble."

Kyuubey appeared before her before she had the chance to purify her soul gem.

"Little bit," the younger Irina panted. "That witch… this is pretty close to the school… I wonder if it killed Aneka-neesan?"

"In fact, the one who killed her was you," Kyuubey said.

"I mean, yes… this is probably… my fault… but… I didn't kill her directly…"

"Just now," Kyuubey said. "The witch you just killed used to be your friend, Aneka."

The younger Irina blinked at him.

"Stop pulling my leg," she said.

"I do not tell jokes," Kyuubey said. "Another minute, and you too will become a witch and join with her."

"No," the younger Irina said. "That's not poss—"

"Who do you think created the magical girl system in the first place?" Kyuubey asked. "No-one knows more than me about the fate of magical girls."

"No!" the younger Irina said. "I refuse to bel—"

"Your belief is immaterial," Kyuubey said. "It does not change the tru—"

The younger Irina silenced him by kicking him, sending him flying high into the air.

"Nooooooooo!" she screamed.

That was when the memory came to an end, leaving the three magical girls stunned, barely even registering as the light from the fountain was absorbed into Irina's scrunchy.

Irina wasn't sure how long they stood there in silence. Maybe it was just a few minutes… maybe it was even an hour or more. Eventually, however, Yukika broke the silence.

"W-w-well… I'm really sorry we had to see your memory," she said.

"M-me too," Ikumi said.

"I didn't want to see it either," Irina said. "It can't be true… it can't be…"

"Well," Ikumi began.

"It can't be!" Irina insisted.

"However, I think I understand better now," Yukika said. "You wish to redo the past with Aneka because you never had a chance to say goodbye before… before…"

"…before the witch killed her," Irina muttered.

"Uhh… yes," Yukika said.

"So you want to reunite with the dead through this dream, Miss Kusch?" Ikumi asked. "I wonder what kind of price would be needed to do such a thing… it could be really bad…"

"I'm not so sure," Yukika said. "The price is supposed to be 'priceless' to begin with…"

At that moment, Irina noticed her soul gem wasn't in the best shape and pulled out a bag containing a pair of grief seeds. She blinked at them in surprise.

"Huh? I only have two grief seeds…?"

"Isn't that a lot though?" Yukika asked.

"I should have more than that," Irina said.

"J-just how many more…?" Ikumi asked.

"Around fifty or so…"

"W-w-what!?" Ikumi gasped. "That's about as many as I collected over the course of a year!"

"You must be pretty strong to have so many," Yukika said. "Come to think of it, you did seem strong in… in the memory…"

"It's not like that," Irina said. "I've been a magical girl for a long time, so I had a lot of grief seeds collected… but I wonder what happened to them?"

"Fifty… to think so many magical girls might have died," Yukika muttered. "Oh! Miss Kusch, could it be…? Perhaps those grief seeds were the cost to enter this dream!"

"Oh, that makes a lot of sense," Ikumi said. "Grief seeds really are priceless to us as magical girls… they're our very lives…"

"It doesn't really matter," Irina said. "Whatever the price, I want to see Aneka-neesan again."

"So, how long have you been a magical girl?" Ikumi asked. "And how have you managed to get so many grief seeds without ever coming in contact with the girls of Kamihama? I mean, I probably would have heard of you if you'd ever gotten into a fight with Miss Nanami or Miss Izumi…"

"I guess it must be around… four years now?" Irina said. "I haven't fought much in Kamihama itself. I was abroad for a year or two, but moved back to Japan when I entered middle school. Now I mostly go after witches in the villages just beyond these mountains… the only magical girl I've ever gotten into a fight with was… um… some fire priestess type… Natsu, I think her name was…? But we came to an agreement in the end. Since then I've fought a lot of witches in the nearby seaside village on the bay…"

"Are you ever afraid to fight witches?" Ikumi asked. "Knowing that they used to be magical girls? For my part… I might be weak, but I get along with the help of my friends. Even so, I'm always feeling sorry in my mind…"

"I don't believe it," Irina said stubbornly. "Witches can't be magical girls. Witches and their grief seeds are born from curses and impurity. What we do is purify and purge them. That can't possibly be wrong."

"B-but in your memory, Kyuubey clearly said…" Yukika said.

"I've never gotten a straight answer out of Kyuubey about that," Irina muttered.

Yukika and Ikumi looked at each other, but said nothing.

"Every time I've tried to talk to him since then, he just ran away," Irina continued. "And now, he just never shows up anymore."

"Maybe you should not approach him with a fiery look," Yukika suggested.

"I can't help it," Irina said. "I just… absolutely hate him."

"I'm sure even Kyuubey can see the murderous intent in your eyes," Ikumi said. "Even right now, just from talking about him, I can see it."

"Huh? Really?" Irina said. "I never realized… I've never killed anyone, after all…"

"You're very upfront with your feelings, Miss Kusch," Ikumi said. "I'm honestly surprised you haven't killed Kyuubey yet."

"What?" Yukika said. "Surely you could not possibly hurt Kyuubey? Indeed, after seeing that, I do not like what he does either, but… I feel like hate does not solve anything, and I kind of feel bad for Kyuubey…"

"Miss Yukika…" Ikumi said. "If the world thought like you, the word 'revenge' wouldn't even exist. If I was as strong as you two, I never would've joined the Wings of the Magius."

"What do they do, anyway?" Irina asked.

"Does that not violate Miss Ikumi's earlier request?" Yukika asked.

"No, the existence of the Wings of the Magius doesn't have to be hidden," Ikumi said. "They seek to save magical girls from their fate of turning into witches. Here in Kamihama, they have created a purification system, so when your soul gem fills up, you unleash a doppel instead of turning into a witch. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here still… I would've turned into a witch myself by now."

"Whatever," Irina shrugged. "I'm content with how I operate, mostly outside Kamihama, alone."

"Were you even listening?" Ikumi asked. "It's safer in Kamihama, and better to fight as a team."

"I don't really care," Irina said. "Aneka-neesan never ran away, so why should I?"

"I don't get how you're not even a little scared," Ikumi said.

"I mean, if I don't take out witches outside the city, people might die there," Irina said. "There aren't very many magical girls in rural areas."

"You… you have a point there," Ikumi admitted. "I wonder why the Wings of the Magius doesn't operate outside of the city more often… do the Magius and Miss Mifuyu not care about anyone else?"

"Miss Azusa Mifuyu?" Yukika said. "The former student council secretary of Mizuna Girl's School? Are you saying that she is a magical girl? And she is even a leader of the Wings of the Magius?"

"Oh yes, Miss Mifuyu's a very experienced magical girl, too," Ikumi said. "She's been a magical girl even longer than Miss Kusch… I don't know exactly how long though. Would you like me to introduce you to her to talk about them? Ah, I don't mean as a recruitment opportunity… come to think of it, maybe I'm talking too much. I should shut up before I get in trouble… um, let's get back to the pertinent topic, shall we? Hey, um… your scrunchy… how long has it been glowing like that?"

"Oh," Irina said, blinking at it. "I didn't even notice…"

"Maybe it means that we have found enough memories," Yukika said.

"I guess we need to get to a castle now," Irina said. "That would be where the princess sleeps."

"St Lilliana's itself looks similar to a castle," Yukika said. "So maybe we are already there."

"I'm not sure if that will work," Irina said dubiously.

"Why not just try looking for the princess?" Yukika said.

"Hmm," Irina said. "The princess should be underground, beneath the castle itself. Does St Lilliana's even have a basement…?"

The other two girls shrugged.

"Do we have anything we can use?" Ikumi asked.

"The mirror… the scrunchy… that's all I can think of," Irina said.

"Oh right, the mirror," Ikumi said. "Try taking it out again."

Irina took out the elaborate hand mirror and looked into it. What was reflected back was not the grounds of St Lilliana's, but something completely different.

"Oh… it seems to be reflecting a different world," Irina said. "As if this world is an illusion."

As she identified that, there was a flash, and they were in the world the mirror reflected – dark and foggy, with a gravestone in front of them.

"The princess sleeps underground," Yukika mused. "And there's a grave… doesn't that mean the princess is dead?"

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and Aneka appeared, sitting on the gravestone.

"Aneka-neesan!" Irina called.

Aneka looked at her.

"Huh? Do I know you?" she asked.

"Of course… I'm your neighbour!" Irina said.

"I'm pretty sure we've never met," Aneka said. "I really don't remember much at all, though…"

As they spoke, the world grew darker, and then there was another flash and the world changed again. Now they stood before a dark castle backed by a red moon. Aneka gaped at the scenery.

"So surreal," Yukika said. "Could this be… a witch's barrier?"

"No," Irina said. "I think… this is a place even deeper within my own heart. I've dreamed of this landscape before, so this world must be a part of me."

"It seems like a very lonely place," Yukika said.

"You look a bit livelier now, Miss Kusch," Ikumi said. "Is that because it's nighttime in this place?"

Irina shrugged and turned to Aneka.

"How much do you remember?" she asked. "Do you know your own name?"

"I… I can't remember," Aneka said. "I don't know anything… where are we? Do you know me?"

"I do know you," Irina said. "Quite well, in fact."

"Should we give the collected memories to her?" Yukika suggested.

"I'm not sure," Irina said. "This Aneka-neesan has no memories of us meeting, so I can't exactly redo our meeting…"

"Then what will you do?" Ikumi asked.

"Hmm… I'd like to go back in time to when I first met Aneka-neesan, and return the memories to her then," Irina said. "That way, I can finally say goodbye."

"How can we do that?" Yukika wondered.

"The mirror brought us here," Irina said. "Maybe I can use it again?"

"Are you not being too casual about trying things when the story so far has changed so much?" Yukika asked.

"It should be fine," Irina said. "I've kept the story in mind this whole time."

She held the mirror out to Aneka.

"Could you look into this mirror for me?"

Aneka peered into the mirror, and they entered another memory. This time it appeared to be one of Aneka's memories. The younger Aneka was talking with her parents, and there was also an even younger girl present who vaguely resembled Irina.

"I'm really sorry for making you move to another country, Aneka," her mother said. "Especially after making so many friends."

"It's okay, Mom," the younger Aneka said. "I'm looking forward to next year."

"It'll be harder to make friends where we're moving," her father said. "There aren't as many people there."

"The four of us will need to support each other," Aneka's mother said.

"I'll support you, onee-chan!" the younger girl said. "And Mom and Dad too!"

The scene blurred and changed, the four of them now in a house. Aneka and the other girl were sitting at the dinner table, being scolded.

"Why did you enter that forest?" her father asked.

"I'm sorry," the younger girl said. "It was my idea to bring onee-chan with me… onee-chan wanted to find where fairies dance, like in her book."

Aneka's father sighed. "You haven't been listening to what you're told," she said. "Not even the locals ever enter that forest."

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry," Aneka said.

"Well… it all turned out well in the end," Aneka's mother said. "So it's fine."

As they started eating, the memory faded, returning them to that dark castle with the red moon.

"I had no idea that Aneka-neesan had a little sister," Irina said.

The mirror flashed, and they peered into it again. Another memory began to play. Aneka's parents were at a hospital, speaking with a doctor, and Aneka herself was clinging to her mother's arm.

"I'm afraid there is no cure for your daughter's disease," the doctor said. "There are some types of medicine being developed that may help, but don't get your hopes up too much – they're years away from any potential use. The chance that she can hold out that long… it's almost zero. You can continue to leave her here at the hospital in long term care, but you also have the option of home care. All I can really say is… you should spend what little time left with her that you can."

The scene shifted again. It was the little sister's bedroom, with portable medical equipment on one side. Aneka was sitting on the side of the bed, dozing off, and the little sister had apparently just woken.

"Onee-chan!" the little sister said.

Aneka opened her eyes, blinking.

"Did you stay up last night to take care of me?" she asked. "Go get some rest, onee-chan!"

"I'm fine," Aneka said. "Whatever I'm feeling, it can't compare to the pain you're going through, Sonya."

"I'm okay, onee-chan," Sonya said. "The medicine can't cure my disease, but at least it takes the pain away. Say, onee-chan… can you read that book to me again? The one about fairies going on an adventure? Or did you get tired of reading it, onee-chan?"

"No! Of course not!" Aneka said. "I'll read it again and again, as much as you like!"

The little sister giggled. "You know… there are a few good points to being sick," she said. "People listen to me a lot more now. They let me be selfish. And best of all, I get to spend more time with onee-chan! Even the little moments… like right now… are precious treasures to me! But you know, onee-chan… this is enough. You don't have to… push yourself… for my sake anymore. Please live a happy life for me… and… thank you… for being… here for me…"

As she trailed off, Aneka seemed to realize that something wasn't right.

"W-what!? No! Sonya! Stay with me!"

She raised her voice.

"Mooom! Daaad! It's Sonya, she… she…!"

Her parents piled in along with the nurse they'd presumably hired to take care of her, and they watched anxiously as the nurse checked Sonya and tried anything she could, finally shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said. "There's nothing more I can do."

"I see," Aneka's father said. "I knew this day would come, but to think it would be so soon… Aneka, you're lucky that you got to spend the final moments with her. Just think of it that way. You'll be able to live happily for her now."

The memory faded away just as Kyuubey made an appearance, hopping up onto the bedside table behind Aneka.

"I had no idea that Aneka-neesan had lost a sister," Irina said. "She never once mentioned it… and this Aneka-neesan with us now is like a completely different person…"

Aneka tried peering into the mirror again, but this time nothing happened. The light from the previous two memories had already been absorbed into her, rather than the scrunchy.

"I remember some things now," Aneka murmured. "But it feels like a lot is still missing…"

"I guess I just have to fill the scrunchy with memories of our meeting now," Irina said. "But it's going to get more complicated…"

Ikumi resummoned her black feather robes for some reason.

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Huh? Why'd you put your robes back on?" Yukika asked.

"I was starting to get cold," Ikumi said.

"Well, the part that bothers me about this is Aneka-neesan's little sister," Irina said. "Um, Aneka-neesan, do you know why you became a magical girl?"

"Um… I remember meeting Kyuubey and talking about magical girls," Aneka said. "But I can't remember anything after that…"

"I see," Yukika mused. "So Miss Aneka became a magical girl after her little sister died."

"And when I moved in next to her, she already was one," Irina said. "I don't know what her wish was… I never asked her about it."

"I still don't know who you are," Aneka said. "I'm not even sure who I am… but I really want to know."

"Now I get why this version of Aneka-neesan seems a bit different," Irina said. "She's the Aneka-neesan from before we met… she hasn't changed, but I have, so redoing my meeting with her probably isn't possible…"

"You could just try to gather the memories anyway," Ikumi said.

"But Aneka-neesan seems a little scared," Irina said. "Aneka-neesan, would you like to join me in collecting the memories?"

"Yes, please!" Aneka said.

"Then… hmm… let's hold hands!" Irina said.

She took Aneka's hand.

"And um… let's put the scrunchy around both of our wrists," she said.

She had been wearing it on her own wrist, so she released Aneka's hand for a moment to make that so.

"Is that really safe?" Yukika wondered.

"Um… I believe in her," Aneka said.

"Really?" Irina said, startled.

"I feel like this isn't the first time we've met," Aneka said.

"You said that when we first met, too," Irina said.

She finished linking their hands with the scrunchy.

"Are you ready?" Irina asked.

"Yes!" Aneka said.

There was a flash of light, and they entered another memory. A younger Aneka was talking to Kyuubey.

"Then your wish is to have a replacement for your little sister?" Kyuubey said.

"That's not it," the younger Aneka said. "I don't want to pretend my sister hasn't… passed away… but I don't want to be without a little sister, either. I want… a friend, who can keep my loneliness at bay and allow me to carry on my sister's final words. She won't replace my sister, though; I just… want to meet someone who can fill the emptiness in my heart."

"Is that wish truly worth the price of your soul?" Kyuubey asked.

"Absolutely," Aneka said.

Kyuubey extracted the soul gem from her body, and at the exact same moment her phone pinged, indicating a text message from her mother. She picked up her phone to read it. The watchers were able to see peer over her shoulder to see the text onscreen.

[Guess what? I just had a chat with a man who's going to rent the empty house next door! He said he had a wife and kid who'll be moving here in the next few days… and they're from Japan!]

"The contract is complete," Kyuubey said. "Although you are guaranteed to meet the person you wished for, I do not know when it will be."

"It must be the people moving in next door," the younger Aneka said. "I'm really excited now…"

The memory faded, and a montage of brief memories followed. Aneka and Irina meeting for the first time, bonding over that book series. Aneka telling her it feels like they've met before. Irina meeting Aneka's parents, who were shocked at her resemblance to Sonya, though they didn't say so out loud in Irina's presence. Aneka wondering what it would be like if Irina was her real little sister, but then rejecting that thought and forcing herself to draw a line between them. Irina asking if she could call her onee-chan, just like she did right after contracting. Aneka witnessing a girl turn into a witch and regretting ever wanting Irina to contract.

Then the memories came to an end, and they found themselves back in the dream world with the dark castle.

"I get it," Irina said. "I'm the reason Aneka-neesan despaired, because I was just brought in as a replacement for her little sister. I wanted to become a hero, just like in my fairy tales… but it seems I never was a hero after all."

"I'm sorry for never telling you everything, Irina-chan," Aneka said. "I can't imagine you ever forgiving me for it… goodbye."

Before Irina had a chance to contradict her, Aneka disappeared.

"Did I just… fail to save the princess…?" Irina asked. "Did I fail the test, then?"

"What on earth happened?" Ikumi said.

"Oh… you didn't see the memory this time…?" Irina said.

"No… you simply held hands for a few moments, and then she said goodbye and vanished," Yukika said.

Irina summarized what she'd seen.

"So Miss Aneka is suffering from the fact that she brought Miss Kusch to her and made her become a magical girl," Ikumi said.

"I wanted to become a hero," Irina said. "But in the end I was just a joyous fool… a substitute for Aneka-neesan's sister…"

"You're not a substitute!" Ikumi shouted. "You said it yourself, she always viewed you as your own person! Saying you're a substitute is super disrespectful to yourself!"

Ikumi paused for breath and continued in a less heated voice.

"I myself am still working to become an idol, so I have some idea of how you might feel right now," she said. "But here, in this story, you're the main character, Miss Kusch."

"I agree," Yukika said. "You are no substitute."

"I suppose you're right," Irina said.

"Since you thought up this story and this world, you decide what happens next," Yukika said. "It's on you, not the books you dream about."

"Oh, hmm… so… I need to get the princess back," Irina said.

"How about this?" Ikumi said. "We said the St Lilliana's school building was the castle, but maybe it actually wasn't. It only looked like a castle."

"Ah, I see what you mean," Yukika said. "So that would mean that the event with the castle actually has not happened yet."

"And conveniently, there's a castle right here," Ikumi added.

"Miss Ikumi, Miss Yukika… could I ask for your help?" Irina asked.

"I will happily assist as 'Villager A!'" Yukika said.

"You're supposed to be a swordfighter, though," Irina said.

They advanced towards the castle, but they hadn't gotten far before a voice cried out.

"You shall not pass!"

It was Irina's voice, but she wasn't the one who said it. A shadowy version of her stepped out from behind a tree.

"You failed the trial," the shadow Irina said. "You will never be able to leave the dream."

Another shadowy version of her stepped out to join the first.

"It's too bad," the second one said. "If you'd just left the memories fragmented, you could've redone your meeting and been happy again."

A third one stepped out, but this one said nothing.

"This isn't over yet," the real Irina said.

"Yeah, we're not going down without a fight!" Yukika said.

"Um, this isn't good," Ikumi said. "We're going against the rumour, so it's coming out to attack us…"

"Thus we must fight to deviate from the book's story and continue on," Yukika said.

The three girls transformed, Ikumi once again banishing her black feather robes.

"I'm sorry about all this," Irina said. "I promise I'll get you out of my dream."

"Cut it out," Ikumi said. "We're all going to the castle to get Miss Aneka back."

"Yes indeed," Yukika said. "We wish to save Miss Aneka too."

A strange barrier appeared around them, and the three shadow versions of Irina attacked along with a host of familiars that looked as though the key mirror that got all this started had somehow come to life.

Irina charged the first shadowy version of herself, matching blades for several seconds before running the shadow through with her rapier, then beheading it with her main-gauche. The shadow vanished in a flash of light which was absorbed into her sword, and then the barrier vanished along with all the familiars, though the other two shadowy versions of Irina remained, blocking the path forward. However, they were no longer standing before that dark castle with the red moon – they were now within the halls of St Lilliana's.

"What do we do now?" Ikumi asked. "If we defeat the rumour monster that's guarding this rumour whose rules we broke…"

"Perhaps it means that we cannot reach the underground, since the dream has ended," Yukika said.

"Nonsense," Irina said. "We're still the only ones here, so the dream can't be over yet. Plus, I still have the dreaming mirror, see?"

She held it up in demonstration.

"This must be a trap to make us think we're waking up, so we should give up," Irina said. "I'll use the mirror one more time."

She peered into the mirror, and the barrier returned, but this time there was a light at the end of the hallway. The mirror-like familiars did not return.

"Perhaps we will return to the castle from earlier if we jump into that light," Yukika suggested.

"It can't hurt to try," Ikumi said.

But as soon as they took a step towards the light, the shadow versions of Irina raised their weapons menacingly, and now they were joined by several more shadow duplicates. The mirror familiars also reappeared, surrounding them.

"Well, that settles it," Yukika said. "This must mean that approaching the light goes against the rumour, which makes it precisely what we must do. Miss Ikumi, let us hold the familiars at bay while Miss Kusch makes a run for it!"

"Alright!" Ikumi said.

The two of them stepped forward, taking out as many mirrors as they could and doing their best to smack the shadows out of the way. This opened up just enough of a gap to allow Irina to slip past the shadowy versions of herself.

"Aneka-neesan! I'm coming to save you!"

Shouting at the top of her voice, she held out the scrunchy, now glowing brightly, and leapt into the light. She found herself back in the dream world with the darkened castle and the red moon, and broke into a run, approaching the castle. Before long she reached a bridge over a deep chasm, the castle just on the other side. She crossed the bridge and headed into the castle, searching the place, descending stairs whenever she found them, opening every door she came across.

She'd lost count of the doors she'd opened by the time she finally found the room where Aneka was, startled by the door suddenly opening.

"Huh?" Aneka said. "Oh, you're… Irina…chan…?"

"Has your memory returned to normal, Aneka-neesan?" Irina asked.

"I'm sorry, Irina-chan," Aneka said. "I know you were the one who helped me get my memory back, but after seeing sad memories of my little sister, I suddenly found myself here. It's strange though, that you look so similar to Sonya…"

"Oh," Irina said. "Then you must have lost the memory of everything after you became a magical girl…"

"Where am I?" Aneka asked.

"We're deep under the castle," Irina said. "I'm here to get you out. I think you lost part of your memories when the scrunchy was removed… do you remember anything about making a wish to become a magical girl? Or anything about how you first met me?"

"I don't know what you mean by a wish," Aneka said. "And what's a magical girl?"

Irina pondered for a minute or two. She'd longed to say goodbye to Aneka for a long time, but which Aneka did she want to say it to? The one with all her memories intact, or this one who didn't even remember becoming a magical girl?

"Um, Aneka-neesan, would you mind hearing me out for a bit?" she finally asked.

"Sure," Aneka said.

"So, um… all of this is actually just a dream," Irina said. "A 'what if' dream, a piece of the past that I wanted to do over."

"Okay…"

"You… Aneka-neesan… you lost your sister and are sad over it. Right now, you're yourself from the past, before meeting me and becoming friends with me in the future."

"Okay…"

"When we do become friends in the future, we'll be overjoyed. However, you'll start suffering and eventually disappear from my life."

"Okay…"

"I wanted to see you… or my Aneka-neesan… so I could say goodbye. This scrunchy holds the memories of the time we spent together, so I could finally say the goodbye I never got to."

"Okay…"

"But… but… that's wrong," Irina said. "In this dream, I've learned so many things about you… the you before you met me and suffered, the you I met… but you now know nothing about me."

"Okay…"

"I could hide from the truth and only remember our happy memories together," Irina said. "But I've come to realize that I want to meet the Aneka-neesan that I first met… the one I laughed with, suffered with, and lost. That Aneka-neesan. So no matter what memories I can give you… they're not really yours."

"Okay…"

"I'm sorry… you probably don't understand anything I'm saying right now," Irina said.

"No, I do understand," Aneka said. "My little sister is gone now, and I'll never see her again, so it's a similar situation, right?"

"I'm just being selfish by wanting to say goodbye to someone who's not here anymore," Irina said. "So I'm not going to mess with your memories anymore. The memories of Aneka-neesan stored in this scrunchy are mine alone."

"I understand," Aneka said.

"Thanks for listening," Irina said. "You've always been nice. Come… let's escape together."

"Is that even possible?"

"I'm positive it is. Take my hand…"

They joined hands, and Irina closed her eyes. The next thing she remembered was being woken by the school bell chiming. She was back in the classroom, waiting for the supplementary class to start, but she could still feel the warmth from Aneka's hand. She looked at the scrunchy, and for a moment it flashed before returning to normal. It must have connected her heart to Aneka's and now held all her feelings within it. Even though it was all a dream, it all really did happen. But that Aneka still didn't know the future that awaits her. Irina gathered her hair and used the scrunchy to hold it together once again.

While waiting for the teacher to appear, she pondered the rumour, how it was a chance to make a what if scenario come true. If she took Aneka out of the castle, did that mean she escaped the dream too? Which what if scenario had she chosen?

At that point she realized there was a note on desk. She unfolded it and read the contents out loud.

"Do well on your supplementary classwork! From Cheerful Ghost and Villager Swordswoman A."

At that moment, the teacher finally entered the room.

"I'm really sorry I was late!" she said. "You've been waiting all this time. There was a miscommunication over the room we were supposed to meet in. I'm sorry! I'll make sure it never happens again!"

"No, that's fine," Irina said.

---

"That's it?" Inui says. "What happened to Aneka-chan?"

"I saw her the very next day, on my way to the bookshop," Irina says. "She was with her parents, and she didn't recognize me. I didn't talk to her. The strangest thing though was… she seemed to be about the same age as me, the same age she was when she died, as if she'd been brought forward from the past…"

"You still haven't talked to her?" Inui asks.

"I'm waiting for the right moment," Irina says. "I'm sure if I keep going to the library and the bookshop, I'll eventually run into her there. Since that first sighting, I've already spotted her a few more times. She seems to be attending Mizuna Girl's School."

"There's one thing that doesn't quite add up about all this," I say. "You weren't in Japan when you first met Aneka, were you?"

"No… I don't quite remember where it was," Irina says. "Somewhere in Europe. Maybe Russia, or Hungary?"

"Then you must've been able to speak the local language," I say.

"A little bit," Irina says. "But she already knew Japanese, too… apparently one of her parents was from Japan."

"Oh, that explains a lot," I say. "So then… the Aneka currently in Kamihama must be a reconstruction of the real Aneka, right? I wonder how that works… did the rumour reverse the transformation? Or did it create a clone of her and transfer the memories over? And her parents who were with her… were they the same parents you knew, or copies that don't remember meeting you? And if they're copies, where are the real ones?"

Irina shrugs. "Don't know… don't care. She's still Aneka-neesan."

"U-um… setting that aside… for a moment," Rui speaks up. "You mentioned something incredible about witches in passing…"

"Oh, right… but I don't really believe that," Irina says.

"You still don't believe it, huh," I say.

"Well, she's alive and well, isn't she?" Irina says.

"Well… I guess," I say. "But that was the rumour's doing… it's probably similar to when Kyuubey grants a wish…"

"So what're you gonna do now, Irina-chan?" Inui asks.

"It's not even midnight yet," Irina says. "So I suppose I'll hop over to the seaside village and see if there's a witch there."

"We should probably get to sleep," I say. "Rui-chan's parents are probably wondering where she is, too…"

"Oh… yes," Rui says. "I should call them…"

She takes out her phone to do that, and Irina hops up.

"I'll see you around… maybe."

And then she runs off to the northwest. Once Rui has finished talking with her parents, we make for the train station.

"So um… Miss Kusch might not believe it, but those other two girls seemed to," Rui says. "Do you think magical girls really turn into witches?"

"Come to think of it, you seem awfully calm about the idea," I say.

"W-well, I just have a feeling that… even if it's true… I wouldn't have any trouble avoiding that fate," Rui says. "Maybe it's because my power is specifically to alter fate…"

"Well… I'm afraid that, like the old Miss Aneka, I've seen it happen," I say. "So yes, I believe it."

"I… see," Rui says. "So it really is true, then…?"

"I'm afraid so," Inui says.

Rui remains quiet for most of the remaining journey to her house, other than a few words to let us know the way to go. Once we arrive at her house, she opens the door and a black cat leaps straight into her arms.

"My familiar!" she gasps.

Merely the sight of the cat is enough to brighten her face up, and she catches the cat and cuddles with it for a bit before remembering she's being watched.

"Ah!" she gasps, her face turning red. "Um, well… s-sorry about that…"

"It's fine," Inui says. "You named your cat… Familiar?"

"W-well… no…?" Rui says. "She's Paracelsus… but she's also my familiar…"

"It… it fits," Inui says.

"I agree," I say. "But more importantly… have you had time to digest what you learned about witches today? Will you be okay?"

"Oh… yes, I think so," Rui says. "I was getting a little depressed about it all, but my familiar has cheered me up. I think I'll be fine."

"If you want to talk, you can contact me," Inui says. "You have my info, right?"

"I think so…" Rui says.

She takes out her phone to check, then nods.

"Yes, it's here. Maybe I'll call later."

"Well in that case, we should get home too," I say. "See you later, Rui-chan."

She heads inside, and we turn and make our way to Fendt Hope, donning our robes before entering. Once we reach our room, we get changed and fall into bed.

---

The next morning, as Inui and I emerge into the entrance hall after breakfasting in the cafeteria, we see Alina storm down from the upper floors, stalking across the hall and taking the stairs down to the chapel. Inui blinks at her as she disappears.

"…what's up with her?" she asks.

"Probably still pondering the meaning of her art," I say. "We don't need to worry about her."

"Sure…"

But I am slightly interested, so I open a vision on her to see what she's up to. She storms into the chapel and shouts, startling Touka and Nemu who appear to be having breakfast there.

"Why is there so much war!?"

"Is something wrong, Alina?" Touka asks.

"Where did that question even come from?" Nemu asks.

"I was studying for my history test, and it hit me," Alina says. "Humans go to war over and over and over again. It doesn't make any sense."

"Well, there are a lot of reasons for that," Nemu says. "It would take all day to list them all…"

"Anyway, if you know anything about this, I want you to tell me!" Alina says. "Are humans heading towards their own destruction?"

"Hmm?" Touka says. "So war was just the lead-in…? You want to know whether or not humans are heading towards destruction…"

"Yes!" Alina says.

She leans on the table and thrusts her head forward. The two younger girls edge their chairs back a bit.

"Hey, don't get so close!" Touka complains.

"Wow, she's really worked up about this," Nemu says.

"Mmhmm," Touka says. "Please, Alina, take a seat."

Alina flops onto the free chair at the tea table.

"Keep in mind, though, that this isn't our area of expertise," Nemu says. "We don't know all the details."

"That's fine," Alina says. "Whatever information you can provide is great for me."

"Alright," Nemu says. "Then, as you mentioned, the simplest example is war. Once you remove all concepts of country and race, and look at it as a whole, war is just a vehicle for self-destruction. In a ranking of animals that murder each other, humans themselves take second place."

"Humans are unique in that regard, aren't they?" Touka asks. "There are plenty of animals out there that kill others of the same species, but it's rare for adults of the species to kill other adults as humans do."

"Very true," Nemu says. "And it's not even as if they need to compete over mates to pass on their genes… or even battle over territory."

"Perhaps their advanced intellect made their motives more complicated?" Touka suggests.

"Right, war," Alina says. "That was the thought that I, Alina, had when reading my textbook… but do you have other examples? Hurry! I need more!"

She bangs on the table.

"Huuuuuuuuuh!?" Touka gasps. "You're scaring me, Alina! What's the matter with you!?"

"I feel as though the answer is right about to burst out from inside my heart!" Alina says. "It's going craaazy!"

"Yes, well… even if you yell, we can't summon up answers we don't have," Nemu says.

Mifuyu enters the garden in time to hear Nemu's comment.

"Also, I'm not just going to sit and watch if you fly into a rage," she says.

Alina gasps. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

"I'm here about your studio," Mifuyu says. "I saw destroyed canvases and art materials strewn all over the place. You were the perpetrator, weren't you, Alina? Clean it up right away, please. This is just another example of destroying the environment!"

Touka gasps. "That's it, Mifuyu!" she says.

"What!?" Mifuyu gasps. "Huh? What is?"

"Alina!" Touka says. "Even now, humans are heading towards self-destruction! Just like what you did!"

"What I did?" Alina asks.

Nemu gasps, apparently catching on too.

"I understand your point now, Touka," she says.

"Then hurry and spit it out," Alina says.

"Humans have walked a destructive path by killing one another," Nemu says. "But they have also walked a path of progress… by destroying their own Earth."

"And that's how the current environmental issues arose," Alina muses.

"A gold star for you!" Touka says.

"Are you satisfied?" Nemu asks.

"Just what were you talking about?" Mifuyu asks, bewildered.

"Yes!" Alina says. "That's a perfect answer!"

"Also, while I have you here, Alina," Mifuyu says. "I had something I wanted to explain to you about Miss Tamaki and her friends, since you missed my explanation yesterday. You see, they're searching for Miss Tamaki's little sister, who has apparently gone missing, and they seem to believe she has some connection to us. And Ya-chan and Miss Tsuruno were of course looking for me."

"I see," Alina says. "So they're just looking for people. They don't intend to fight I, Alina, or any of us?"

"That's right," Mifuyu says. "They thought they might find her sister or me through the rumours… that's why they ended up fighting with the Wings of the Magius. They're just suspicious of us after having learned of our goal… to liberate all magical girls, and what we're doing to accomplish that."

"Hmmm," Alina says.

"What's wrong?" Mifuyu asks.

"I was just thinking… if that's the case, I didn't have to go all out on them. Now I understand why Touka was discussing when and how to hold a 'lecture' for them."

"Yes," Mifuyu says. "It's vital that we fill them in on the whole story first."

"Even so, I wish I could just delete that blonde wretch," Alina mutters.

"Absolutely not!" Mifuyu protests.

"I know, I know," Alina mutters. "The Magius have reached a consensus on that point. Still…"

"Still what?"

"I really wish you would do something about that veteran… the others in the group may change their minds once they know the truth, but she knows everything already, and still fights against us, no?"

"I've already thought of a way to handle her," Mifuyu says.

"And what is that?" Alina asks.

"Ya-chan is no threat to us if she's alone," Mifuyu says. "So I will—"

"Alright, I've got it!" Alina suddenly shouts, cutting her off.

"Got what!?" Mifuyu gasps.

"I, Alina, will clean the room you were so mad about from top to bottom," Alina says. "In exchange, I'd like for you to become my mannequin, Mifuyu."

"…what was that again?" Mifuyu asks.

Alina repeats what she said exactly, word for word.

"I still don't understand," Mifuyu says. "You want me to stand there… like a model, right?"

"It's your figure I want," Alina says. "Once I've made a silicone mold, I can perfectly create what I desire."

"I refuse," Mifuyu says.

"Ugh," Alina mutters. "Whatever… I'll think of something."

With that, she turns and stalks out.

"By the way," Touka says. "Have you noticed? There seems to be a faint magic signature in the room that doesn't belong to any of us…"

Mifuyu blinks. "Huh? Really?"

"I haven't noticed anything," Nemu says.

I suspect it's me she's noticed, so I decide to close the vision there.

"So did you learn anything interesting?" Inui asks.

"Not all that interesting," I say. "But I think I know where it's leading…"

"Care to tell me?"

"They are considering how to convince Miss Tamaki and her friends to join them," I say.

"By brainwashing them, I bet."

"I'm sure they'll go that far if they can't convince them with words, yes," I say. "And as for Alina… she's probably going to end up making a new rumour out of her art."

"You mean asking Nemu-chi to make a new rumour?" Inui says.

"Yes, that," I say. "It would honestly be preferable if she didn't, but I'm trying to hold back on changing things too much from how I expect them to go, since even without my interference there are quite some differences."

"You've interfered quite a lot though," Inui points out.

"I know, but as I said, I'm trying to hold back on that," I say.

"So this rumour would be dangerous?" Inui asks.

"Yeah… Alina is the most dangerous of the Magius," I say. "Her actions are hard to predict, and she has no respect for anyone else at this point… though I think that's because of the Mirror Witch's influence, but it doesn't change the fact that she is dangerous."

We arrive at the roof overlooking city hall a little later and settle down for the shift. Nothing at all of interest happens, and I end up telling Inui everything I saw down in the chapel, just to pass the time. At one point, she also gets a call from Rui, and I offer a word or two as well. It does seem like Rui has already come to terms with the fact that she could become a witch. I wonder if her fate-manipulating power actually could prevent it? It's magic itself though, so I'm not optimistic on the matter of her preventing her own transformation using it, but even if that won't work, perhaps she could at least prevent other magical girls from transforming.

Once Chiyoko and Tomomi show up to relieve us for the afternoon rumour-watch shift, we head over to the Hozumi café to meet up with Nanaka and the others. They're already there when we arrive, and to my surprise, Shizuku herself is there as well, playing the role of the waitress. She steps up to greet the two of us as we enter.

"Um… may I get you something?" she asks.

"Green tea for me," I say.

"Um… I guess I'll have a mocha latte," Inui says.

"Right," Shizuku says. "It won't be a moment… please sit anywhere you like."

I head over to join the table with Nanaka.

"Good afternoon, Miss Taylor," Nanaka says.

"Good afternoon, Miss Tokiwa," I reply.

"So now that Ashley-chan's here, can we get started?" Honoka says. "I can't wait to hear the result of your investigations!"

Meiyui nods. "Thanks to a contact in a neighbouring village and some online sleuthing, my people were able to confirm that Miss Kasumi indeed resides in the village known as Sazanka," she says.

"Your… contact… how exactly did he confirm this?" I ask.

"He drove to Sazanka and wandered around town all day, asking a few questions here and there," Meiyui says. "He did not see her directly, but he did locate her address – a place known as the Yanagi dojo."

That name seems to fit – Yanagi was the surname of the mentor shared by Kasumi Ichika and Mikoto Tsubaki. It's surprisingly similar to Yunagi, the family in Hohzuki that took Suzune in… but that's entirely beside the point right now.

"I see," I say. "So… who thinks we should ask her to come and help us work out the situation with Miss Kagari?"

"It does seem worth a try," Nanaka says. "However, we cannot assume that she will be willing, nor can we assume she can even do anything to help. Did you speak to Miss Shiina?"

"I sent her a message," I say. "Her response was encouraging, but I haven't heard back from her since then."

"In my opinion, Miss Shion's power would be the most important," Meiyui says. "In order to correct the illusion Miss Kagari created, we must correct the memories she has altered."

"Right," Akira says. "There has to be a limit to how many people she can use her magic on. If we undo what she's done so far, we should be able to back her into a corner."

"I-if you ask me!" Kako speaks up. "We… we might as well try all three, right? The more the better…?"

"I agree," I say.

"I can ask Natsuki and the others to meet up, if we need to," Akira says.

"Miss Utsuho, Miss Eri, Miss Awane, and Miss Kagami, correct?" I say.

"You got it," Akira says.

"Um, I asked Chisato-sempai to meet me here, but she hasn't responded," Honoka says. "I think she might've forgotten who I am and is ignoring me…"

"That seems quite likely," Nanaka says. "Then some of us should go to see her in Hohzuki… the next question is, how shall we invite Miss Kasumi? No matter what method we choose, it seems we will have to wait a few more days…"

At that moment, Shizuku comes over with the drinks for me and Inui. I take a sip of my tea, then smile at her.

"I think we have our solution for that right here," she says. "Miss Hozumi, that is."

Shizuku blinks at me. "H-huh!? W-what are you talking about…?"

"Your space fusion can get us there in an instant, right?" I say.

"H-how did you know about that!?" Shizuku gasps.

"Well, Yuma-chan was talking about you," I say.

"…oh… Miss Sakura's new… protegé… then you must know Miss Sakura as well… um, I'll do it, but it won't be cheap."

I nod. "That's fine," I say. "I can probably match whatever those people are paying you."

"Y-you even know about that!?"

"I am somewhat affiliated with them, after all," I say.

"O-oh, so that's why…"

"Miss Hozumi," Nanaka speaks up.

"Y-yes!?" Shizuku gasps.

"We have frequented this café for quite some time, and I confess I have never questioned you on the nature of your magic… after all, I see it as something of a private matter," Nanaka says. "But if you can possibly help us to quickly reach the town of Sazanka…"

"Sazanka…? Where is that, exactly?"

"It is in Shiga Ward," Meiyui says.

"Oh! That's… pretty close," Shizuku says.

She cites a price, and Nanaka nods slowly.

"Yes, that should be well within my means," she says.

"We may as well split the cost, though," I say. "Anyone else who wishes to contribute?"

There's a moment of silence before Meiyui raises a hand.

"I think it is worthwhile in order to spare my city from that one's anger," she says.

"Then we'll split the cost three ways?" I say.

Nanaka nods. "It would seem we are in agreement."

The three of us hand over money to Shizuku, who takes it with a nod, counting it to make sure it's the right amount.

"Um… do you want to connect it to… right here?" she asks.

"If that is alright with you," Nanaka says. "But we could go elsewhere if you would prefer."

Shizuku considers a moment.

"Y-yes… I think Mom and Dad might discover it if I left it open here," she says. "You are looking for a person, yes? It may take time to convince them to… accompany you… so it's better to leave the locations connected for awhile."

"If that's not too much to ask," Nanaka says.

"I already… accounted for it… in the price," Shizuku says.

"Then let us proceed to my place," Meiyui says.

"Okay, let us split the responsibilities," Nanaka says. "Miss Akira and Miss Taylor, you shall gather the afflicted and take them to Hohzuki to entreat Miss Shion to dispel the magic. Miss Meiyui and I will travel to Sazanka to negotiate with Miss Kasumi."

"I'll go with Ashley, of course," Inui says.

"Um… w-what about me?" Kako asks.

"And me?" Honoka says.

"Kako… will you accompany me?" Nanaka says. "Miss Kanami is familiar with Miss Shion, so she can return to Hohzuki."

Kako nods. "Okay!" she says.

"That makes sense," Honoka says.

"Alright, then let's go!" I say.

I drain the last of my tea, and Shizuku notes the cost of our two drinks, which I pay in cash. After dropping that off in the back, she joins us and we head outside… just in time to run into Shiina Remi. She blinks as we all come out.

"O-oh! I'm glad I didn't miss you… took me awhile to find the place!"

"You are… Miss Shiina, I presume?" Nanaka asks.

Remi nods. "Shiina Remi, the necromancer!" she says.

"Divination of the dead," Meiyui muses. "Indeed, that should help us… but where are her services needed most…?"

"Can I ask you to accompany Miss Taylor and Miss Akira?" Nanaka asks, indicating Akira.

Remi nods. "Uh, sure, but… is someone going to explain the full story to me…?"

"I can explain it while we walk," I say.

"Got it," Remi says.

So, we split up into two groups. Nanaka's group is the smaller one, with herself, Meiyui, Kako, and Shizuku. My group consists of me, Inui, Akira, Honoka, and Remi, and is expected to have four additional members as well, assuming they agree to join us. Akira looks like she's composing a message to them right now, so Nanaka's group heads off first while the rest of us wait for Akira to finish.

"Alright," Akira says. "She said she'll try to convince the others, then meet us at Suitoku Station."

"What did you tell her, exactly?" I ask.

"I said it was urgent magical girl business," Akira says. "And I also asked her what she did on Friday. She couldn't remember anything, but she saw the message she'd sent me, and I said this is related to that."

"That seems like it should be enough," Honoka says.

Akira leads us to the train station near Suitoku Temple, and I fill Remi in as best I can on the situation. We stand around waiting across the street from the station for a few minutes, after which Natsuki emerges from the station and waves to Akira.

"Akira!" she says. "Seriously… what is going on?"

"It's hard to explain," Akira says. "It's better if you can just… remember everything yourself."

"You really don't remember anything at all, Natsuki-chan?" Honoka says.

"Nothing at all… huh? Who are all these girls? Have we… met…?" Natsuki says.

"You and I met a few days ago," Honoka says. "I don't think you've met the others…"

"Yeah, we haven't met," Inui says. "I'm Itsumi Inui, nice to meet you, Natsu-chi!"

Natsuki blinked. "Natsu…chi…? That's… me?"

"Of course," Inui says.

"I'm Ashley Taylor."

"My name is Shiina Remi."

"And I'm Kanami Honoka, since you've forgotten."

"So… you say we met a few days ago," Natsuki. "Then that must be part of what I forgot on Friday?"

"No, actually, we apparently met the day before," Honoka says. "I was there on Friday, too, though… and I don't actually remember the day before…"

Natsuki blinks. "Now that you mention it… I can't remember what I did on Thursday, either… what on earth is going on?"

"I'm still kinda confused myself," Remi says. "I only just heard about this…"

"Long story short… someone doesn't want you to know she exists," I say. "Are the others coming, by the way? The Chuo Academy girls?"

"You mean Miss Kokoro, Miss Masara, and Miss Aimi, right?" Natsuki says. "I think so… I contacted them and repeated everything Akira told me… they'll probably be here in five to ten minutes."

So we wait around again. Natsuki tries to get a few more details out of us, and somewhat succeeds, but a lot of her questions are met with a simple 'wait and see'. Finally, Kokoro, Aimi, and Masara emerge from the station.

"Miss Natsuki!" Kokoro calls, waving and coming over to join us. "Um… what's so urgent that we have to meet all of a sudden?"

"I'm itching to know too," Aimi says. "You're being all mysterious…"

"Well, to tell the truth, I'm not sure myself," Natsuki says. "It was Akira who summoned all of us…"

"It's too complicated to explain everything," Akira says. "But basically, someone has altered your memories. You don't remember what you were doing on Friday, right? And Miss Natsuki and Miss Aimi also don't remember Thursday."

"That… now that you mention it, I think you're right," Aimi says.

"So… assuming you are correct," Masara says. "What do you propose to do about it?"

"We're planning to confront the person who did it," Akira says.

"I see," Masara says. "If she is confronted with so many people who know that something is missing from their memories, perhaps she will undo it…? But… what if she instead does the opposite?"

"There has to be a limit to her power," I say. "I doubt she can wipe the memories of everyone here all at the same time. Also, it's not like she can just instantaneously change someone's memories. The more complicated the change, the longer it takes. Probably the only reason you don't remember anything from Thursday or Friday is because she didn't have time to fabricate false memories to replace the ones she erased."

"Plus, we're actually asking someone else to undo it," Akira says. "She's had her memories altered too, though."

"…just how many people has this girl attacked?" Kokoro asks.

"Miss Tokiwa's team, the four of you, and six girls from her hometown including Miss Kanami," I say. "Those are the only ones I know of, at least. There are probably others as well."

"Like her father," Honoka points out.

"Oh right, yeah," I say.

"So we're going to another town?" Kokoro asks. "How long will this take?"

"I don't expect it to take all that long," I say. "But we should probably get going sooner rather than later. I'll lead the way from here."

We catch a train to Hohzuki, and I locate the house of Shion Chisato.

"So, now what?" Natsuki asks. "It might seem like a threat if everyone shows up together, right?"

"…you do have a point," I admit. "Hmm… I'm the only one who knows everything about her, or at least almost everything, but… the girl with memory magic knows that, so she could've planted some false memories to turn Miss Shion against me…"

"Hmm… in that case, it's probably better that I handle this," Akira says. "I don't remember her, but you're saying I should've met her, right? So I can pretend to remember her and try to convince her to use her powers on herself."

I nod. "Sure. In that case, we'll go wait somewhere nearby… any suggestions, Honoka-chan?"

"Um… I'm not as familiar with this area of town," Honoka says. "But I think there's a park over that way…?"

"Sounds good to me," I say. "If you can't find us, at least you have our contact info, right?"

Akira nods, so we follow Honoka to the park in question, and I open a vision on Akira so I can see what she's up to. Once we're out of sight, she goes up to the door and knocks. The door is answered by her father.

"Um, is Miss Chisato home?" Akira asks.

"Ohh, are you a friend of Chisato's?" he asks. Turning his head inward, he shouts. "Chisato! There's a friend looking for you!" He turns back to grin at Akira. "Would you like to come inside?"

"Well… sure, for a moment," Akira says. "I was actually going to invite her though…"

She steps inside but doesn't remove her shoes. A moment later, Chisato appears on the stairs and blinks.

"Huh? Wait… what are you…?"

Akira seems just as surprised as Chisato, but does her best to suppress it.

"What?" Akira says. "You don't remember me…? We met a few days ago and agreed to meet up again… how could you forget?"

"U-um… I… o-ohhh, right, I remember!" Chisato says. "I think… maybe…? Let's, um… get going…?"

Akira nods. "Thank you, Miss Chisato," she says.

With her father looking on, Chisato slips her shoes on and exits the house.

"Have fun now!" her father says.

Then once the door is shut, Chisato turns to Akira.

"What's this all about?" she asks. "You're the one who helped me find Natsume Books awhile back, right? I'm grateful for your help back then, but we certainly never agreed to meet up again. Why on earth would you suddenly show up on my doorstep? How did you even figure out where I live? And to think you were a magical girl, too…"

It's not clear how Chisato recognized her as a magical girl – I didn't notice her eyes falling on Akira's ring, but perhaps they had a little telepathic communication.

"It's… complicated," Akira says. "To tell the truth, I didn't expect to recognize you… I was asked by someone else to uhh… ask a favour of you. Um… for now, all I want you to do is use your unique magic on yourself."

Chiasto blinks. "Do you even know what my magic is…?"

"Yes… it's magic cancel, right?" Akira says. "The thing is… someone I know claims she saw the two of us together just a few days ago. I have no memory of such a meeting, though… and from your reaction a moment ago, I'm guessing you have no such memory either."

"Right… huh? Wait… are you suggesting…?" Chisato gasps. "Um… never mind, I suppose the best way to know is just to do it."

She transforms.

"Cancel!" she says.

Then she gasps as the memories rush back.

"Ahhh! That person you mentioned who saw us together… could she be… Ashley Taylor!?" Chisato asks.

"Huh? She isn't, but Ashley Taylor is involved with this too," Akira says. "She's helping us, and you could say she's the one who asked the favour. The person who said she saw us together though is Misono Karin."

"Ohh… the girl dressed like a witch," Chisato says. "Okay, yeah, she was furthest away and bolted like a frightened rabbit, so that makes sense…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Akira says. "Could I ask you to use your power on me, too?"

"Oh, um… sure… Cancel!"

Akira blinks and nods. "Ah… I see now. So that's how Miss Karin managed to keep her memories of all that… thanks to Miss Nanaka's quick thinking and her distance from Miss Kagari…"

"Yeah, exactly," Chisato says. "Though I don't know if Miss Tokiwa had anything to do with it…"

"Miss Karin said she did," Akira says. "She fled because of a telepathic message from Miss Nanaka. Anyway… we gathered up everyone in Kamihama whose memories had been altered by Miss Kagari. Would you mind coming and undoing them all? And you could call your friends over as well."

Chisato nods. "Alright… I think I can manage that," she says. "But what about… that girl… with the silver hair…?"

"We can deal with her last," Akira says.

"Okay…"

Chisato powers down and takes out her phone to compose a message. Then she follows Akira to join us in the park, so I shut off the vision.

"Huh? I only recognize about half of these girls," Chisato says.

"Miss Shiina is here for a different reason," I say, indicating Remi. "And while you haven't met Miss Awane and Miss Kagami yourself, they got involved on Friday."

"Oh, when Matsuri went missing," Chisato nods. "Okay… so just the four of them…? But what about Miss Tokiwa…?"

"Yes, we would like you to cancel the magic on her, too," I say. "She had something else to take care of first, but she should arrive in town at some point… hopefully."

"Okay then…"

Chisato transforms and cancels the magic on Honoka, Natsuki, Aimi, Kokoro, and Masara. The four Kamihama girls gasp in tandem.

"Ah… how could we have forgotten Kagari-chan!?" Aimi says.

"And Miss Tsubaki…" Kokoro says.

"That's why Miss Shiina is here," I say. "Because Miss Tsubaki is one of the few people Kagari-chan might actually listen to."

"She didn't listen to her last time though," Kokoro points out. "But… wait, huh? What does Miss Shiina have to do with Miss Tsubaki…? And besides, Miss Tsubaki is dead… she died almost a year ago…"

"Ah, about that," Remi says. "I have the ability to sorta… communicate with the dead."

"T-that's possible!?" Kokoro gasps.

"I'll need some sort of focus to lock onto her, but… yes," Remi says. "It's possible. It's not exactly communication with the dead, though… it's more like communicating with them just before they died. My power revolves around the manipulation of time, you see."

"So if it's about sending a message back in time, you could do it even if the target is still alive now," Masara says.

"Yes… I have apparently done so many times," Remi says. "Although only to myself… but I presume I could contact anyone in that way."

At that moment, I pick up a quartet of approaching magical signatures just within detection range.

"Look sharp," I say. "They're almost here. Miss Shion, please be careful. We don't wish to allow Miss Kagari to catch you off guard and erase your memories again. You should be safe if you don't give her a chance to transform… I think."

"Yeah, I'll be careful," Chisato says.

"Inui, Miss Shiina… let's back off a little, just in case the worst does happen," I say. "At least that way we won't be caught in her web as well." I then send Remi alone a telepathic message. «Could you stop time for the three of us?»

Remi takes my hand and Inui's and transforms, and the world around us freezes.

"Huh?" Inui says. "Wait, everything just stopped moving… did you stop time?"

"Yes, I asked her to," I say. "Let's retreat to a safe distance for now."

We retreat into an alley way in the opposite direction from the approaching girls. Then Remi releases her time stop, and we wall-hop to the roof to watch what happens from above. Remi powers down again once we're on the roof.

Haruka, Matsuri, and Arisa enter the park together, looking surprised at the extra people present. I use clairvoyance to listen in.

"Chisato, the hell's going on here?" Arisa asks. "Who on earth are these people…?"

"It's hard to explain," Chisato says. "But if I use my magic on you, you should grasp the situation. Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!"

"E-eh…?" Arisa says. "Come to think of it, I do know at least one of these girls…"

"Kokoro-chan! Aimi-chan! Masara-chan!" Matsuri says. "Is everything alright after all that happened…?"

"Yes, we're fine," Aimi says. "Other than having our memories erased by your sister…"

Matsuri looks at her sister's ring for a moment, then slips it off her hand.

"I'm really angry at onee-chan too," Matsuri says. "However… I can't help but notice that Suzune-chan is missing. Chisato, please help me save Suzune-chan too."

"I was planning to," Chisato says.

Matsuri looks around for a moment, then takes Kokoro's hand and places the ring in it.

"Please keep onee-chan safe until I get back," she says.

With that, she runs off with Chisato in tow.

"Well, it looks like that worked out," I say. "Shall we rejoin them?"

"Yeah, might as well," Inui says. "Miss Kagari should be out of range by now anyway, so she won't be able to do anything even if she wanted to."

We hop down and rejoin the group in the park. Arisa and Haruka are startled to see me.

"Ashley Taylor!?" Arisa says. "What are you doing here…?"

"Trying to save your memories," I retort. "And those of almost everyone else here."

"Certainly we can't deny that our memories were altered," Haruka muses. "And it does not seem like you have hostile intentions…"

"I don't," I say. "I do still want to ask for your help to defeat Walpurgisnacht, however."

"What is Walpurgisnacht?" Kokoro asks.

"Walpurgisnacht," Masara says flatly. "The most powerful, most terrible witch of all time…"

"She's a witch!?" Aimi gasps.

"At least, the most powerful currently walking this earth," I say. "I see most of you haven't heard of her…"

"What is this witch like, Miss Masara?" Natsuki asks.

"I only know of her from at best third-hand accounts," Masara says. "I've heard she doesn't even hide in a labyrinth, and brings catastrophe wherever she goes…"

"Right," I say. "She travels at the heart of a typhoon. And at the end of the month, she'll come to Kamihama."

"How could you possibly know that?" Masara asks.

"Let's just say I have my sources," I say. "The point is, I want to make Kamihama her final resting place… which is why I'd like to ask for the help of the girls from Hohzuki."

"Well, you'll certainly have my help," Kokoro says. "If she truly does come to Kamihama… there's no way I can sit by and watch while a witch destroys my home!"

"Yes, I agree!" Aimi says.

"And I'll cheer everyone on!" Natsuki says.

Haruka nods. "I think… I think we can agree to help you out, as thanks for what you've done for us. I know Matsuri would be willing, too."

"Thank you very much," I say. "I'll let you know as soon as I know the exact date, but she'll appear sometime around the end of the month. Um, I think… the last Thursday of the month is a strong candidate, but I'm not yet certain."

That's the last school day before Golden Week, which starts on the Friday and continues all the way to the following Friday. Though apparently some schools require students to attend on the intervening Monday and end the holiday a day early on the Thursday… but I checked the schools in Kamihama and Mitakihara, and they all apparently give the full week off.

"Then we'll come when called, just this once," Haruka says.

With that settled, I decide to check what Nanaka and company are up to.

---

Nanaka and Kako are together, apparently waiting for something… presumably Meiyui, given her conspicuous absence. They stand on a fairly unremarkable semiresidential street, with shops and houses on one side and a dojo on the other.

"It's too bad she wasn't home," Kako says. "I hope we won't have to wait long…"

"Indeed, we do not want to keep Miss Hozumi and Miss Taylor waiting for longer than we must," Nanaka says. "Miss Meiyui should return soon… with luck, we will then know how much longer we need wait."

"Ah, here she is!" Kako says.

Meiyui pops out from a nearby alleyway and joins them.

"My contact says she is merely out shopping," she says. "We could wait for her here, or catch her at the local butcher shop down the street."

"Waiting here seems safest." Nanaka says. "Is there not a chance that she skips over the butcher shop?"

Meiyui nods. "True indeed. Then wait here we shall."

"But how much longer?" Kako asks.

"Not too long," Meiyui says. "At most half an hour, probably less."

Their target must have chosen to skip the butcher shop, for it can't be much more than five minutes before they see a blonde-haired woman head towards the dojo, laden with shopping bags. Nanaka immediately steps forward to accost her.

"Excuse me… may we help you to carry all of that?"

The woman looks at them in surprise. After a few seconds, she shrugs.

"Guess it can't hurt," she says. "Here you go."

She distributes most of the bags to the three girls, and they mount the steps to the dojo.

"So," she says. "Could it be… you're the ones who've been asking around about me? Or at least, you're the ones who hired them."

"Hired is not entirely accurate," Meiyui says. "The man is a distant relative of mine. He was simply doing me a favour."

"A favour, huh?" the woman says. "Well, if it's Yanagi's money you're after, just stop. She never had any – all she had was this dojo."

"We are not interested in the late Miss Yanagi," Nanaka says. "The ones we are interested in are yourself and Miss Mikoto."

The woman stopped, key inserted in the lock but not yet turned, and stared at them.

"Did you know Tsubaki?" she asks.

"We did not have the pleasure of meeting Miss Mikoto ourselves," Nanaka says. "But we come on behalf of three young girls who sorely miss her."

"I see," the woman says. "Well… I suppose we should formally introduce ourselves. I am indeed the woman you're looking for – Kasumi Ichika, heiress of the Yanagi dojo and Tsubaki's friend and rival."

She unlocks the door and steps inside, and the others follow her. They proceed to remove their shoes as they finish the introductions.

"I am Tokiwa Nanaka of the Kashin-ryu," Nanaka says.

Ichika raises eyebrows. "Flower-arranging, huh?"

"It flatters me that you have heard of the school," Nanaka says.

"I am Chun Meiyui of the Soukai clan."

"Figured as much," Ichika says. "Your… relative screamed yakuza with every move… though I guess the Soukai clan technically aren't yakuza anymore, are they?"

Meiyui nods. "Indeed, we have gone clean in recent years," she says. "But I suppose the old habits die hard."

"U-um… I'm Natsume Kako," Kako says. "I'm sorry I'm not anyone famous or anything…? I'm just the daughter of a bookstore owner…"

Ichika chuckles. "That's not something to be sorry for, Kako-chan!" she says. "So, what does a flower-arranger, an ex-yakuza's daughter, and a bookworm want with the likes of me? Is this about… the Hinata twins?"

"So you are aware of them?" Nanaka says. "You even know that they are twins?"

Ichika nods. "Of course. Tsubaki talked about them all the time. She said they were like the daughters she never had. Come in, I'll prepare some tea."

She leads them, now sans shoes, into a traditional sitting room containing a low table and cushions to sit on, and disappears for a short time, returning not long after with four cups of tea.

"Now, where were we?" she says. "You mentioned three girls, but the Hinata twins are only two… who's the third?"

"Her name is Amano Suzune," Nanaka says. "Has Miss Mikoto not spoken of her as well?"

"Amano… Suzune… ah, she did mention a Suzune-chan in her last correspondence, now that you mention it," Ichika says. "So… why come all the way here? I heard Tsubaki went missing last year, so I'm sure the three of them were saddened by that, but that's hardly a reason to come seek out an old friend."

"From what I have been told, Miss Mikoto did not simply go missing," Nanaka says. "She passed away last year."

Ichika sighs. "I figured as much… it's amazing enough that we survived as long as we did, given our line of work…"

Nanaka nods. "Indeed, one must accept that one can die at any time," she says. "But the issue is the Hinata twins. The elder twin blames Miss Amano for the death, and has been attempting to take revenge… and you should also know that all three have joined the same line of work."

"I see," Ichika says. "Your motives in coming here are starting to become clearer. Still, why me? Surely you don't think I could actually keep Kagari-chan in check. Not that I'm saying I can't, only that I don't understand why you'd think I might be able to."

"You are a childhood friend of Miss Mikoto, are you not?" Nanaka says.

"Yes, that's true," Ichika says. "Started as just rivals, but we eventually became friends."

"As things stand, Miss Kagari's revenge is causing problems for more than just the three of them," Nanaka says. "From what I hear, many magical girls have died as a result, and in particular, a number in my hometown narrowly avoided death, including one of my allies. It is a situation I wish to see resolved at any and all costs, and I will take whatever means I can discover to do so. You are Miss Mikoto's childhood friend. It may be a long shot, but as someone who intimately knows Miss Mikoto, I surmised that you may be able to say something that will convince Miss Kagari to stop her senseless rampage. Naturally, I am pursuing other paths as well, and in the worst case scenario, I will not hesitate to personally end her. However, I would prefer not to be forced to such extremes, so I have chosen to exhaust all other possibilities first."

"I can't promise I'll be able to say anything to change her mind," Ichika says. "That said… I too wish to lay Tsubaki to rest, and I would dearly love to meet the girls she talked about so much. So I'll do it. When do we leave?"

"Is now acceptable to you?" Nanaka asks.

"Hmm… give me ten to twenty minutes to pack a few things," Ichika says. "That said… do you already have a flight or ferry booked? I'm sure we have some time before it leaves…"

"We have something even better," Nanaka says. "Please, go ahead and make whatever preparations you feel necessary."

"Then just wait here a few minutes," Ichika says. "I promise, I won't be long."

She leaves them alone in the room and disappears further in somewhere.

"Well… that… went pretty well," Kako observes.

"Almost too well," Meiyui says. "What do you think, Miss Nanaka?"

"I do not believe she is our enemy," Nanaka says. "Even if she has ulterior motives in accepting, I do not believe we have reason to be wary of her."

"I see," Meiyui says.

At that moment, someone unexpected makes an appearance – Kyuubey hops up onto the table from somewhere.

"Tokiwa Nanaka," it says. "It has been awhile."

"Sir Kyuubey," Nanaka says, frowning slightly. "I cannot say I have missed you."

"It is unusual to see the three of you so far from Kamihama," Kyuubey says.

"Well, we have business here," Nanaka says. "The details are… none of your business, really."

"Is that so?" Kyuubey says. "I have my own business here, however. I am unable to enter Kamihama, so I am as yet unclear on what's happening there. Perhaps you can give me some information."

"Even if I had such information, why would you assume I would be willing to share?" Nanaka asks.

"The only way to know is to ask," Kyuubey replies. "If you are uninterested in sharing, then I will ask others who have recently visited the city."

"Please do that," Nanaka says.

"And what of Ashley Taylor?" Kyuubey asks.

Nanaka blinks. "What of her?" she says.

"Perhaps you were not aware that she is listening to our conversation at this very moment," Kyuubey says.

"Though I did not know that she was, I do know what she is capable of," Nanaka says. "We are currently working together, so it is not unexpected that she would wish to know how I am faring."

"You are working together," Kyuubey says. "Are you sure that is a good idea? Ashley Taylor is an anomaly… she appears to know things that cannot be fully ascribed to her magic power. She may be using you to achieve an unknown end."

"I cannot deny the possibility," Nanaka says. "But I think I am capable of judging for myself a person's character. Do not presume to tell me who I should or should not trust, Sir Kyuubey."

"I can see your mind is made up," Kyuubey says. "Then, it would be pointless for me to attempt to sway you."

"Yes, I am glad you catch on quickly," Nanaka says. "So, kindly remove yourself from my presence."

"Just be cautious of Ashley Taylor," Kyuubey says.

With that, Kyuubey hops off the table and vanishes.

"That startled me," Kako says. "I haven't seen Kyuubey for… almost a month now, I think?"

"Indeed, me too," Meiyui says. "It never occurred to me that he was actually unable to enter Kamihama…"

"I wonder why that could be," Kako muses. "Something must be keeping him out… right?"

"If I knew who it was, I would like to thank them," Nanaka says. "It has been a relief not to have to see his face all the time."

"You really dislike Kyuubey, don't you, Miss Nanaka?" Kako says.

"I would simply say that I do not believe he has been entirely honest with us," Nanaka says. "I do not trust him."

"Even though he's the one who granted our wishes," Kako says.

"We still do not know why he grants wishes," Nanaka says. "He may have ulterior motives of his own that he has not shared with us."

"It is certainly possible," Meiyui says.

At that moment, Ichika reappears with a bag slung over her shoulder.

"Alright, I'm ready," she says. "Please lead the way."

Nanaka and the others get to their feet and head outside, taking the main road out of the village and then leaving the path to head into the woods. Ichika frowns.

"Huh? Why are we going into the woods? We're not taking a flight or a ferry?"

"You will understand in a moment, Miss Kasumi," Nanaka says.

After about a minute of walking, the portal they must have arrived through becomes visible. Ichika gapes at it.

"What on earth…? Is that magic?"

"Space fusion," Nanaka says. "An acquaintance helped us to come here."

She steps through into a traditional Japanese room, followed by Ichika, Kako, and finally Meiyui. The room is empty except for Shizuku, curled up in a corner looking bored.

"Thank you for your help and patience, Miss Hozumi," Nanaka says.

Shizuku straightens up and nods, closing the portal behind them.

"Who's she…?" she asks, looking at Ichika.

"She is the person we were searching for," Nanaka says. "Could I ask you to help us one more time, Miss Hozumi? Could you connect this location to Hohzuki? Somewhere central yet unobtrusive, if possible."

Shizuku nods. "I can connect you to… hmm… the same location in Hohzuki that my other clients picked," she says. "But it'll cost you extra…"

She cites a price, quite a bit less than the price for connecting to Sazanka, and Nanaka nods.

"I can pay that, easily," she says.

She produces the requisite cash from her purse and hands it over. Shizuku accepts it and stows it away, then closes her eyes for a moment, opening a new portal.

"Do you want me to wait for your return again?" Shizuku asks.

Nanaka shakes her head. "I think we can return in the traditional way. Feel free to go home or whatever you want."

"Should I ask them to show you out afterwards?" Meiyui asks.

"Um… no, I'll just leave via space fusion," Shizuku says.

"Very well," Meiyui says.

---

Matsuri and Chisato return around the time that Nanaka and the others step through the portal to Hohzuki. They now have a vaguely confused-looking Suzune in tow. Matsuri retrieves Kagari's soul gem from Kokoro and slips it back on her finger, then turns to me.

"Thank you for all your help, Miss Ashley," she says. "I thought I could convince onee-chan by myself, but apparently I was wrong. It was almost right after you left that she erased my memories again, and Chisato's too… I didn't even have a chance to stop her. I'm sorry."

"No, I should probably be apologizing too," I say. "I now think I should've waited until all four of you were together before I tried to explain the situation. I bet she thought she could salvage the situation because you and Chisato were the only ones who knew about it… though I'm surprised she didn't attack me, too."

"Actually, she did spend some time trying to find you," Matsuri says. "But she didn't have any leads whatsoever, so she was forced to give up… there was no sign of you anywhere in Hohzuki, and no way to know what other city you could be staying in."

"Ah, right, I guess I never mentioned that the first time we met, did I?" I say. "In retrospect, I guess that was a good thing… and I guess she never discovered Honoka-chan."

"Yeah, I don't think she had any inkling that you two knew each other," Matsuri says. "Of course, she was aware of Honoka-chan though… just not her connection to you."

Suddenly Kagari transforms, but before she can do anything else, Chisato cancels her transformation with a shout.

"W-what!?" Kagari gasps. "H-how dare you!? Do you know how much time and effort I put into this!?"

"We know, and we couldn't care less," I retort. "Miss Amano… your hair ornament, the charm with the bell. Is that the very same ornament that Miss Mikoto once wore?"

"Huh? Um… yes," Suzune says. "Why…?"

"Could I ask you to remove it for a minute?" I say. "We don't intend to take it from you… we just want to borrow it." I indicate Remi. "Please give it to her. That will work, right, Miss Shiina?"

"I think so," Remi says. "If it was a keepsake from Miss Mikoto, I should be able to use it."

Suzune hesitates. "You're not… going to damage it… are you?"

"It won't be harmed in the slightest," Remi promises.

"Well… I suppose…" Suzune says hesitantly.

She does remove it however, and holds it out to Remi… but then at the last moment apparently decides she can't let it go. Remi however seems satisfied with merely touching it while Suzune still holds onto it.

"This will do, I think," she says. "Please, give me a moment…"

She transforms, closing her eyes and focusing. A sort of strange distortion forms in the air between them. It reminds me a little of Shizuku's portals, but so small that you can't see what's on the other side. After a moment, Remi speaks.

"Excuse me!" she says. "Can you hear me?"

"Huh!?" a startled voice says, issuing from the distortion. "Is someone there…?"

Suzune gasps. "Tsubaki!? That's… that's Tsubaki's voice!"

"It really is!" Matsuri gasps.

"Impossible!" Kagari says. "This must be some sort of trick!"

"Huh? Suzune? Matsuri? Kagari? Is that you?" Tsubaki's voice asks. "Am I… hearing things? You twins have never met Suzune though…"

"Yes, it's us!" Matsuri says eagerly. "Um… where are you, Tsubaki?"

"I'm… not sure," Tsubaki says. "The last thing I remember is fighting a witch with Suzune…"

"Um, you're on the final second of your life," Remi says. "I don't know the details… maybe the witch is just about to kill you or something? But I've connected to that moment and stretched it out so that we can talk."

"To think magic can do such a thing," Tsubaki marvels. "Though it's sad to hear that I'm about to die… but I did lead a happy life, so the only thing I'd really regret will be leaving Suzune all alone. So, you wanted to talk, right? What is this about?"

"Do you remember a time when you… collapsed, Miss Mikoto?" I ask. "Just for a short time, for no apparent reason. Miss Amano was apparently very worried about you at the time."

"Huh? Who are you and how do you know about it?" Tsubaki asks. "I do remember that… I remember having a strange dream…"

"That wasn't a dream!" Kokoro speaks up. "It really happened!"

"Huh!? That can't be… Kokoro!?" Tsubaki gasps. "You're saying I really did somehow visit the future that time?"

"Yes! I remember it clearly!" Kokoro says. "Aimi and Masara are here with me too!"

"I remember it too!" Aimi says.

"And I'm here too!" Honoka says.

"I am indeed present," Masara says.

"Maybe you remember me too!" Natsuki says.

"I see… Aimi, Masara, and even Honoka and… is that… Natsuki?" Tsubaki says. "If that dream was in fact real… then I believe I can figure out why you'd want to talk with me. Kagari… are you still causing problems for everyone?"

"Oh, shut up!" Kagari shouts. "All I wanted was to be with you! If you'd just let me, I could have let everything else lapse, but you just couldn't do that, could you!?"

"Well, well, well, now this goes well beyond my expectations. I never thought I'd hear your voice again."

"That voice…" Tsubaki says. "Is that you, Ichika!?"

I look towards the speaker. Indeed – Ichika, Nanaka, Kako, and Meiyui must have arrived at some point while we were talking with Tsubaki.

"I can't believe you had the nerve to die before me, Tsubaki," Ichika retorts. "How could you?"

"That's not the way to speak to someone on their deathbed, Ichika," Tsubaki retorts.

"Yeah, yeah, as if you'd actually care," Ichika says. "Well, I stopped by hoping to meet the twins, but I never thought I'd actually get a chance to speak with you as well."

"I am sorry for keeping it from you, Miss Kasumi," Nanaka says.

"I recognize that voice too," Tsubaki says.

"Indeed," Nanaka says. "It has been only two days since last we spoke."

"For me it has been quite a bit longer," Tsubaki says. "A couple of months, I believe. I don't recall the exact date of that dream, however. My memory of the events are a little fuzzy as well."

"Um, excuse me," Matsuri says. "But… who are you? The two of you seem to be close…"

"Allow me to introduce myself," Ichika says. "I am Tsubaki's childhood friend and rival, and a magical girl just like she was. My name is Kasumi Ichika."

"Amazing," Kokoro says. "Actually, I think I may have seen your picture in that… dream… though you look so different now, I probably never would've recognized you…"

"I see," Matsuri says. "So you are really close… but if that's the case, why have we never met before now?"

"No real reason," Ichika says. "I had my own affairs to deal with, like inheriting the dojo that our mentor left behind. I intended to come visit, but then she went missing…" She frowns a little. "There is one thing that confuses me… you must be one of the Hinata twins, but where's the other?'

"Right here with me," Matsuri says. "Due to certain circumstances, we're both inhabiting the same body right now."

Ichika blinks. "Is that so…?"

"I was forced into this situation," Kagari mutters. "Though it was convenient at times, I'll admit…"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, we're here to address the problem of Miss Kagari's… behaviour," Ichika says. "But I don't know exactly what she's been doing, so how about everyone starts by filling me in?"

After I've explained Kagari's plan in detail, carefully avoiding the truth about how magical girls turn into witches, Ichika nods firmly.

"Alright, I get it," she says. "We can't have that, Miss Kagari."

"Indeed, I'm shocked that you'd consider such an awful thing," Tsubaki says.

"B-b-but…!" Kagari says.

"Look here," Ichika says. "If you wanna get revenge on Suzune-chan, that's one thing. I ain't got no right to stop ya, even if I think it's stupid. But as soon as you start dragging in innocent magical girls who have nothing to do with your quarrel, that's where I draw the line."

"I don't want to see you two fight, though," Tsubaki says.

"But you fought with me hundreds of times, didn't you?" Ichika says.

"Well, that's different," Tsubaki says. "We weren't seriously trying to kill each other…"

"You got a point there," Ichika says. "Even so, if Kagari-chan had confronted Suzune-chan directly, I am certain that they would be fast friends by now. The way a person fights betrays their character, and by fighting them repeatedly, you can gain great insight into their mind. It may be paradoxical, but sometimes this is actually more effective than logic when befriending someone. I know that because it's how we became friends, Tsubaki."

"I won't let onee-chan touch my memories again," Matsuri says firmly. "I've been affected by her magic often enough that I think I could break through it on my own now, or even resist it in the first place."

"Y-you little…!" Kagari gasps.

"Kagari, promise me," Tsubaki says. "Promise me you'll make up for what you've done."

"What the hell are you even talking about!?" Kagari shouts.

"Countless magical girls have died because of you, Kagari," Tsubaki says. "You can't just brush that off!"

"I-I didn't do anything!" Kagari protests. "It was all Suzune's doing!"

"Don't try to push the blame," Tsubaki says. "You made Suzune-chan do it with your magic, so the blame falls squarely on you. You and no-one else. You'd better take responsibility for what you've done!"

"I… I… even Tsubaki has turned against me…!" Kagari gasps. "T-then… what do I even…"

I suddenly notice that Kagari's soul gem is rapidly filling with grief. I send Matsuri an urgent telepathic message.

«Matsuri, this is bad! At this rate, she might turn into a witch! Quick, give me her soul gem!»

Then, as Matsuri blinks for a moment before following my instructions, I send one to Remi as well.

«Remi-chan, can you stop time again?»

«Um… I'll try…! It might break the connection to Miss Tsubaki, though, and I may not be able to reach her again if that happens.»

«This is more important,» I reply. «If you can keep the connection open, great… if not, it is what it is.»

Remi nods and grabs my hand, and everything freezes with Kagari's ring in mid-toss. I step forward to snatch it from midair, and I examine it closely. Though almost completely darkened, there are a few pinpricks of light remaining, and no signs of any cracks.

"Looks like we made it in time," I say. "She hasn't turned into a witch yet…"

"Is this safe though?" Remi asks. "The soul gem holds her consciousness, and it's in the time stop with us, so couldn't she still turn?"

"There was something I noticed when Miss Homura locked me up," I say. "Whenever she came to visit and turned the light on, I could see my soul gem on a table in the corner of the room, but once she'd left and the light was off, I could tell it wasn't there anymore. Furthermore, when you and Kanna-chi rescued me, you found my soul gem one floor down. That means Miss Homura must have been transporting my soul gem while time was stopped."

"I don't remember that, but I did hear a bit about it from my other self," Remi nods. "But what does it mean…?"

"Even though the consciousness is housed in the soul gem, it requires a body to operate," I say. "If the body isn't responding because its time is stopped, then it's just the same as being cut off from the body due to distance. It would probably also work in reverse – if we had Matsuri here with us, but Kagari's soul gem was frozen in time."

"I think I get it," Remi says. "Consciousness requires an active connection between the body and the soul gem… but now what? Are you going to purify her, or do we need to get some distance?"

"Hmm… I don't have as many spare grief seeds as I'm used to, but… I do have more than one," I say. "I guess I'll purify her."

I take out my grief seed stash – two normal seeds and three cubes. I use one of the cubes on Kagari's soul gem, purifying it.

"Okay, looks like we're safe," Remi says. "I'll start time moving again."

As I stow away the grief seeds, everything begins to move again, and I offer the ring back to Matsuri.

"Thank you very much, Miss Taylor," Matsuri says.

"Huh? What just happened?" Ichika asks.

"Onee-chan's soul gem was in a really bad state," Matsuri says. "Miss Taylor just purified it for me."

"W-why'd you have to go and do that…?" Kagari mutters darkly. "There's no point in living anymore anyway…"

"How could you even think of throwing everything away, Kagari-chan!" Kokoro suddenly exclaims. "Think of your sister, and your father! They'd miss you very much, you know!"

"I don't care!" Kagari screams. "I don't want to live in a world without Tsubaki in it!"

"Um, so, because I stopped time just now, I'm losing the connection to the past," Remi says. "We probably only have a few more seconds…"

"Well, Ichika, I suppose I'll leave this up to you," Tsubaki says. "Please discipline Kagari for—"

And just like that, the connection cuts off. Suzune ties the amulet back into her hair while Ichika turns to face Kagari.

"Listen up, Kagari," she says. "Because I'll only say this once."

"Huh? Why should I listen to you…?" Kagari asks.

Ichika transforms. Like Tsubaki, her magical girl outfit is based on traditional Japanese clothing, specifically that associated with the martial arts – the hakama. The hakama itself is a deep, navy blue, while her upper body is clothed in green with white frills on the hem. Her soul gem is a circular green gem set on her waist. She brandishes a katana, pointing it at Matsuri's face at first before shifting her aim towards the hand bearing Kagari's soul gem.

"Don't you dare die before you've found happiness without sacrificing others!" she shouts.

Kagari gasps as a wave of magic washes over her.

"W-what the hell have you done, you old hag!?" she screams.

Ichika powers down, grinning.

"Oh, nothing bad," she says. "Just put a little geas on ya. Next time we meet, I wanna have a proper chat with you, okay? All three of you. Don't you dare let me down!"

And with that, the woman simply turns and walks off, leaving everyone in the park staring after her.

"Is it really that simple…?" Nanaka wonders.

"Don't worry!" Matsuri says. "I'll watch over onee-chan too. I won't let this sort of thing happen again, no matter what it takes!"

"Well, I guess that's settled," Arisa says. "Let's just go home."

"Um!" Kako speaks up. "You know, I was pretty surprised to find out that you're magical girls… Miss Arisa, Miss Chisato."

Nanaka blinks. "Have you met these two before, Kako?"

"Ah, right," Akira says. "They visited Natsume Books a couple of weeks ago – I know because I showed them the way there."

"Well, it surprised me too," Arisa says.

"I'm more surprised you didn't bring this up a couple of days ago," Akira says.

"Well, we were kind of… occupied then," Chisato says. "And at the end, we had our memories wiped…"

"In any case, could I ask you to use your power on the three of us as well, Miss… Chisato?" Nanaka asks.

"Alright," Chisato says. "Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!"

Nanaka nods slowly. "I remember now… we got caught up in the Rumour of the Ripper Girl… and you ended up saving us. Thank you very much for that."

"Oh, that was… no trouble…" Chisato says.

"It would seem that we have reached some form of resolution," Nanaka says. "In which case, I shall take my leave. Miss Matsuri… I wish you luck."

"T-thank you," Matsuri says.

Nanaka turns to leave, and without a word from her, Meiyui and Akira join her. Kako hesitates for a moment.

"Um… I just wanted to say… if you ever want help locating another of your father's books, or any other book, I'll be happy to help you like before," she says.

Chisato blinks. "Ah, um… thank you very much, Kako-chan," she says. "I'll… keep your offer in mind."

Then Kako follows the rest of her team.

"Well, I guess my part here is done too, right?" Remi says. "In that case, I should get home before my little sister starts worrying about me."

She powers down.

"I'll see you later, Miss Ashley… at the battle with Walpurgisnacht, if not sooner."

Then she heads off in the same direction as everyone else. Of course – the train station is in that direction, after all.

"I gotta go shopping so I can cook dinner," Honoka says. "But I'll see you tomorrow at school, Suzune-chan, Matsuri-chan… and Kagari too I guess."

"Yeah!" Matsuri says. "I'll look forward to it!"

"We'll see you at the battle too," Haruka says. "Until then… goodbye."

The four of them turn and head away, and Honoka also leaves the park. That leaves Inui and me alone.

"We're not exactly in a hurry, are we?" Inui asks.

"Well… I suppose not," I admit.

"Then let's just… sit here for awhile," she says.

"Sure… why not…"

On a whim, I check in on Iroha and find her seeing her parents off at the airport. There's no point in prying further into such an event, so I switch my vision to Madoka instead. I find her having afternoon tea at Mami's place, and playing card games. Mami herself is missing, of course, but Homura and Nagisa are both there.

"Hey, Madoka," Homura suddenly says.

"Huh?" Madoka says, startled. "What is it?"

"I was just thinking about what happened a couple of days ago," Homura says. "Um… I wanted to apologize."

"Huh!? What are you talking about?" Madoka asks. "You've done nothing to apologize for…"

"But you had to fight that rumour by yourself," Homura says. "I should have gone with you… I just didn't want to be dragged too deeply into Miss Tamaki's problems, but that ended up putting you and Nagisa-chan in danger… you even had to see that witch again, right?"

"Y-yeah, I have to admit that seeing Charlotte again came as a bit of a shock," Madoka says. "Though she actually really helped us this time."

"And we didn't even manage to bring Miss Mami back," Homura adds.

"But really, none of that matters," Madoka says. "I mean, we had to limit the number of people who went, so it's only natural that one of us would've had to stay back, right? And even if we couldn't bring her back, we did figure out where Miss Mami went. And we made some friends, too!"

"You made some friends," Homura mutters.

"Don't be like that, Homura-chan," Madoka says. "Iroha-chan and the others who fought alongside us… you should try to trust them a little, Homura-chan! I'm sure they'll help us bring Miss Mami back! In fact, we should go there again once Sayaka-chan returns."

"Homura-nee is too cold without Mami-nee around," Nagisa says. "Also… I win."

She smugly plays her last card.

"I don't need you telling me that," Homura says. "And since when were you down to one card…?"

"You and the rose sister were talking so much you forgot to pay attention," Nagisa retorts. "It's your own fault."

"But you know," Madoka says. "That was the first time I've ever had to fight like that. Rumours, witches, magical girls… there was no end to the opponents. I almost thought I was going to end up unleashing my doppel again…"

"Yes, I was actually surprised by that too," Homura says. "It seems that there's an unusually large number of magical girls in Kamihama for a city of its size… even if you discount the black and white feathers."

"You think so?" Madoka asks. "There weren't any more than we have here in Mitakihara, were there?"

"We have an unusually large number here too as of late," Homura says. "After all, Miss Mami used to cover the entire central ward all by herself, maybe even more. Two or three would probably be normal for Mitakihara. For Kamihama, maybe… ten?"

"I don't think we met more than ten, if you don't count the black feathers," Madoka says.

"But most of those were Miss Tamaki's team," Homura says. "Plus, we know there were others we didn't meet, like the one who called at just the right moment with the information about the password, and various ones that Miss Taylor has mentioned."

"Hmm… you might be right, Homura-chan," Madoka says. "But what does that have to do with this…?"

"Nothing, really," Homura says. "I just thought it was interesting…"

"Still, at least we know Miss Mami is alive," Madoka says. "Next time, we'll definitely save her, no matter what!"

I decide to end that vision and check on some other people. Kyouko isn't doing anything interesting, the Tokime trio are still just going about their lives oblivious of the Mikoshiba's motivations, Alexandra Cruise is fighting a witch alone, Miura Asahi appears to be shooting at squirrels for some reason… so there doesn't seem to be anything else interesting going on anywhere that I can find.

Eventually, Inui gets up, and we head to the station. We decide to split up there, Inui heading to Kamihama while I return to Mitakihara.

---

April eighteenth. Yachiyo, Tsuruno, and Iroha are out hunting witches after school. They find one and take it down quickly before heading towards home, but after a few minutes, Yachiyo suddenly heads into an alleyway.

"Huh? Did you sense something, Miss Yachiyo?"

Yachiyo puts a finger to her lips as she ducks into what looks like a loading bay for an abandoned building. There are two magical girls there. One is Hozumi Shizuku. The other is a white feather who I don't recognize. She has light brown hair peeking out from under her hood.

"I'm not helping you because I share your beliefs," Shizuku is saying.

"Oh," the white feather says, glancing nervously towards Yachiyo. "Well, if you change your mind, just let me know. See you around. I'll be in touch."

"Okay," Shizuku says.

The white feather heads off in the opposite direction, leaving no opportunity for anyone to stop her. Yachiyo steps forward and addresses Shizuku.

"Who are you?" she asks.

"Huh!?" Shizuku gasps, startled. "You…"

"I'm Nanami Yachiyo. As you can see, I'm a magical girl like you."

Tsuruno hops forward, beaming at her.

"I'm Tsuruno! The—"

"We don't have time for that now," Yachiyo says, cutting her off before she can do her signature introduction.

"Huh!?" Tsuruno gasps. "But—"

"Tsuruno-chan, it's okay, stay calm!" Iroha says. "Um, I'm Tamaki Iroha."

"We told you our names," Yachiyo says. "Will you tell us yours?"

"Hozumi… Shizuku…"

"Okay, Miss Hozumi," Yachiyo says. "When we came over to talk to you… you were talking to somebody else… how do you know that magical girl?"

"She said she was… part of some organization," Shizuku says. "But… I don't really know much about what she does. I can do space fusion. And she knows that. That's why she sometimes asks me to do jobs for her…"

"Jobs?" Yachiyo asks.

"She tells me two places, and I make a connection between them," Shizuku explains. "That's my job. I get a request from her to link two places together, so I link them. In return, she pays me money."

"Space fusion," Yachiyo muses. "What does she need that for…?"

"I don't know what her goal is, either," Shizuku says. "We have an agreement that I don't ask for details."

"Sounds exceedingly suspicious to me," Yachiyo says. "You might not want to hear this, but… you shouldn't be helping people when you don't know their true aims. What are you going to do if what you're doing causes something terrible to happen? Will you take responsibility? If you don't intend to take responsibility… you really should stop."

"I… need the money," Shizuku says. "To find… my place…"

"Your place?"

"Somewhere I feel like… I could stay forever," Shizuku mutters. "Where it feels right to be there… a place where I feel safe… where I belong…"

"A place where you belong…?" Iroha says.

"So I can't stop yet," Shizuku says.

"If that's the—" Yachiyo begins.

"Miss Yachiyo!" Iroha exclaims.

"Hm?" Yachiyo says.

Iroha turns to Shizuku. "Um… if you like… why don't we talk… at our place…?"

"Our place?" Yachiyo says.

"I want to… invite Shizuku-chan over!" Iroha says.

"Miss Tamaki…" Yachiyo says.

"If you're offering… sure, I'll come," Shizuku says.

"Then, let's make hot pot again today!" Iroha says.

"Alright," Yachiyo says with a sigh. "Let's go shopping, then."

The four of them power down and head for the nearby shopping district, picking up a variety of vegetables and some other ingredients for the hot pot. Then they head for Crescent Moon Villa.

Once they arrive, Yachiyo opens the door and ushers Shizuku in.

"Come in," she says. "It's a bit cramped with so many people here, but you should be able to find a place to sit."

"Thanks," Shizuku says.

Felicia looks up from the couch, where she's playing a game on her phone.

"Welc— huh? Who's she?"

"Welcome back," Sana says. "Oh, a guest?"

"It's polite to say your own name before asking others for theirs," Yachiyo notes.

"Yeah, yeah," Felicia says. "I'm Felicia. Who're you?"

"Hozu—" Shizuku begins.

But Tsuruno interrupts her. "Hozumi Shizuku! We invited her for dinner!"

"Uh-huh," Felicia says.

"Sorry about her," Yachiyo says. "She's always like that."

"It's fine," Shizuku says.

"U-um…" Sana says. "I'm… uhhh…"

"This is Futaba Sana," Iroha says, helping her out.

"N-nice to meet you…" Sana mutters.

Yachiyo heads into the kitchen to start preparing, and Iroha follows her to help out. Felicia goes back to her game, and Sana just keeps glancing nervously at her, while Tsuruno decides to get out an anime. After several minutes of just sitting on a couch, Shizuku decides to head into the kitchen as well.

"Um… can I help?" she asks. "Shall I get the plates out? Which ones do you want to use?"

"You're our guest so just sit down, okay?" Yachiyo says.

"Oh, no," Shizuku says. "I'd like to help."

As Tsuruno switches the TV on, Felicia's protest is heard from the other room.

"You serious!?" she asks. "You saw this episode the other day!"

"I wanna watch it again!" Tsuruno says.

"What, you so stupid that you need to see it twice to get what's happening?" Felicia asks.

"What'd you just say!?" Tsuruno exclaims.

"Well… I suppose you can't really sit and relax with those two around," Yachiyo admits.

"It's fine," Shizuku says. "I'm… used to that sort of thing."

"We could really use someone like you around though, Miss Hozumi," Yachiyo says.

Though she seems reluctant, Yachiyo ends up accepting Shizuku's help to prepare the meal. Once it's ready, everyone takes a seat around the table in the living room, the simmering pot sitting in the middle, and finally Yachiyo removes the lid and declares it ready to eat.

"Let's dig in!" Tsuruno says.

"It looks delicious," Sana says.

"Hot pot agaaain?" Felicia says.

"If you have a problem with it you don't have to eat it," Yachiyo says.

"I ain't saying that!" Felicia says. "I'm eating it, aren't I!?"

"S-sorry," Iroha says. "I was the one who suggested it…"

"There's no need to apologize," Yachiyo says.

"Yeah, yeah…!" Sana says. "I… I love hot pots!"

Iroha turns to Shizuku.

"I just thought that if we all ate something nice and warm like this… it might cheer you up a bit… maybe help you find that place you belong," Iroha says.

"Oh… your place?" Sana says, also looking at Shizuku.

"Thank you," Shizuku says, nodding. "It's so warm… and delicious…"

Iroha just beams at her. From then on, eating mostly takes priority over talking until the pot is empty.

"I can't eat another bite!" Tsuruno finally says. "I'm so full, I'm gonna explode!"

"I mean, if you're gonna eat that much…" Sana mutters.

"Um… Shizuku…chan?" Iroha says. "If you'd like… why don't you stay the night…?"

"Huh?" Shizuku says.

"But won't her parents worry?" Yachiyo asks.

"Oh, right…!" Iroha gasps. "They must be worried, huh…?"

"It's fine," Shizuku says.

"What?" Iroha says.

"It's fine if I don't go home," Shizuku says. "They never say anything anymore. Even if I'm out late or stay over somewhere."

Sana looks at her with a small sigh, but doesn't say anything.

"Okay, it's decided then," Yachiyo says. "Are you okay with wearing my pyjamas?"

Iroha giggles.

"Uh… yeah, that's fine," Shizuku says.

---

I'm woken unusually early by the sound of my phone ringing. It's Chevonne. Since I'm up anyway, I answer it.

"Hello… what's up?" I ask.

"Huh? You sound sleepy!?" Chevonne says.

"Well, it's around four in the morning here…"

"Eh? I must've messed up the calculation," Chevonne says. "I thought it would be eight o'clock at night… ohh! I get it, you're sixteen hours ahead of me, but like a dummy I went and subtracted sixteen. Duh! I'm so sorry!"

"Well, I'm awake now, so whatever," I say. "What's up? Did Sarra talk to you about my request?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm calling," Chevonne says. "I just wanted to let you know that Janice and I finally got our passports and booked our flights, so we'll be there on the twenty-eighth. The plane is supposed to come in at Kamihama International Airport at five o'clock in the afternoon, local time."

"Oh… that might be cutting it a little close," I say. "That's actually the day I'm expecting Walpurgisnacht to appear… though I'm not totally certain yet, and even then, I expect her to appear after sunset."

"Then that's perfect," Chevonne says. "If you're right, we'll get there just in time."

"So, you and Janice are definitely coming," I say. "What about Sarra and Alice?"

"Sarra's coming," Chevonne says. "I'm not sure about Alice. I haven't seen her for about three days."

"Basically, since Sarra mentioned it?"

"You got it. I'm not saying she's been skipping – it's not like we'd often run into each other given our different school schedules anyway. But whether she's skipping or not, I suspect she's been avoiding us… so who knows whether she'll come."

"Well, it'd be great to have her," I say. "But I suppose we may be able to handle things without her… anyway, thanks for letting me know."

"Yeah! We'll see you then, Ashley! You can introduce us to your friends and everything!"

"Well… I can try," I say. "Not all of them speak English like Inui though."

"That's fine, you can translate for us."

"That's a lot harder than you make it sound, you know."

"Whatever. Seeya!"

"Yeah, you too."

I hang up and flop back into bed. There's plenty of time to get a bit more sleep before I need to head to school… but just in case, I first check if anyone is awake at the Crescent Moon Villa.

---

April nineteenth. Though it's still dark, Shizuku and Yachiyo have already left the house.

"Sorry for causing you all this trouble," Shizuku says.

"Don't worry about it," Yachiyo says. "They're pretty loud. Quite different from you or I…"

"You guys seem like a family," Shizuku says.

"It's not really like that," Yachiyo says. "We're just living together…"

"Even if you put it that way, isn't that mostly what family is?" Shizuku says.

"Well… I suppose we are like a loose family, of sorts," Yachiyo admits. "But you're a magical girl, so you understand, right? Living together like this, each of us knowing we could die any day… we can help each other and give each other strength… it's the only way we can survive it. The only ones that can understand the loneliness that we feel… are others who share the same destiny. Other magical girls. We all believe that. That's why Miss Tamaki invited you here."

"The place where they all belong," Shizuku muses. "It's right here."

"It's not like you could be any rowdier than those two," Yachiyo says. "Stay here as long as you like."

"Miss Nanami… yes… I think maybe I will stay awhile," Shizuku says. "Thank you very much."

---

Same day, after school. Shizuku appears to be meeting with a white feather again. It's hard to tell, but it appears to be the same white feather.

"Okay, here's your pay," the feather says.

"Thanks," Shizuku says. "Bye."

"Don't you want to hear about the next job?" the feather asks.

"Why?" Shizuku asks. "What do you want me to use my power for?"

"You're really asking that, now?" the feather says. "I told you, you don't get to know details. Well… if you become one of us I might be able to…"

"If you won't tell me, fine," Shizuku says.

"What's up with you all of a sudden?" the feather asks.

"I don't think you'll be hearing from me again," Shizuku says.

"What? You mean you don't wanna help us anymore?"

"I guess I don't. I… I think I'm going to stop working with you from now on."

Shizuku leaves and powers down, making for Crescent Moon Villa. She finds it locked with no-one home, but she was apparently given a key, for she unlocks it and steps inside.

"I'm… home…" she says.

But of course there's no response. She sits on a couch for a minute or so, then gets up and explores the place. Since she shows almost no emotion, it's hard to say what she thinks of what she sees. Eventually, indistinct voices can be heard outside.

"Looks like they're back," Shizuku mutters.

She listens to the voices for several seconds before sighing, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen and writing on it.

"Thanks for everything. Sorry for getting in your way. Goodbye."

Then she leaves the note and key on the kitchen counter, seizes her shoes from the front step, and slips out the side door before the others come inside. Just as she gets outside, there's a ping on her phone. She takes it out to see who it is. The sender's name is written as Fuu in hiragana.

[Hey, I know you said you wanted to stop, but can you manage just one last job? I was gonna ask you earlier, but you just ran off all of a sudden.]

She sighs and sends a response.

[Fine… be there in 5 mins.]

Then she makes her way back to the meeting place, where she transforms. A minute or so later, the white feather reappears.

"Today we want you to connect the Kamihama Observatory to Fukushima University," Fuu says.

"Okay," Shizuku says.

She closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them again.

"It's done."

Fuu nods. "Sorry for the last-minute request. Here's your payment."

"Thanks," Shizuku says.

"Seeya," Fuu says.

"Um… the next…! What's the next job?" Shizuku asks.

"Didn't you say you weren't doing this anymore?"

"The picture was already complete with five pieces," Shizuku says. "I can't stop yet… I need to keep working, I need to keep searching for my place…"

"Is that some kind of riddle?" Fuu asks. "Well, whatever. We're more than happy if you do want to keep going. But I'm afraid the next job hasn't been decided yet. I'll let you know once it has."

"Okay," Shizuku says. "Bye then."

Just then, her phone pings. She checks it, finds it's from Ayaka, and puts the phone away without even looking at the message.

"Are you sure you can continue assisting us like this?" Fuu asks, startling her.

"Huh?" Shizuku says. "Um… yes, I'm sure. That's why I asked about the next job. That said, I'd like to know what you're trying to accomplish. Why do you need my space fusion magic to connect Kamihama to other places?"

"We already agreed not to discuss that," Fuu says.

Then Mifuyu steps out from around a corner. She's not wearing her feather robes but is powered up.

"Though it would be another story if you were to join the Wings of the Magius," she says.

"Miss Mifuyu…?" Fuu says.

"I've heard about you, Hozumi Shizuku," Mifuyu says. "You're an incredible magical girl who can connect places using space fusion."

"Are you… Azusa Mifuyu?" Shizuku asks.

"You've heard of me?" Mifuyu asks.

"Yes," Shizuku says. "You're a veteran magical girl in Kamihama…"

"Right now I organize this group of girls," Mifuyu says.

"Oh… sorry," Shizuku says. "I never imagined they had a veteran like you keeping them in order…"

Mifuyu chuckles. "Don't worry about it. So what do you think? Want to join the Wings of the Magius?"

"If someone as experienced as you is there… then I'll give it a try," Shizuku says.

"Then we can tell you about our goals," Mifuyu says. "Though there is just one condition you need to meet before joining."

"A condition?" Shizuku says.

"Yes," Mifuyu says. "I want you to learn the truth about magical girls. That's our requirement for entry."

"The truth…?" Shizuku says.

"Please, come with me," Mifuyu says. "I will show you my memories, and then you'll understand what I mean."

While Fuu heads off in the direction of Fendt Hope, Mifuyu leads Shizuku to the Memory Museum and rings the bell, activating the rumour. Shizuku gasps as the barrier sucks them in and looks around at the shelves surrounding them.

"Where are we?" she asks.

"The archives room at the Memory Museum," Mifuyu says. "All memories are kept here for safekeeping."

"All… memories?" Shizuku says. "That sounds like something out of a fairy tale."

Mifuyu giggles. "That's a fair reaction to have. But I think you'll change your mind about that once you experience this for real."

"For real?" Shizuku says.

"Yes," Mifuyu says. "You're going to look inside my memories so you can learn the truth."

She steps up to one of the shelves and extracts a book, holding it out to Shizuku.

"They're in this book," she says. "Everything I've experienced is recorded here in these pages. I'd like you to go ahead and experience it too – the truth about magical girls."

"Experience… the truth…?" Shizuku says.

"Yes," Mifuyu says. "All you need to do is look inside this book."

"Okay," Shizuku says.

"I'll see you when you're done living out my memories," Mifuyu says.

Shizuku takes the book and opens it up, and then drowsiness suddenly overtakes her and she sort of falls over. Mifuyu catches her and hoists her up to carry her to Fendt Hope, where she gently lays her down on a couch. A few minutes later, Shizuku wakes up.

"Are you alright, Miss Hozumi?" Mifuyu asks.

Shizuku gasps. "W-where are we!?"

"This is our base, Hotel Fendt Hope," Mifuyu says. "This is where you belong now."

"Okay," Shizuku says. "I'm really glad to hear that… I can't believe I feel so calm right after I heard the truth about becoming witches…"

The smile fades from Mifuyu's face, and she even looks a tiny bit sad.

"Do you feel safe?" Mifuyu asks.

"Yes, I think so," Shizuku says with a smile. "I feel like I was meant to find this place and stay here."

Just then there's a knock on the door.

"Oh, they've arrived," Mifuyu says.

"Who?" Shizuku says.

"They will teach you the ways of the Wings of the Magius," Mifuyu says. "Come in!"

The door opens and two feathers step in, one black, one white. The black feather has pink hair, indicating that she's Makino Ikumi, while the white feather has long blond hair, so she's Midori Ryo. Ryo is also carrying a set of black feather robes.

"Hello," Ikumi says.

"Alright then," Mifuyu says. "I'll leave her in your capable hands."

"Thank you," Ikumi says.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Hozumi," Mifuyu says.

"What?" Shizuku says.

"N-nothing," Mifuyu says. "Forget what I just said."

"Sorry to hurry things along, but could you put this on?" Ryo says, holding out the robes.

"These are the same robes you all wear," Shizuku says.

"Yes," Ryo says. "You're going to be joining us, after all. You should start by dressing the part."

"Your training starts in two hours," Ikumi says. "You should let your family know… you'll be getting home late for a little while."

"Okay, I will," Shizuku says.

---

April twentieth. After school, instead of heading home to Crescent Moon Villa, Iroha catches a train to Mizuna Ward and heads to Mizuna Girls' School, where she loiters, apparently waiting for someone.

"Good afternoon, Miss Tamaki."

Iroha blinks at the speaker, Ami Ria, who appears to be alone today.

"Oh, um… good afternoon, uhh… Miss… A…me…?"

"You were so close!" Ria protests. "It's Ami Ria!"

"Oh, right," Iroha says. "I'm really sorry… I just have so many things on my mind right now…"

"Searching for another rumour?" Ria asks.

"Actually, not at the moment," Iroha says. "I'm looking for someone who goes to this school…"

"Who is it?" Ria asks. "Maybe I can be of some assistance."

"Um… her name is… Miss Tsukuyo…"

"Oho…! Is that not Miss Akatsuki's name? I believe the koto club is meeting today, so she might be awhile yet. She is the club president, you see."

"That's okay," Iroha says. "It's helpful just to know she hasn't already gone home… but wait, I thought her surname was Amane?"

"I know of no-one named Amane at this school," Ria says. "Though I suppose there are people even I do not know…"

"Well… thank you for your help," Iroha says.

After a few more formalities, Ria continues on her way. A few minutes later, someone else accosts her.

"Miss Iroha!"

"Sana-chan!" Iroha says. "Right, you go here too…"

"Did you come to meet me?" Sana asks.

"Actually, I wanted to talk with Miss Tsukuyo," Iroha says.

"Oh… she does go here, that's true," Sana says. "Now that I think about it, I remember seeing her at the club fair last spring, playing the koto."

"That's a whole year ago… what about this year's club fair?"

"Well… most students only go to the club fair as viewers in their first year," Sana says. "And I'm not in a club myself, so I had no reason to go this year…"

"At least that lines up with what Miss Ami said," Iroha says. "I can just wait for her here."

"Um, so, Miss Iroha, I was thinking," Sana says. "What do you think of…"

She trails off, and Iroha prompts her.

"Yes? Please continue, Sana-chan!"

"W-well, I was sort of thinking we should… do something for Miss Yachiyo," Sana says. "I mean, she's letting us stay at her place… and she got us all mugs… and yesterday I saw something that seemed like a perfect fit… so…"

"So you want to buy a present for Miss Yachiyo?" Iroha says. "I think that's a great idea! Why don't you bring it up later when everyone's there so we can see what they think?"

"Y-yes!" Sana says. "Okay! I will!"

"Yes," Iroha says. "But please don't mention meeting me here to the others, okay? I don't want them to worry."

"Okay," Sana says. "I'll see you later, Miss Iroha!"

With that, she runs off, leaving Iroha waiting alone once more. The students leaving school slow to a trickle, and then finally Tsukuyo steps around the corner, but almost immediately, she catches sight of Iroha, gapes for a second, and ducks back into hiding. It doesn't seem like Iroha spotted her. Then Tsukuyo cautiously peeks around the corner again.

"W-what is that girl doing here…?" she mutters.

After some hesitation, she holds up her schoolbag to hide her face and tries to slip past Iroha. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't go well. As she steps past, Iroha turns and grabs her by the arm.

"Miss Tsukuyo, wait!" Iroha says.

"W-what do you want!?" Tsukuyo protests. "I am Akatsuki Tsukuyo. I do not have anything to do with Amane Tsukuyo!"

"You are Miss Amane Tsukuyo, right?" Iroha says. "With the Wings of—"

Tsukuyo slaps a hand over Iroha's mouth.

"T-that's top secret!" she says.

"Then can we talk somewhere else?" Iroha asks.

"N-not again!?" Tsukuyo gasps. "Interrogation? Torture!?"

She hops back a few steps and raises her schoolbag defensively, like a shield.

"I would never do anything like that," Iroha says. "I just want to talk for a bit."

"O-okay," Tsukuyo says. "There's a café nearby…"

She leads the way to a place called Café Charinel, where they both buy a drink and find a more secluded table. By this time, Tsukuyo has calmed down considerably.

"You are alone today," Tsukuyo notes.

"Yes," Iroha says. "I really wanted to talk to you."

"You are searching for your younger sister, right?" Tsukuyo asks.

"That's right," Iroha says. "Right now, the only clue I have is Nemu-chan and Touka-chan."

Tsukuyo stares for a moment before catching herself.

"And… why are you telling me this?" Tsukuyo asks.

"Because I have to see them," Iroha says. "I have to see Nemu-chan."

When Tsukuyo doesn't immediately respond, Iroha continues speaking.

"Say… Miss Tsukasa, your twin sister, was she born first, or were you?"

"She is considered my younger sister," Tsukuyo says.

"You two seem so close," Iroha says.

"Of course," Tsukuyo says. "Tsukasa-chan is… we are… the only two…"

She trails off, and Iroha gives her a chance to finish, but no more words emerge.

"If you won't let me meet Nemu-chan, then I'll share your other identity with the other magical girls at your school," Iroha says. "Miss Ria, Miss Kurumi… I'll ask Sana-chan to help me too."

Tsukuyo gasps, raising her arms defensively and flinching slightly.

"Y-you would threaten me!?"

"If that's how you perceive it, that's fine with me," Iroha says. "And I told Sana-chan that I'm meeting with you today, so if I don't get home safely to Crescent Moon Villa… she'll tell the others."

She gives a minute for her words to sink in, then leans forward.

"Please, let me see Nemu-chan!" she says. "I would do anything for Ui's sake…"

After a moment's thought, Tsukuyo nods.

"Alright," she says. "Your feelings are not incomprehensible to me. But please let me speak with Miss Mifuyu about this first."

She drains her tea and gets up to leave. Iroha leaves her half-finished drink on the table and heads outside with her. The sun is now low in the sky, already turning the horizon red. Without a word, Tsukuyo bows to her and turns to walk off. Iroha watches her go until she's out of sight, then heads home herself.

She arrives back just in time for dinner, a rowdy affair as always. Over dinner they discuss the current state of affairs.

"So, the people we're looking for," Iroha says. "All the clues lead to the Wings of the Magius, so I don't think we can avoid them…"

"That's true," Yachiyo says. "I don't want to deal with them, but fate seems to have other plans."

"We should probably keep stocking up on grief seeds," Iroha says. "We'll need them."

"You're right," Yachiyo says. "We'll more than likely run into Alina again if we pursue them. She seems to have a grudge against us now, so we need to be careful…"

"I think… you'll really need to be on guard against her," Sana says. "Once she decides something is personal, she gets tunnel vision. I feel like she'll stop at nothing… her way of looking at things is just different."

"It's clear that she's dangerous," Yachiyo says.

"Y-yes," Sana says.

"If we must fight, I almost think I'd rather join them and destroy them from within," Yachiyo says.

"I'm not sure about that, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says.

"Yes, I know," Yachiyo says. "They don't think much of us. We'd never get close enough for our plan to work."

"No, we wouldn't," Iroha says. "And who knows what they would do to us…"

After dinner and baths, with everyone except Tsuruno now in pyjamas, Iroha gathers them into her room.

"What's this about, Iroha?" Tsuruno asks.

"Sana-chan had an idea," Iroha says. "Go on, Sana-chan."

"W-well, um… Miss Yachiyo has done so much for us," Sana says. "She lets us stay here, and she even got each of us our own mug… so I was thinking, we should do something for her in return."

"That's a good idea!" Tsuruno says. "Did you have something in mind?"

"W-well, yes," Sana says. "Yesterday I just happened to see some cute coasters in a shop window, and I thought they'd be perfect for us…"

"Coasters…?" Iroha says.

"I thought it would be a nice idea to pitch in and buy them to thank Miss Yachiyo for treating us to the mugs," Sana explains.

"That really is a great idea!" Iroha says.

"That would show that we're a team!" Tsuruno says.

"I only have some New Year's money saved up, though," Sana says.

"No problem!" Tsuruno says. "Felicia and I have money from working at Banbanzai!"

"W-whaaat!?" Felicia gasps.

"Let's surprise Yachiyo-shishou by getting a nice matching set!"

Sana giggles while Felicia protests.

"That's fine, but what about my hard-earned money!?"

"You wouldn't get food and board this cheap anywhere else, you know?" Tsuruno says.

"She's doing all of us a big favour, so it would be nice to thank her," Iroha says.

"Plus, you'll get more money anyway, as long as you keep working!" Tsuruno says.

"I guess," Felicia says. "Yeah, you're right. Alright, I'm in!"

Yachiyo walks in at that moment.

"In what?" she asks.

Iroha gasps.

"Okay, everyone, it's about time you got to bed, isn't it?" Yachiyo says. "Tsuruno, are you going to stay the night?"

"Oh! Um, well, I promised Dad I'd be back tonight," Tsuruno says.

"Well, it's pretty late, but if you think you'll be okay on your own…"

Tsuruno nods. "Of course! I'll be fine! See you tomorrow!"

With that, she hops up and whooshes out of the house. Yachiyo notices the others staring at her.

"W-what's the matter with everyone?" she asks. "You were all so rowdy just before I came in."

"Well, the thing is!" Felicia begins, sitting up.

But Sana and Iroha drag her back down, and they both press their hand over Felicia's mouth.

"N-no! Don't!" Sana says.

Yachiyo just stares for a moment, then shrugs and moves off to her own room. A bit later, Felicia also leaves the room, grumbling under her breath about something.

"Um, Miss Iroha?" Sana says.

"Yes, what is it, Sana-chan?" Iroha says.

"Did you… speak with her?"

"I did…"

"What did she say?"

"Unfortunately, I didn't get much information out of her," Iroha says. "But she did say she'd talk to Miss Mifuyu, so I might get something yet…"

"I see… and, um, I was also wondering… do you think Miss Shizuku is okay?"

"I can't possibly say for sure," Iroha says. "But if she thought she was getting in the way, I wish she'd at least told us in person…"

"What'll we do if she joins the Wings of the Magius?" Sana asks. "She did seem to be working with them, right? Miss Yachiyo said so…"

"She didn't seem interested in joining," Iroha says. "I don't think we need to worry about her becoming an enemy, so please don't fret."

"Okay…" Sana says. "Good night, Miss Iroha."

Sana gets up and heads for her own room. Iroha grabs her phone to send Madoka a message, then turns out the lights. She's just about to climb into bed when her phone pings. She checks it to find a reply from Madoka.

[Coasters are such a nice gift idea! Everyone with matching ones… that's so nice. I kinda wish we'd do that too! And I'm happy to hear you're all getting along with Sana-chan.]

Iroha sends another reply.

[Things are finally settling down here, yeah! How is everything with you guys?]

[You mean the situation with Miss Mami?]

[Yes… I can't believe she'd actually join the Wings of the Magius. We haven't sensed her magic anywhere, though… I thought maybe she'd changed her mind and returned.]

[No, Miss Mami still hasn't come back.]

[If there's any way I can help, please let me know.]

[I will. Thank you so much, Iroha-chan!]

---

April twenty-first. The girls of Crescent Moon Villa, excluding Yachiyo, gather after school to go shopping. Although Sana already had a specific set in mind, with a pattern of cherry blossoms in five different colours, and they all agree it's good, they decide they should at least check in case there's something even better.

"There are just so many to choose from!" Felicia marvels.

"I still think the first one was the best," Sana says.

"They are cute," Iroha says.

"Sure," Felicia says. "Why don't we go with those?"

"Do you think she'll like them?" Sana asks.

"Of course she… huh?" Felicia begins.

Rose blossoms are spawning in mid-air around them. There are a couple of other customers in the store, but neither they nor the clerks appear to notice the sudden incursion of floating flowers.

"What's that?" Felicia asks. "Roses…?"

She pokes one of them, and suddenly they all sprout thorny tentacles.

"Is this…?" Iroha says.

"Oh, come on!" Tsuruno says.

Each of the roses seizes one item from the shelves, and one of them seizes the coasters from Sana'a hands.

"D-don't!" she gasps.

Then the labyrinth sucks everyone in, revealing the roses as part of the familiars. It's Gertrud, somehow. But Homura defeated her on the second day of the time loop, so how could she be here? Hmm… she was one of the ones we figured was beyond saving, however. It's not too much of a stretch to think that the Gertrud that Homura defeated was already a matured familiar rather than the original. The only other problem is, if that's the case, why didn't we see more copies of her, like we did with the Box Witch? I wonder if she actually wandered down from north or east Mitakihara… meaning that Mari or Koharu may have fought other copies of her. If I recall correctly, the place where Mami tracked her down to in previous timelines after allowing her to escape… it may have been an abandoned factory on the border of the former industrial district…? Or… am I getting my witches mixed up now…? It definitely was an abandoned building of some kind, though. Even if it wasn't a factory, that still suggests it was at least closer to the eastern side of the city.

The four magical girls transform as they land on a massive pure white construction, with a ramp spiralling up to the top and stairs rising to a platform halfway up. More stairs descend from the very top to a floating platform that appears to be level with the midway platform but not connected to it. Two more isolated floating platforms bridge the gap.

The whole construction has the feel of an assembly line in a factory, and it's unusually clean for a witch's labyrinth, although the clean central area is surrounded by more witch-like bizarre scenery. The spiral ramp is crowded with familiars, part butterfly, part moustachioed fluff-ball. They are forming a chain passing items slowly up to the top, where a gigantic silver rose blossom rests.

"Where are the coasters!?" Iroha asks.

"Over there!" Sana says.

They hurry up the first set of stairs.

"Oh no!" Iroha says. "Look!"

At the very top, one of the familiars has a gigantic set of pruning shears which is methodically cutting each item in half as it passes by. As they watch, it cleanly slices a porcelain teacup in half, followed by a matching saucer. Felicia hops across the floating platforms and races up the second set of stairs, brandishing her hammer. The others follow her at a slower pace, reaching the base of the stairs by the time Felicia reaches the top.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" she shouts.

She smashes the familiar holding the shears just as the coasters get there, sending them flying. Sana, still at the base of the second flight, raises her hands and moves about, trying to get into a position to catch them. Tsuruno and Iroha are already halfway up the stairs by this point.

"Sana-chan!" Iroha says.

Sana manages to catch the coasters and lets out a sigh of relief, showing them off to the others.

"Thank goodness!" Sana says.

Suddenly the whole construct begins to shake.

"W-what!?" Iroha gasps.

Then the silver rose blossom at the peak cracks open like a cocoon, and the butterfly-like witch emerges from it, its bloated body looming over them.

"Sorry!" Tsuruno says. "But today we're going to clean this up super fast!"

"Right!" Iroha says.

"Yeah!" Felicia says.

"Let's all hit her at once!" Tsuruno shouts.

She lights up her fans and strikes a pose.

"Got it!" Iroha says.

She aims her crossbow and begins charging up her magic.

"A-alright!" Sana says.

She plants her shield in the ground, and a slit forms down the centre as the two halves begin to swing open, like a door.

"Ya don't have to tell me!" Felicia retorts.

Her hammer begins to inflate in size.

"On my mark!" Tsuruno says. "One! Two! Flame Waltz!"

"Foltergefängnis!" Sana screams.

"Strada Futuro!" Iroha shouts.

"Eat this!" Felicia. "You big fat ugly witch, have a taste of my ultra great big hammer! Ka-blammo!"

Iroha's light arrow bombardment merges into Tsuruno's swirling flames, and the familiar-like creatures that emerge from Sana's shield, shaped like callipers and tweezers, flow around the girls to tear off bits of the witch. Finally, Felicia's hammer, now at least three times its normal size, slams down onto the witch, practically flattening her. And then those callipers suddenly explode in a great big fireball, propelling Felicia straight up into the air, her hammer shielding her from the worst of the blast.

It seems Tsuruno's initial words were well-spoken. As the dust clears, the only thing left behind is the grief seed, which Felicia snags as she lands upon the platform. The labyrinth collapses at almost the same moment, depositing them back in the shop. They then pay for the coasters and leave.

"That was a piece of cake," Felicia says, gazing at the grief seed still held in her hands.

"Still, this has turned into an eventful shopping trip," Iroha says.

"But we bought something really nice," Sana says.

"We sure did!" Tsuruno says.

"Now we just have to give it to Yachiyo!" Felicia says.

"Right!" Sana says.

"So, let's go over the plan for tonight," Tsuruno says. "Iroha-chan will wait in the living room, and the three of us will wait outside in the yard."

"Okay," Iroha says. "So when Miss Yachiyo comes back, I'll give a signal?"

"Yeah, an email will do the trick!" Tsuruno says.

"Once we get it, we'll all rush in at the same time like boom!" Felicia says.

"So we're going to wait outside and then charge in," Sana says. "Can we pull this off?"

"You've got Tsuruno-oneesan watching your back!" Tsuruno says. "No worries, this'll be a cinch!"

"G-got it!" Sana says.

They return home, where Iroha does a little cleaning while waiting for the time Yachiyo said she'd be back. Then she ushers the others out the side door and goes to sit in the living room. Almost as soon as she sits down, there's a click of the front door opening, startling her.

"Welcome back, Miss Yachi— what!?"

Mifuyu opens the door and steps in, blinking at her.

"I'm home, Miss Iroha," she says. "May I wait here with you until Ya-chan comes back?"

"Huh?" Iroha says.

Mifuyu takes a seat across from her, and there's an awkward silence for a minute or two. Finally, Iroha jumps to her feet.

"I'll go fetch some tea!"

"Oh please, you don't have to go to all that trouble," Mifuyu says.

She stands and moves towards the kitchen, heading off Iroha's approach.

"I'll prepare it myself," Mifuyu continues.

"Oh, but I—"

"I've been visiting this house for seven years," Mifuyu says. "I'm sure I know it better than you do. It would make me sad to be treated as a guest here."

"Oh… of course…"

Mifuyu fills the kettle with water, turns it on, and opens one of the cupboards to select a tea.

"Hmm, let's see… this tea will do," she says.

"Oh, but, that's Miss Yachiyo's favourite tea, so we probably shouldn't," Iroha says.

Mifuyu giggles. "You're quite the worrier. Just tell her I had it. She won't get angry. Now, for a mug…"

She turns to a cabinet that Iroha had never seen Yachiyo open.

"T-that cabinet!" Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo told us not to touch it…"

"Oh, that's not a problem," Mifuyu says.

She opens it and takes out one of the mugs from within, tucked into the back where it's hard to see. There's another mug right beside it, too.

"This one's mine," she says.

"Ah… it is? I don't think I've ever seen that one…"

"Really? That's so like Ya-chan, to express her affection that way."

"She probably didn't want us to touch it because it belongs to you, Miss Mifuyu," Iroha says.

Mifuyu chuckles. "Perhaps?"

She reaches for the pink and white mug on the counter.

"Is this one yours, Miss Iroha?" she asks.

"Yes," Iroha says.

"It's a cute mug," Mifuyu says. "I knew it was yours, just by looking at it."

"We all went shopping together to get them," Iroha says. "Everyone who lives here at Crescent Moon Villa."

"Oh, really?" Mifuyu says. "Well, let's have our tea and wait for Ya-chan to come back."

Mifuyu finishes preparing the tea, and they both head into the living room to sit down. An awkward silence falls again, broken by Mokyu making one of its cute noises.

"R-right!" Iroha says. "U-um… so, what business do you have with Miss Yachiyo?"

"My, my, do I need a reason to visit a friend?" Mifuyu asks.

"You haven't been here for a long time, right?" Iroha says. "Miss Yachiyo was worried about you."

"I see," Mifuyu says. "Yes, I haven't been able to come over recently. I'm sure Miss Yachiyo will not forgive the Wings of the Magius. But I actually came here today to talk to you, Miss Iroha."

"W-with me!?"

"Miss Iroha."

"Y-yes!?" she gasps.

"Would you ever consider joining the Wings of the Magius?"

"Would I… what?"

"Forgive me," Mifuyu says. "That was a little too sudden, wasn't it? I came here today to hear what your answer would be. Though I admit, I was hoping I'd be able to ask everyone at once. It doesn't seem like they'll be back anytime soon, though, so I figured I may as well ask. If you want to know about Miss Nemu, would you consider joining?"

"But… why all of a sudden?" Iroha asks.

"I think it would be good for both of us if you joined," Mifuyu says.

"How so?"

"Think of it like this. If you were to become one of the Wings of the Magius… you'd be able to look for your little sister without worrying about us fighting you."

"Maybe, but…"

Suddenly Iroha gasps and jumps up, slamming her hands down on the table.

"Wait, do you know something about Ui after all? Is she with the Wings of the Magius!?"

"I still don't know anything about Tamaki Ui," Mifuyu says.

"What about Nemu-chan? Or Touka-chan? Sana-chan said she heard Nemu-chan's name in Endless Solitude…"

"Well… I do know something about those two," Mifuyu says. "But I am not about to simply give the information away for free."

Iroha sighs and sits back down.

"Okay… so, I get that I could search in peace, but how does that benefit you?" Iroha asks.

"It's the same for us, really," Mifuyu says. "We'd be able to avoid pointless battles with you. Don't you think it's awful, hurting people when you don't have to?"

"It would be nice not to have to fight anymore," Iroha admits.

"Wouldn't it!?"

"But…"

"Oh, is there a problem?"

"I can't just sit by and watch while other people are sacrificed," Iroha says.

"What do you mean by that?" Mifuyu asks.

"I can't treat witches and rumours like they're worth protecting," Iroha says. "And I couldn't ever use someone like Miss Alina used Sana-chan. I can't forgive that. Ai-chan didn't agree either. So I could never join…"

"I see," Mifuyu says. "I'm sorry for asking something so unreasonable of you."

"No, it's fine."

Mifuyu stands up and walks over to the window, lifting the blinds to reveal Sana, Felicia, and Tsuruno all peering in the window. It seems at some point she realized they were there.

"Then, let's get to the real point of my visit," Mifuyu says. "I come with an invitation. Will you hear me out?"

"Huh? Mifuyu!?" Tsuruno gasps. "What happened!? Wait, don't tell me! You came back!?"

Her voice is muffled by the glass, but still readily audible.

"No, it's nothing like that, Miss Tsuruno," Mifuyu says.

"What's got you so riled up, Tsuruno!?" Felicia says. "Oh wait! She's that boss chick from the Wings of the Magius!"

"O-oh no oh no oh no…!" Sana stammers.

"I invite all of you to a lecture to learn what it really means to liberate magical girls," Mifuyu says. "It will be held the day after tomorrow at three o'clock in the afternoon, at the Memory Museum. Would you decide after that whether what we are doing is wrong or not?"

"A… a lecture…" Iroha says. "That was just as sudden as the other question…"

Mifuyu giggles. "My apologies," she says. "It's just, for you to understand why we're trying to free magical girls… you'd need to understand what it is we want to free them from. While I'm not at liberty to tell you about it myself, if I ask the Magius, that's another story. Would you hear us out, all of you?"

"Um," Iroha says.

"Hmm," Tsuruno says.

"I… I dunno," Sana says.

"Before you decide to keep fighting us, could you at least hear what we have to say?" Mifuyu asks.

"I… I guess we could do that," Iroha says. "I don't want to fight you without knowing the whole story, either. I'll hear you out."

"Yeah, I think it can't hurt!" Tsuruno says.

Mifuyu lets out a relieved sigh.

"I'm really happy you said that," she says.

"There's one thing, though," Iroha says.

"Yes?"

"Please don't bring the black or white feathers along when we talk!"

"You don't need to worry about that," Mifuyu says.

"Okay… then I'll look forward to it," Iroha says.

"Okay!" Mifuyu says. "You're officially enrolled in the lecture now."

"By the way, where is this… Memory Museum?" Iroha asks. "Is there a rumour there? It sounds like a place where there one would be…"

"Yes," Mifuyu says. "I'd like you to investigate that rumour before coming to the lecture."

"W-what!?" Iroha gasps.

Mifuyu giggles. "You should do what you usually do," she says. "It will show the Magius your value. That is reason enough for them to hold a lecture for you. I think I've given you a reasonable amount of time to show them what you're made of."

"O-okay…"

At that moment, the door opens and Yachiyo steps in. The others quickly leave the window and enter through the side door, reaching the living room moments later.

"I'm back," Yachiyo says. "I stopped at the butcher on the way back – there was a discount on beef croquettes. Oh, we have a guest?"

She probably spotted Mifuyu's shoes in the entranceway.

"Welcome home, Ya-chan," Mifuyu says.

"Wha… Mifuyu…" Yachiyo says.

"Welcome back, Miss Yachiyo," Iroha says.

"What are you doing here?" Yachiyo asks.

Mifuyu steps towards the door, passing by Yachiyo.

"I'm sorry, Ya-chan," she says. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was just leaving. I just had a nice conversation with Miss Iroha."

Yachiyo clenches her fists but doesn't turn to face her.

"What ideas did you put in Miss Tamaki's head!?" she asks.

"Why don't you ask Miss Iroha yourself?" Mifuyu suggests. "You're close, aren't you? I was surprised when I went into the kitchen. I saw all of the mugs for Miss Iroha and the others. You're making friends again?"

"Not friends," Yachiyo says. "Just… roommates."

"Pure sophistry," Mifuyu says. "You're your old self again, Ya-chan. Ever since meeting Miss Iroha—"

"No, you're—"

"You're kind, Ya-chan," Mifuyu says. "That's why you couldn't abandon them. You couldn't help but reach out a helping hand. You're doing it again now. You're redrawing the lines you drew for yourself in the sand. It'll happen again. You will—"

"Leave," Yachiyo says. "Get out!"

"Well, I'll be going now. If any of you change your mind, feel free to come join the Wings of the Magius at any time."

With that final quip, Mifuyu slips her shoes on and heads outside.

"So she came to invite us instead," Tsuruno says with a sigh. "I got all excited for nothing… um, are you okay, Yachiyo? You look a little pale…"

"Mifuyu's made up her mind, just like us," Yachiyo says. "There's no way she'd change it so easily. Sorry… I feel a little under the weather. I'm going to bed early."

She drops her load on the table and leaves the living room, heading for her bedroom.

"What the hell?" Felicia says. "She's completely nuts, just walking right into enemy territory like that… asking us to join…"

Sana sighs. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack for a moment there… when she suddenly opened the blinds like that…"

"Well, the timing was a little off," Tsuruno says. "I suppose we'll have to find another time to give them to her…"

"Yeah, I think we should leave it for another time too," Sana says.

"O-oh right!" Felicia gasps. "We forgot to give her the coasters!"

"I don't think now is the right moment to give them to her though…" Sana says.

"Yeah, you're probably right!" Felicia says.

"Y-yeah," Iroha says. "In the meantime, let's have dinner. Miss Yachiyo bought lots of beef croquettes for us, so we shouldn't let them go to waste."

"We better make sure we save a few for her too, then!" Felicia says.

"That was so grown-up of you, Felicia!" Tsuruno gasps.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Tsuruno says.

Iroha giggles.

"Anyway, do you think Yachiyo is okay?" Tsuruno asks.

"I wonder," Iroha says. "Those things Miss Mifuyu said as she was leaving… I wonder what they meant…"

"It might be…" Tsuruno says.

"Do you know what that was all about, Tsuruno-chan!?" Iroha asks.

"W-well, I'm not quite sure, so I'd rather not say," Tsuruno says.

---

As I'm about to go to bed, I notice an email came in while I was absorbed in the vision. It's from the François sisters… specifically Adèle, the elder sister. I open it up to read it.

[Good afternoon, Mlle Taylor. I hope you are well. I write in response to your recent email. My sister and I have arranged for a flight which will arrive at Kamihama International Airport on April the twenty-eighth at a quarter to six, local time. I regret to say however that none of the other magical girls we spoke with expressed any interest in joining us. To tell the truth, we almost decided not to come ourselves, but ultimately the idea of potentially bringing such a longtime catastrophe to its final end swayed us. To that effect, we look forward to meeting you once again. Yours truly, Adèle and Gisèle François.]

I compose a quick response.

[That's awesome! Thanks for the help! It's too bad no-one else was willing to help, but I'll take whatever I can get. I'll see you on the twenty-eighth – if all goes well, I should be able to meet you at the airport. Have a safe journey!]

Things are really starting to come together. Okay, sure, the confrontation between Crescent Moon Villa and the Wings of the Magius is just about to reach its peak, but when it comes to facing off against Walpurgisnacht, I've now secured the help of pretty much every magical girl I know. Well… the Pleiades Saints haven't officially said they'd help yet, but a message from Kazumi a few days ago sounded promising, so I'm pretty sure they'll be there. I do have confirmation from Yuuri and Airi, the Shiina sisters, Oriko's team, Lina's team, Mari, Noriko, Koharu, and the Hohzuki team. Even Kokoro promised to be there, though I already knew she would be. And of course, the Holy Quintet's participation was guaranteed from the start.

At this point, it feels like there is a very real chance that I won't need to ask Homura to turn back time again.

---

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.

Irina Kusch

Age: 15
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Silver
Origins: Hokuyo Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Red four-pointed starburst
Soul Gem: Red teardrop-shaped gemstone on her left shoulder
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Rapier and main-gauche
Powers: Darkness manipulation, flames and frost
Wish: "I wish morning would never come…"

Speed: 6
Magical Stamina: 9
Offensive Power: 4
Defensive Power: 5
Initial Power Usability: 4
Learned Powers: 3

Aneka Pasternak
Анька Пастернак

Age: 15 (at death)
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Silver
Origins: Unknown
Symbol: Blue ratchet gear with hollow centre
Soul Gem: Blue crescent-shaped gemstone on the brim of her hat
Element: Water
Weapon: Sword
Powers: Ice and frost, light beams
Wish: "I want to meet someone who can fill the emptiness in my heart."

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 3
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 7
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 2

Makino Ikumi
牧野郁美

Age: 19
Eye Colour: Pink
Hair Colour: Pink
Origins: Kosho Ward, Kamihama, Shinriku Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Red winged heart
Soul Gem: Red heart-shaped gemstone on her chest
Element: Darkness
Weapon: Mop
Powers: Healing, freeze
Wish: "I want to keep the café open… I want it to stay open without any property or ownership problems. Please, don't let it close down!"
Affiliation: Wings of the Magius (rank: Black Feather)

Speed: 4
Magical Stamina: 7
Offensive Power: 5
Defensive Power: 6
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 2

Kasumi Ichika
霞壱華

Age: 22
Eye Colour: Purple
Hair Colour: Black
Origins: Sazanka, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
Symbol: Green sun cross
Soul Gem: Circular green gem at her waist
Element: Forest
Weapon: Katana
Powers: Geas
Wish: Unknown

Speed: 8
Magical Stamina: 9
Offensive Power: 6
Defensive Power: 4
Initial Power Usability: 6
Learned Powers: 3

---

There's quite a lot of stuff packed into this one chapter, which is surely part of the reason it took so long. It's drawing from at least four different sources in the Magia Record game, after all, as well as the anime adaptation.

So, this covers most of Shizuku's magical girl story. Based on Yachiyo's attitude in the source material, I suspect it was intended to occur between Chelation Land (chapter 7) and the final war arc (chapters 8-10). However, in the squashed timeline of this fic, there is literally no time between those, so I had to push it back a bit. I was considering squeezing in Mitama's story as well, but in the end I realized that there just wasn't room. We do however see another step of the Holy Alina story which is unfolding bit by bit.

I'm taking a few liberties with Irina's story, too. I'm not sure if there's any evidence to suggest that Irina truly is meant to be her given name, rather than her surname as the wiki presumes; however, some research shows that Irina is one of the many variants of "Helen", while "Kusch" is an actual extant German surname, and apparently one of the characters in her event does note that her name sounds foreign. I also turned her favourite into an Italian work, solely because the key noun in its title, "Otranto", happens to be the name of a town in Italy. Of course, that doesn't require it to be written by an Italian author – anyone can write a work set anywhere they want – but it clearly was intended to be a non-Japanese work and I didn't have any other clues to work with for selecting the author's nationality. My interpretation also means that her supposed lack of multilinguality doesn't really fit, so I nixed it entirely, making her a polyglot like Ashley (though with a different set of languages and – if you assume she's not just being modest – fewer fluencies).

Now, I know it's been awhile since I last posted, but I've actually been busy writing almost the whole time… just, mostly not on chapter 77.

• I have at least partial rough drafts of all chapters up to chapter 87, covering the rest of the Magia Record game's first arc.
• I finalized a side story which I had originally planned on posting as an interlude. However, it got long enough that I felt like it should be split into two chapters and was basically only the prologue. So, I'm thinking of posting it as chapter 1 of a separate fic instead.
• I started working on another side story that I considered posting as an interlude, but there's probably too much material to justify that, so I'll likely eventually post it as a separate fic too.

These aren't the interludes previously voted on – they pertain to characters not yet formally introduced. I'll wait until the characters appear in the main fic before posting the side fics.

So the only reason it took so long for me to post is because (as mentioned previously) I put off the chapter 77 while working on the rest of the chapters linked to the Magia Record main story. Since I now have a buffer again, I'll try post once or twice a week until it's exhausted, though I may still miss a week here and there. That'll probably last longer than chapter 87 as I'll continue to start new chapters even as I post the buffer, but I'm not sure how much longer.

There is also one correction I've made in a previous chapter. I missed a couple of references when revising Yura Hotaru's relation to Karin in chapter 75, so I've corrected that.