The first of the interviews with modern, living magical girls is someone not far from home. Ever since I got a fellowship at Kamihama City University, I've seen her around now and then in her University-Affiliated uniform, so she's been at the job for quite some time – making her a veteran, as most magical girls die within a matter of months. Her name is Nanami Yachiyo.

Me: So, what's it like being a magical girl?
Nanami: It's hard work, but we're protecting people from witches, so I find it oddly satisfying.
Me: Have you ever thought you'd like to just… stop? Like, retire someday.
Nanami: I can't say the thought has never crossed my mind, but only if I knew there was someone to take my place. I have actually considered the idea of training a successor, so to speak… but I've never found someone suitable.
Me: How long have you been a magical girl?
Nanami: I believe it's been about five years now. I contracted in 2043, if I recall correctly… I was 12 years old at the time.
Me: Five years, my word! From what I've heard, that's pretty impressive for a magical girl. How have you managed?
Nanami: I don't think I really have an answer for that. I've just kept going and refused to give up.
Me: Have you fought alone all that time, or in a team?
Nanami: My closest friend has been with me from the start. We also had another friend join us for a little while, but she… she didn't make it.
Me: What happened?
Nanami: She… she sacrificed herself to save me and my friend from a really powerful witch. We learned something that day… and I almost wish we hadn't.
Me: I see… is there anything else you'd like to tell me about life as a magical girl?
Nanami: I guess I'd say, it's a hard life. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. But I don't regret my choice.
Me: Well then, thanks for your time, and let me wish you luck as a magical girl!

~Excerpt from "Magical Girls: Their Hope and Despair"~
~by Professor Satomi Tasuke, Ph.D~

I sit bolt upright in bed. It's pitch dark in the room, and there's a warm body next to me – Inui, of course. Seeing her beside me brings a strange sense of relief, and I have to resist the urge to hug her – I don't want to wake her, and the top priority right now is getting all my notes on paper before they fade from my mind.

Taking care not to disturb her any more than I already have, I slip out of bed and navigate over to the desk, opening my laptop. The time is three fifty-eight in the morning. First I open up the document to fill in all the new information from the previous timeline, reading over my notes several times to make as sure as possible that I haven't forgotten anything important.

Then I open my email and check if Hijiri's message has arrived yet, giving the potential coordinates of Nikola's birthplace. Fortunately, it has – she must've stayed up late working that out for me. Thanks to the previous timeline, I know the third set of coordinates near the hospital is the correct one.

I turn towards Inui, debating whether to invite her along. Almost as if sensing my gaze, she rolls over.

"Ashley…?" she murmurs. "What's… up…?"

Uncertain whether she's actually awake, I just keep still and watch her. But then the props herself up with one arm.

"Ashley? What are you doing?"

"I wasn't sure if you were awake or talking in your sleep," I say. "Sorry for not answering."

Inui sits up, yawning a little. "Okay, so what are you doing?" she asks.

"Just checking my notes," I say. "And I was thinking of going after Miss Hiraku. Maybe it's still a bit early for that though…"

Inui frowns. "Checking your notes… wait… did you just come back in time again?"

I blink at her. "Huh… was it that obvious?"

"What other reason would you have to check your notes at this hour?" Inui retorts.

"Really? I'm sure I've checked them for other reasons before…"

"Not in the middle of the night," Inui says.

"It's more like early in the morning, but sure, I guess you have a point," I say.

Suddenly she slips off the bed and steps over to embrace me. I'm not sure if she sensed my feelings somehow or if she just wanted to hug me herself, but I welcome it, wrapping my arms around her for a minute or so.

"So, if you're talking about Miss Hiraku, that must mean we failed to save her?" Inui says, taking a step back so we can see each other's faces.

"Right, which is why I thought I'd go out a little earlier."

"Alright!" Inui says. "Count me in! I'll just get dressed real quick. You should get dressed too, in case it takes awhile and we have to go straight to school."

"Right," I say.

I get up and flick on the light so that we can see properly, and the two of us quickly get changed into our school uniforms. Then I grab my phone and turn out the light again, and we quietly head downstairs. At this hour, even Mr and Mrs Hayashi are fast asleep, so I don't want to wake them. Instead of going out the door like normal people, we grab our shoes and head back upstairs, climbing out the bedroom window before slipping on our shoes – that way, the front door will remain locked.

As soon as our shoes are on, we both transform, and I summon Teddy Mk II. Each of us claim an arm, and he rises up into the air and zooms us away towards the hospital. The horizon is just beginning to brighten, but sunrise probably won't be for another hour or two. I use the GPS on my phone to close in on the location Hijiri noted, and then Inui gasps.

"I can sense it!" she says. "I think we're too late!"

Indeed, there's a signature similar to a witch coming from one of the nearby buildings. I zoom down towards it and circle the building before landing on the balcony that seems closest. Inui and I hop off at the same time and run inside, just in time to see the girl's soul gem crack open and hatch into a witch. As expected, it's the Christmas Witch, Nikola.

"I'll take her down!" Inui declares. "You protect the body!"

Inui leaps in with guns blazing, which is to say she barrages the witch with pink fireballs, and I reach for the girl's body and drag her away from the main witch, catching her in my arms. That makes it a little difficult to fight, so I elect to just watch Inui as she takes the witch on. Is it just me, or has she actually gotten stronger recently? She's certainly holding her own against Nikola, dodging the exploding presents with ease and never letting up her rapid barrage of fireballs. Finally she manages to land on top of the witch.

"Heart-Throbbing Passionate Inferno!"

And with her ultimate attack, she bores a hole right through the witch, causing it to disintegrate so she can seize the grief seed. She turns to beam at me.

"Did you see that?" she says. "I defeated it all by myself! Wasn't that awesome?"

"Yes, it was quite impressive," I say. "Alright… now we'll need to deal with this body somehow…"

"If it's just for the rest of the day, couldn't we leave her here?" Inui says. "There's even a bed over in the corner… this must've been a hotel at one point… I think it might be the old hotel building from before they moved next to the station."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," I say. "Let's leave her on the bed and come back for her in the afternoon."

"There's another one to save before that, right?" Inui says.

"Yes, but it should be easy to find her," I say. "We managed to save her last time as well, so I can scry on her and track her down before she blows up."

"Then let's go back and have breakfast," Inui says. "And we have plenty of time, so do you want to walk?"

"Sure, whatever," I say.

I lay the body down on the bed, and then we hop back onto Teddy Mk II and head down to the ground. There we power down and walk all the way back to the Hayashi house. By the time we've arrived, the horizon has brightened considerably, but the sun hasn't yet emerged. It probably won't be long until sunrise, however.

I can see a light on in the kitchen, so Mrs Hayashi must be up already. We land near the house and make for the front door, which proves to be unlocked, and then I step into the kitchen. Mrs Hayashi appears to be taking a cloth to all the kitchen surfaces.

"Good morning, Mrs Hayashi," I say.

"My goodness, you're up bright and early today," Mrs Hayashi says. "I haven't even gotten started on breakfast yet."

"Is there anything I can help with?" I ask.

"No, don't you worry," Mrs Hayashi says. "I was just about done, anyway. Go take a seat in the living room and wait."

"If you're sure…"

"Yes, I'm sure," she says.

"Alright," I say.

We deposit the grief seed upstairs so we don't accidentally use it, then settle down in the living room like she suggested. While we're waiting, I get another email from Hijiri.

[By the way, you know that witch behind the swimming pool near your school? Can I kill it? As you might remember, it's soon going to get in the way of our plan to expand the barrier.]

I compose a quick response.

[If you want to get rid of it, please invite Pernelle – I'd like her to see it at least once before it's defeated. Tell her it's an unusual witch – that should get her attention. Also, if possible, I'd like to have one of the grief seeds it'll drop. If we ever find a way to do so without any DNA reference, I'd like to try reviving that magical girl and see if we can learn anything from her about who she made her contract with.]

Her reply comes almost immediately.

[Got it, thanks!]

After breakfast, we head to school with the Hayashi sisters, and after school I hurry to meet back up with Inui in front of her school. I consider whether to talk to Kyouko in the observation tower like before, but we didn't really talk about anything important there, so I decide it's not worth it.

"So, where to now?" Inui asks.

"For now, let's head towards Sakuragasaki Middle School," I say. "I'll scry on her and refine the direction as we go."

"Sounds good," Inui says.

So we turn east towards the former industrial district. I'm slightly surprised to find that Yuzuki Miu is actually still at school, though on her way out. As I follow her with my clairvoyance, I also adjust our direction so as to meet up with her.

When I finally spot her with my normal vision, it's at the park that the witch Gisela used to call home. She's crossing through the park, while we arrive at the edge facing her. I stop to wait, and Inui looks at me.

"Huh? Oh, there's a Sakuragasaki student. Is that her?" she asks.

"Yes," I say.

Miu exits the park and is about to walk past us when her phone rings. She stops to check the caller and sighs.

"Not again!" she mutters out loud. "Maybe I should just…"

"Is it something important?" I ask.

Miu jumps in surprise, turning to stare at me.

"Ah!? Um… n-no, not really…?"

"Then there's no real need to answer it, right?" I say.

"W-well… you're not wrong," Miu says. "It's just, they're really persistent… wait, who are you, anyway…?"

"Sorry for the late introduction," I say. "I'm Ashley Taylor, a magical girl."

"And I'm Itsumi Inui!" Inui pipes up. "Nice to meet you!"

Miu blinks. "R-really…? You're just going to come out and say it?"

"It's not like I come out and say it to just anyone," I say. "After all, you're a magical girl too, right?"

"How… did you know…?" Miu says.

"That ring on your finger, for starters," I say.

Miu looks at her soul gem ring.

"Ah… that makes sense," she says. "Well… if you're magical girls too, I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Yuzuki Miu. I'm pretty new to this, though."

"I've heard the name Yuzuki before," I say. "Do you know a Yuzuki Hotori?"

Miu gasps. "D-do you know Hotori-chan!? She's my little sister… and her twin, Rion-chan…"

"I haven't met Yuzuki Rion, only Hotori," I say. "So you're family?"

"Technically," Miu says. "I haven't seen them for awhile, since I left that house… are they doing okay?"

"As far as I know," I say.

"That's good to hear," Miu says. "Even though I'm sure they don't want to see me, I still worry about them from time to time."

"Why would you think they don't want to see you?" I ask. "I'm sure Miss Hotori misses you as well."

"If you say so," Miu says doubtfully.

"By the way, as a fellow magical girl, allow me to give you a warning," I say. "Try to avoid things that really stress you out, like that phone call… and if you really can't avoid them, make sure you have a grief seed handy and keep a close eye on your soul gem. Otherwise, you could be in major trouble."

"Huh? Doesn't the soul gem only get darker when I use magic?" Miu asks.

"Did Kyuubey not explain it properly to you?" I ask. "You're using magic right now. A magical girl always uses magic continuously, without break. Obviously you use a lot more when fighting, but you're always using magic in small quantities. And when you're depressed, afraid, stressed out, and so forth, it really darkens your soul gem. You can go from completely gleaming to totally dark in a matter of seconds if you're not careful."

"Huh," Miu says. "I don't remember his exact words, maybe I misunderstood something… but thanks for the warning. And… if you happen to see Hotori-chan or Rion-chan… you can say you saw me."

"Yes, I will," I say.

We watch her turn and walk away, and then Inui speaks up.

"So… that's a success, right?"

"I think so," I say. "Just knowing the risk is a big help in mitigating it, so I think the chance of her still turning now is very low… but I'll probably check up on her a few times just in case. Alright… now we've gotta get Miss Hiraku into the Freezer…"

I whip out my phone to send Hijiri a message.

[I have a girl to send to the Freezer… when's a good time to come over?]

While I have my phone out, I notice Madoka in the recent calls and start to remember what that was about, so I send her a message too.

[Hello… this may seem sudden, but I'd like to have another chat about what we discussed the other day. Could you give me a call when you have time?]

That was the call where I asked Madoka not to reveal the truth of magical girls to the others, which if I recall correctly was just the day before from her perspective. Once I've sent the email, I notice that Hijiri has already responded, so I tap it open.

[Given what happened before, this shouldn't come as a surprise, but the Pleiades Saints are planning to have a meeting there today. It'll probably be at least an hour before it's safe to go in… even I will be keeping my distance. I'll let you know if the situation changes.]

I let out a small sigh.

"Or not," I say. "It seems now's not a good time… so let's just go home for now, shall we?"

Inui nods. "Sure, sure!"

So we head on back to the Hayashi house, and I wait to check that Mr Mikuni once more appears on the evening news. The interview seems to be identical to last time, which is a little reassuring. Inui comments on it as we head upstairs.

"Well, that's a surprise," she says. "I never thought I'd see Mr Mikuni again…"

"Just checking once again, but… is what that reporter said true?" I say. "That Mr Mikuni… well, 'disappeared from the public eye'."

"Um… yes?" Inui says.

"So you really don't remember him committing suicide," I say.

"What? Yeah, I don't remember anything like that," Inui says. "It wasn't on the news or anything…"

"No, it was certainly on the news," I say. "I remember reading online articles about it."

Inui blinks. "Wait a second… what does this mean…?"

"It means everyone's memories have been rewritten," I say. "I seem to be resistant to such things for some reason though, which I'm certainly grateful for."

"Huh," Inui says. "But why would that happen…?"

"Obviously it had to be Kirika's wish," I say.

"Oh yeah, that would make sense," Inui agrees. "It does seem like something she'd wish for."

Unlike last time, I don't summon Mary, instead just heading into my room and flopping down on my bed. Inui lays down beside me and cuddles up a little. As I think back on that meeting from the previous timeline, however, I suddenly let out a little gasp. I didn't realize it at the time, because she used a different name, but… Mary had mentioned Eris, claiming she was the only magical girl Mary knew whose karma exceeds mine.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Inui asks.

"Ah, no, I just suddenly made a connection, but it's not something that's actually important right now," I say. "It only came up because it was related to what happened last time around now."

"Ah, I see," Inui says. "So, are you gonna tell me about it?"

"Maybe later," I say. "I don't think Kyuubey is all that likely to be eavesdropping, but I can't be certain."

At that moment, my phone pings again. It turns out to be another email from Hijiri, so I check it.

[Actually, since we planned to meet up in Kamihama anyway on Thursday, why don't I just take a slight detour and meet you in Mitakihara? Then I can gather up that girl, and we can head to Kamihama together to get the other girl.]

Ah yes, that's true. That's the day we have to save Sarasa Hanna, and it won't hurt Miss Hiraku to stay in that place for one day, since it's clearly abandoned and it's extremely unlikely that someone would randomly walk into a room on the top floor. I send her a quick affirmative response.

"So the plan is that Kanna-chi will come pick up Miss Hiraku on Thursday, before we head to Kamihama together," I say.

"Oh, that's perfect," Inui says.

I lie there for awhile, contemplating some of the things that happened and the new information I learned in the previous timeline. Eventually, we're called down for supper. After eating, we return to our room, and I'm just about to settle into bed when the phone rings. It's Madoka.

"Hello, Madoka," I say.

"Hey, Ashley-chan, I saw your message," Madoka says. "I also heard a bit about what happened from Homura-chan…"

"Don't say it," I say. "But that's part of why I thought we should revisit our previous conversation."

"So, you think it's alright for me to tell Sayaka-chan and the others everything?" Madoka says.

"No, no, no, I wouldn't go quite that far," I say. "I still think it's best for Miss Tomoe not to find out. As for the timing… I was wondering, what do you think of taking over the role of mediating the scuffle between Miss Miki and Miss Shizuki? Then you can tell both of them everything at the same time."

"Huh? You want me to tell Hitomi-chan too?" Madoka says. "Wait, what exactly is everything, anyway?"

"The truth of soul gems and witches," I say. "And also that other future."

"Ah… so you really meant everything," Madoka says. "But I don't know if I can get between those two once they've set their minds to it… especially since Sayaka-chan is a magical girl now, so I can't compete with her on a physical level."

"Well, there is a solution to that, but I guess you still haven't worked out your wish, right?" I say.

"Yeah, I don't want to rush into that just to help Sayaka-chan," Madoka says.

"You're right, I probably shouldn't've mentioned it," I say. "Plus… if you work it out and make the commitment before April fifth, I might feel like things are being thrown out of whack after seeing that happen twice already."

"Sure, even if I figure out what I want before then, I guess I can wait until the fifth," Madoka says. "That was you subtly asking me to do that, right?"

"Uh… well… fine, I guess I'll admit it," I say. "Anyway, getting back on topic… what if you head off Miss Shizuki's ultimatum before it gets started? If you know how to tell when Miss Shizuki is about to ask for that chat, you could override her with a different request, for example. Or if you're only able to ask after she makes the request, you could spoil the meeting by insisting on going with them. There are many possibilities… if those don't work, I bet you could think of something else, right?"

"Hmm… yeah, I think I see what you're getting at," Madoka says. "But, hmm… there's just one problem. I don't even know what I would say…"

"Well, I think that's entirely up to you, but perhaps I can help out just a tiny bit," I say. "Would you like me to tell you what I said before? And for that matter, I can also talk about what you said last time, which wasn't very effective from what I recall."

"Sure, that might at least give me some ideas," Madoka says.

"Okay, let me think," I say. "The first time… if I recall correctly, I started out by pointing out that Miss Shizuki's ultimatum is quite cruel. Not everyone finds it easy to express their feelings, especially when it comes to love. I think I also said the ultimatum was an immature thing to do… oh, and I pointed out that love isn't necessarily first come first served, so it doesn't even make sense to make such an ultimatum. And then… Miss Shizuki obviously didn't know about magical girls at the time, so I just told her that words can kill, and suggested that Miss Miki's death would be on her conscience if it came to that. Ah, and I also questioned if Miss Shizuki's feelings were actually love, or if she was only seizing upon Sir Kamijou as an excuse to escape her overbearing mother. Actually, to be quite honest, I'm not sure if Miss Miki's feelings towards him are really love either, but… that's a separate issue."

"I see, I see," Madoka says. "That's actually quite, um… enlightening? I think I never would've thought of most of those things. I was aware that Hitomi-chan was having some problems with her mother, though I don't know all the details. I should ask her about that, then. Um, so… that was the first time, right? What about the second time?"

"Well… from what you told me last time, you tried some things that didn't really work," I say. "You sort of tried to guilt-trip Miss Shizuki by saying you didn't like the idea of them fighting, but that had no effect at all."

"Eh? I wouldn't try to guilt-trip someone!" Madoka protests.

"Really? That was the impression I got though," I say. "Maybe I misread your intention, but that's what you told me. Not the guilt-tripping part, I mean what you said to them right after the meeting. After that, you tried to stick to Miss Miki. I think things went almost the same as what you remember, actually. Up to the point where Miss Miki ran away, that is."

"Ah… is that so," Madoka says. "So in other words, nothing I tried actually worked?"

"I guess you could say that," I say. "After that, I joined in to search for Miss Miki, and by chance, Miss Shizuki and Sir Kamijou also came along. I guess I said some of the same things to Miss Shizuki as I said in the previous timeline… and that convinced her to help look for Miss Miki or something? You also told her you were disappointed in her…"

"Hey, I was just thinking," Madoka says. "Wasn't that dangerous? If Sayaka-chan had seen Kamijou-kun and Hitomi-chan together, wouldn't that have made things worse?"

"Well, I'm not surprised you would bring that up," I say. "You must've thought of it last time too, because you put yourself in the middle to avoid that impression."

"Ah, yes, I guess that is the kind of thing I would think of," Madoka says. "So… is there anything else you want to add?"

"Ah, um… it got kinda messy last time, so maybe there is something, but… I'm not sure," I say.

"Well, I think what you've said so far is already very helpful," Madoka says. "I think my mind was subconsciously refusing to allow something Hitomi-chan did to be seen as cruel… but when you said it out loud, it made me realize that you were right. That was very mean of her. I'm glad we had this chat, and thank you very much, Ashley-chan. I'll give it some thought and do my best to come up with a solution."

"Maybe you'll even come up with something better than I can imagine," I say. "You're far kinder and far more patient than I am, so it's possible. I'll look forward to seeing the results… see you later, Madoka."

"Yeah! See you later, Ashley-chan!"

The mission to save Sarasa Hanna while faking her death goes exactly the same as it did in the previous timeline. Though our initial meeting with Hijiri and the Shiina sisters takes place in Mitakihara instead of Kamihama, and there's a slight detour to pick up Miss Hiraku, that makes no difference to the events once we actually make it to Kamihama. If there are any differences, they're so small that I can't even see them. I also get Itzli's grief seed from Hijiri at the same time.

It's not until we get back from Kamihama that things start to get interesting. When we arrive back at the Hayashi house, we find a guest waiting there for us.

"I'm back!" I say.

"Oh, Ashley-chan!" Komachi says from the living room. "There's someone here to see you!"

I enter the living room and see Aki Mabayu sitting there in her school uniform. She spots me and waves. Inui looks at me in confusion.

"Have you met this person before, Ashley?" she asks.

"Yes, we met in the previous timeline," I say.

"Ah, wait, is she like Tamu-chan!?" Inui gasps.

"Very good," I say. "Though she's a bit different, but… you've grasped the basic idea."

"I'm not sure who you mean by 'Tamu-chan', but yes, I remember all the past timelines," Mabayu says. "That's why I came to see you today. Last time, in the final second before my death, I saw it – a path where I can actually live on. Therefore, I plan to support you, Miss Taylor… at least until Walpurgisnacht is defeated. I won't promise any support beyond that, though I'm also not ruling it out. Is there anything you need me to do? Ah, I guess we should start by exchanging contact information."

"Hmm," I muse. "Exchanging info is good obviously, but I'm not sure what I'd need you to do right now… although… that school uniform…?"

Last time we met, she was wearing casual clothes, but this time it's a school uniform – a black pinafore dress over a grey shirt with a red ribbon. The reason I'm mentioning it though is because I've seen that exact uniform before on someone else.

"Ah, yes," Mabayu says. "Last time you caught me after I'd gone home and changed, but I figured it would be better if I came straight here this time. I didn't expect you to be away, so my haste was wasted, but oh well…"

"What school is that from, anyway?" I ask.

"Oh, I attend a private Catholic school, St Kirsten's Academy," Mabayu says. "It covers both middle and high school. Despite the name, it's a co-ed school."

I guess what she means is that schools named after female saints tend to be girls' schools, like St Lilliana's. I don't know if that's a real trend though.

"I don't suppose you happen to know a student there named Kuroe Asaka?" I ask.

"How could I not?" Mabayu asks. "As she's a magical girl in the same area, it's impossible not to know of her… that said, I don't know her very well or anything. I think I've spoken to her only once in most timelines."

"What about this timeline?"

"Of course, I've already spoken to her," Mabayu says. "Is there something I should know about her…? I think I do recall her name coming up in the last two timelines… I heard people saying she suddenly started skipping school… though some of them were being generous and assuming she was sick. I never really gave it any thought myself. I didn't see her at the big battle though…"

"That's probably around when she joined the Wings of the Magius," I say. "She wasn't at the big battle because she turned into a witch just before it."

"Ah, come to think of it, she did ask me if magical girls deserve to be saved in one timeline," Mabayu says. "It wasn't the previous one, but the one before that. We just ran into each other by chance and she sort of blurted it out."

"How did you respond?" I ask.

"Ah, she got embarrassed and ran off before I could reply," Mabayu says.

"I see… but I never would've guessed that you both attend the same school," I say. "Maybe that's a stroke of luck… but I'm not exactly sure how to make use of it…"

"Well, if you're not sure, how about we set that aside for now?" Inui speaks up.

"Right," I say. "Miss Aki… what do you think of infiltrating the Wings of the Magius with me?"

"I'm not sure," Mabayu says. "I think I wouldn't be good at that sort of thing, so it might be better for you if I didn't…"

"Hmm… okay," I say. "I'd definitely like to have Coeurl there again, though…"

"Well, she'll show up tomorrow like clockwork, I'm sure," Mabayu says. "You can stop by at any time after that, and I'll formally introduce you."

"Understood," I say. "Perhaps I'll hold off a bit longer on that, instead of paying you a visit tomorrow. Not that I have anything in particular to do tomorrow, mind you… in fact there isn't really anything to do for the whole weekend. By the way… how did you know where I live?"

"Oh, that?" Mabayu says. "I followed you home in the last timeline. I just figured it might be useful to know where you live in case I need to contact you in a later timeline."

"I see, well… I guess it worked out," I say.

It's a little bit creepy, but… it doesn't seem like she had any ill intentions.

"Is there anything else I can help with?" Mabayu asks.

"Other than Miss Kuroe, I can't really think of anything right now," I say. "Say, this might seem weirdly random, but… I don't suppose there's any way you could get involved in a camping trip along with Miss Kuroe…?"

"Hmm," Mabayu says. "The school does run a weekend camp for continuing students at the beginning of each term, but I've never gone, and from what little I know of Miss Kuroe, I suspect she's never attended either."

"What does 'continuing students' mean?" Inui asks.

"Second through fifth year," Mabayu says. "First-years are excluded because they're new, and sixth-years are excluded because they're getting ready to graduate."

"Fifth… oh right, you did say it was an elevator school," Inui says. "Normally you'd call that high school second year."

Mabayu shrugs. "Most of the students go through all six years at my school," she says. "There are always a few who leave after third year or join in fourth year, or even join or leave at other times, but they're exceptions to the general rule."

"The beginning of term is a bit late," I muse. "She probably would've joined the Wings of the Magius by then. Still… I think it might not be too late for the idea I had in mind. Do you think you'd be able to convince her to attend this year?"

"That's a tough one," Mabayu says. "But I can certainly try. I assume you want me to attend as well, if I'm successful?"

"It's technically only necessary for her to attend, but… it's probably not a bad thing for you to go as well," I say. "Knowing she'll have another magical girl there might help to convince her. Also…"

I grab my phone and start composing an email to Iroha.

[Ashley here. I just heard that Miss Kuroe's school runs a weekend camp at the beginning of April, and I wondered if you might be able to convince her to attend. You can say you heard about it from another student at her school, which is technically mostly true since that's where I heard it. If she asks for a name, it's Aki Mabayu. Obviously don't say this out loud, but there is a chance that attending the camp will help to prevent her from becoming a witch this time around.]

After rereading it and fixing a few typos, I hit send and turn back to Mabayu.

"I've asked Miss Tamaki to try and convince her too," I say. "Being pressured from two different sources should increase the chance of success. And if you fail… well… we'll work something else out."

Mabayu nods. "Alright, got it. I'll think of ways to convince her. I can probably leverage the fact that she's been a magical girl longer than me. Is that all, then?"

"For now, yeah," I say. "I'll contact you if I think of anything else."

"Alright, then we just have to exchange contact info," Mabayu says.

She whips out her phone and taps it against mine, and I hear the telltale beep indicating a successful exchange. Then she gets to her feet.

"Seeya later," she says.

"You too."

And with that, she heads out of the room and leaves the house. My phone pings with a response from Iroha, and I check it.

[I haven't seen Miss Kuroe yet, but I'll be sure to mention it when I do! Actually, tomorrow I was thinking of looking around to see if I can meet her earlier… maybe I'll mention it then.]

After supper, I check in on the Magius and find that the trio have yet to make their wishes, so I watch as they finish their discussions and finally head up to the hospital roof to do the deed. Watching the moment when reality is rewritten is a little unnerving, but my fear about being affected myself just by witnessing it doesn't seem to bear fruit. I can still remember Ui.

Just after that, my phone rings unexpectedly. When I check the caller, it turns out to be Karin, so I answer it.

"Hi, what's up, Karin-chan?" I ask.

"Ah, well, I was just thinking," Karin says. "Kyuubey's gonna disappear soon, right? Last time I wandered all the way into Kanitomi when I wanted to dispose of grief seeds, but… it's a bit far, so I was just wondering if there might be a faster way…"

"I'm glad you asked," I say. "There is one other way that I'm aware of. There's a girl attending Kamihama City University-Affiliated School who has the power to obliterate a grief seed. Her name is Isuzu Ren."

"That sounds like she might be a little hard to find though," Karin says doubtfully.

"Well, if you know Miyako Hinano, you could ask her to introduce you," I say. "Or maybe you could find someone who knows her at Emily's Counselling Centre in Suitoku Mall. The other possibility for disposing of grief seeds is to give them to Mitama, but I'd recommend choosing Miss Isuzu instead if possible."

"I see," Karin says. "Well, that's all I wanted to know… thanks! I'll see you later!"

"You too!"

I have nothing important to do on the weekend, so I let Ashley out a bit and do some fun things with Inui, such as karaoke and the cinema. We also spend a few hours hunting witches in Minaminagi Ward.

After school on Monday, Claire introduces us to Shiori just like last time, and we again head to the western edge of the city to defeat Quitterie. I think that mostly goes the same as it did last time, but while the others are tracking and fighting the witch, I'm a little distracted by watching what Madoka and her friends are up to. I actually open the vision to check on them the moment the bell rings for the end of school, but it takes a bit of time for things to pick up.

"Say, um, Miss Sayaka…?" Hitomi ventures.

"What is it, Hitomi?" Sayaka asks.

"Ah!" Madoka exclaims. "Why don't we all get some food after school?"

"Huh?" Hitomi says, blinking at her in surprise.

"All four of us," Madoka says. "We haven't gone out with you much recently, have we, Hitomi-chan?"

"Oh… yeah, that's true," Hitomi says. "But I wanted to talk to Miss Sayaka in private…"

"Is it something that can't wait for another time?" Madoka asks.

"Well… I suppose not," Hitomi admits. "Very well… we can all go out together."

The four of them go to the same place that Hitomi has always chosen for her confrontation, but instead of finding a seat, Madoka insists they walk along while they eat. As she slowly directs them towards the south of the city, they chat about all sorts of mundane things. Homura doesn't join in the conversation, staying a pace behind Madoka and just looking around.

As they draw closer to Shirome Middle School, Madoka changes the topic.

"Say, we've just been walking around for awhile now," she says. "Would everyone like some tea and cookies?"

"Tea and cookies?" Sayaka says. "Wait, we've been going in the opposite direction from Miss Mami's place though…"

"I am a little thirsty, so that would be welcome, but what did you have in mind?" Hitomi asks.

Homura blinks. "Huh? Given where we are right now… you couldn't be thinking of that… right?"

"Follow me!" Madoka says.

She leads them straight to Oriko's house and knocks on the door.

"I knew it…!" Homura groans.

"Huh? Whose house is this?" Hitomi asks. "Do you know this person, Miss Madoka…?"

Before she can answer, the door is answered by Mr Mikuni.

"Ah?" he says. "Good afternoon. Are you friends of Oriko? I know she said she was expecting guests, but I thought it would be the usual crew…"

"Not this time," Madoka says. "Though maybe they'll come by as well, I'm not sure… oh, I think I did overhear Miss Kure chanting her name earlier, so I suppose she'll probably make an appearance."

"Miss Kure…?" Sayaka says. "Isn't that the delinquent in the next class over…?"

"It's a bit rude to call her a delinquent," Madoka says. "But she's in the next class over, yes."

"Well… you might as well come in," Mr Mikuni says. "Oriko stepped out for a moment to get some snacks, I believe. I'll make you some tea while you wait."

"Thank you very much!" Madoka says.

They step inside and remove their shoes, and Mr Mikuni ushers them into the living room, then leaves to prepare the tea. Hitomi and Sayaka turn to Madoka.

"Who the heck is this?" Sayaka asks. "When did you have a chance to meet him?"

"Actually, this is the first time I've met Miss Oriko's father," Madoka says. "As you saw, he didn't recognize me, right?"

"When and how did you meet Miss Oriko?" Hitomi asks.

"It wasn't that long ago," Madoka says. "About a week ago, I think? As for how… um… that's complicated."

"And it seemed like Homura knows her too…?" Sayaka asks.

"That's right," Madoka says. "Though Homura-chan has known her for longer than I have."

"Ah, did she introduce you?" Hitomi asks.

Madoka giggles a bit. "No, of course not," she says. "I think you could say they don't get along very well…?"

At that moment, the door opens, and someone calls out the normal greeting.

"I'm back, Father!"

"Welcome back, Oriko!" Mr Mikuni calls back. "Your guests arrived!"

"Oh!" Oriko says.

A few moments later she enters the living room, carrying a pastry box.

"Good afternoon, Miss Kaname, Miss Akemi," she says.

"Good afternoon, Miss Oriko," Madoka says.

"So you really do know each other," Sayaka says.

"And it sounds like we're expected," Hitomi says.

"Of course, I sent her a message ahead of time," Madoka says.

As Oriko takes a seat by the low table, Mr Mikuni follows her in and distributes tea to everyone.

"Ah, could you make another cup?" Oriko asks. "Kirika-chan should be arriving in a minute or two."

"Sure," Mr Mikuni says. "It'll just be a minute. Will Asako-chan be stopping by today?"

"I don't think so," Oriko says. "She seemed to be going home with her other friends, so I imagine she had plans with them today."

As he leaves the room, Hitomi stares after him.

"Come to think of it, I think I've seen that man somewhere, recently…"

"Like where?" Sayaka asks.

"On television… I think?" Hitomi says.

"Was it on the news, maybe?" Madoka asks.

"Ah, that was it," Hitomi says. "What was his name again…?"

"Allow me to formally introduce myself," Oriko says. "I am Mikuni Oriko. It is a pleasure to meet the two of you."

"Ah!" Sayaka gasps. "It can't be… that Mr Mikuni!?"

"Even Sayaka-chan has heard of him, right?" Madoka says.

"But wasn't he like, a shady politician or something…?" Sayaka asks. "How on earth did you end up making friends with the daughter of a guy like that?"

"It's not like that," Madoka says. "I don't think he actually did all those things…"

"He did deny the allegations on the news recently," Hitomi says. "Though I am not sure whether to believe that… but my apologies, I have become distracted and forgotten to introduce myself. I am Shizuki Hitomi. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mikuni."

"Ah, and I'm Miki Sayaka," Sayaka says. "If you're a friend of Madoka, then you're a friend of mine too!"

Oriko nods. "It is a pleasure to meet the both of you, Miss Shizuki, Miss Miki," she says.

"So, can you explain why you brought us here today?" Homura says testily. "This is the last place I wanted to visit…"

"Well, I had something important but private that I wanted to talk about," Madoka explains. "So I didn't want to do it in a public place… and I thought it might not be good if our parents overheard either. And I have to keep it secret from Miss Mami as well, so this seemed like the next best option for a venue."

Homura blinks. "You don't mean… you're planning to tell them that!?"

"Well, um… let's go one thing at a time," Madoka says.

"Is it okay if Kirika-chan and I are present for your discussion?" Oriko asks.

"Ah, yes, the two of you are fine, but what about your father?" Madoka asks. "To be honest, I kind of forgot he would be here…"

"You need not worry about Father," Oriko says. "Once he has brought Kirika-chan's tea, he will either be reading in his study or cooking in the kitchen. Furthermore, if I foresee him arriving without warning, I will interrupt your conversation."

Madoka nods. "Okay… that sounds good," she says. "But you must be very happy that he came back to life, right?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Madoka?" Sayaka says.

"He was just hospitalized or something, wasn't he?" Hitomi asks.

"Miss Kaname… are you saying that you too remember the true past?" Oriko asks.

"Yeah," Madoka says. "I don't know why I remember and everyone else doesn't…"

"Not everyone else," Homura says. "I remember too. I would hazard a guess that Miss Taylor also remembers."

"Huh… maybe I'll ask her later then," Madoka says. "But that's not what we're here to discuss…"

Suddenly the front door slams open and someone yells at the top of her voice.

"Kirika is here to see Oriko!"

Oriko leaps to her feet and rushes out of the room.

"Kirika-chan, don't slam the door open like that!" she can be heard saying.

"Sorry, sorry, I was a bit too excited!" Kirika says.

"Well, come in then," Oriko says.

"Ah, Miss Kure, here's your tea," Mr Mikuni is heard from the hall.

"Ooh, tea!" Kirika gasps. "Is there cake too?"

"I've got some nice castellas today," Oriko says. "Come in and pick one. We also have other guests."

She enters the room while saying that, Kirika following with her tea cup carefully gripped in one hand. Oriko sits back down and proceeds to open the pastry box, revealing an assortment of miniature round castellas. It looks like Hitomi actually recognizes Kirika – perhaps even she has heard the rumours of her delinquency. Sayaka also clearly recognizes her.

"Oh, it's the Holy Brigade," Kirika says. "Well… part of it, I guess. Half of it."

"The what now…?" Sayaka says.

"Ah, um… if I recall correctly… that refers to me, Miss Mami, Sayaka-chan, Homura-chan, and Kyouko-chan?" Madoka says. "Since she said half, maybe she's also including Yuma-chan, Nagisa-chan, and Hitomi-chan."

"Eh? Why on earth would Kyouko be included?" Sayaka exclaims.

Madoka shrugs. "That's… not important right now," she says. "Let's eat our cake quickly and get down to business, okay?"

"I want the strawberry!" Kirika announces.

"Is that fine with everyone else?" Oriko asks.

"Um, may I have the peach one?" Madoka asks.

"If it is alright with everyone else, I think the green tea one looks good," Hitomi says.

"Hmm," Sayaka says. "I suppose I'll have the plum one."

Oriko looks at Homura. "And what would you like, Miss Akemi?" she asks.

"Don't care," Homura mutters.

"Will sweet bean be okay with you?" Oriko asks.

"Whatever," Homura says.

"Then I will take the melon one," Oriko says.

They distribute the castellas as decided, and then Oriko takes her tea and moves back a bit, leaning against the wall and leaving the table to Madoka and her friends. Kirika flops down next to her as well.

"So… what is this important thing you had to talk about?" Hitomi asks. "You don't often ask for something like this, so I am sure it must be important."

Madoka nods. "I guess there are a few things," she says. "First of all… Hitomi-chan, I won't let you do what you were planning to do today to Sayaka-chan."

Hitomi blinks. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You were about to ask her for a private chat, right?" Madoka says. "And you were going to say something incredibly mean and cruel… so I won't let you do that."

"W-what!? I would never…!" Hitomi gasps. "Miss Sayaka is my friend too!"

"Hitomi-chan… I kind of get it," Madoka says. "I'm not trying to say it's on purpose… you probably just didn't realize how the words you planned to say would be taken."

"I… I'm not even sure I understand what topic we're on right now," Hitomi says.

"Me too," Sayaka says. "Can we start over from the beginning? Because I'm totally lost right now."

Madoka nods. "R-right, sorry, I guess I skipped over a few things," she says. "This is about Kamijou-kun."

Sayaka blinks at her. "Huh? What does Kyousuke have to do with anything…?"

"…did you read my mind or something?" Hitomi asks. "How did you know I wanted to talk about Kamijou-kun?"

"Well… I'll get to the how in a few minutes," Madoka says. "But first, I want to get this resolved… I know both of you have feelings for Kamijou-kun."

"I-I do not!" Sayaka protests.

"Don't play dumb," Madoka says. "You never would've made that wish if you didn't have feelings for him!"

Sayaka blinks. "H-how did you…?"

"…wish…?" Hitomi says. "But, setting that aside… it is true that I have feelings for Kamijou-kun…"

Sayaka lets out a little gasp.

"You see the difference between the two of you?" Madoka says. "One of you is embarrassed by it, the other is perfectly comfortable with saying it out loud. Given those conditions, it's completely unfair to bet on who can say it first. And besides, Hitomi-chan, love isn't a game that you win by being first! It's not a game at all, in fact. Even if you're the first one to tell Kamijou-kun how you feel, that doesn't mean you'll be together forever."

Hitomi sighs.

"I think I see where you're coming from, Miss Madoka," she says. "You're right… I didn't think things through properly. Miss Sayaka… it may seem strange to apologize for something I ended up not doing, but… I'm sorry."

Sayaka blinks. "W-what? Ah… um… well… you're forgiven, I guess?"

"There is one more thing I wanted to say about Kamijou-kun, and then I'll move on to the next topic," Madoka says. "Hitomi-chan, Sayaka-chan… I know you both have feelings for Kamijou-kun… but are you sure those feelings are romantic love?"

Hitomi and Sayaka gape at her for a second.

"Just think about it," Madoka says. "I won't press you for an answer or anything. Just… thinking long and hard on something isn't enough to know that you definitely have the right answer. You could still make a terrible, terrible mistake. You can get stuck in a rut, so to speak, and never even notice, if you don't bounce your thoughts off of someone else. I'm not saying I don't believe in your feelings or anything, but…"

"R-right…" Sayaka says. "I kinda get where you're coming from."

"A-alright…" Hitomi says. "I'll take your thoughts into account."

"So… let me get back to the reason I knew what Hitomi-chan was going to say, and what Sayaka-chan wished for," Madoka says. "That's because I've come back in time."

The two of them gape at her for several seconds, and then Hitomi turns to Homura, who has yet to say a single word.

"Miss Homura… did she say what I think she said…?"

"I believe she said that she has come back in time," Homura says coldly. "Is there a problem with that?"

"N-no, well… it's just… so out there," Hitomi says. "What about… Miss Mikuni…?"

She turns to Oriko, who raises an eyebrow.

"Let me get this straight," Oriko says. "You're asking me, who openly spoke of foresight not so long ago, whether I believe in time travel?"

"Is that… really true, Madoka?" Sayaka asks. "C-could it be… Homura brought you…?"

Madoka nods, but Hitomi looks at Sayaka in surprise.

"Why would you say that?" she asks.

"Ah, because Homura… ah!" Sayaka gasps.

"You can say it, Sayaka-chan," Madoka says. "I don't want to hide anything from Hitomi-chan."

"Ah… if you're sure…?" Sayaka says.

Madoka nods. "I'm sure."

"Well… Homura has the power to stop time, so I thought it wasn't such a stretch for her to be able to turn it back as well," Sayaka explains.

Hitomi blinks a few times.

"Um… did… you just say… stop time…?"

"That's what I said," Sayaka says.

"Am I dreaming…?" Hitomi wonders. "I don't think Miss Sayaka is the type of person to suffer from middle-school syndrome…"

Sayaka jabs her with an elbow, and she squeals.

"That's rude, calling it middle-school syndrome!" Sayaka says. "It's really true!"

"Ow, ow… so I guess I'm not dreaming," Hitomi says. "Um, so… Miss Madoka and Miss Homura have come back in time, you say?"

Madoka nods. "And in that future that I came from… your words indirectly led to Sayaka-chan's death, Hitomi-chan. That's why I wanted to resolve that issue first of all."

Hitomi gasps. "Y-you can't be serious…!"

"There were other factors, so it wasn't entirely your fault," Madoka says. "But you was definitely part of it. Although you weren't aware of the other factors, so you became quite depressed wondering if it was your fault…"

"S-so… you came back to save her…?" Hitomi says.

"Ah, well… I guess you could say that," Madoka says. "I wanted to save Kyouko-chan and Miss Mami as well, of course."

"You mentioned this Miss Kyouko earlier," Hitomi says. "Another new friend I haven't met yet…?"

"She's not a friend," Sayaka retorts. "If anything, I'd have to say we're enemies…"

"She's not a friend yet," Madoka says. "It's just a matter of time though. Even Sayaka-chan doesn't hate her as much as she lets on."

"Don't be so sure about that," Sayaka grumbles.

Hitomi glances over at Oriko and Kirika.

"Do Miss Mikuni and Miss Kure already know about all of this…?" she asks. "They don't seem to be showing any reaction at all…"

Madoka nods. "That was one of the reasons to have this chat here," she says. "Other than the stuff about Kamijou-kun, they already know about everything I wanted to tell you today. Although, I'm not confident that they definitely didn't know about Kamijou-kun…"

"Ah, I see," Hitomi says. "So that means it doesn't matter if they overhear…"

"Anyway… Sayaka-chan, should I let you explain the next part?" Madoka asks.

"The next part…?" Sayaka says.

"Yes, about wishes and everything," Madoka says.

"Ohhh… but are you really sure?" Sayaka asks. "I thought it was supposed to be a secret from ordinary people…"

"Hitomi-chan's not just an ordinary person," Madoka says. "She's our friend."

"Well… okay, I guess I can explain things to her," Sayaka says.

She gets to her feet.

"You see, I am…"

She transforms and strikes a pose.

"…a magical girl!"

Hitomi gasps. "W-w-whaaat!? Miss Sayaka, w-what just happened…?"

Sayaka powers down with a giggle and takes a seat, explaining the basics of magical girls to Hitomi.

"I see… so you get one wish, but in exchange you need to fight witches," Hitomi says. "Huh… to think something like that really exists…"

"Well… it's not all sunshine and rainbows," Madoka says. "In fact, what Sayaka-chan told you is just the official story…"

Sayaka blinks at her.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" she says. "That was all straight from Kyuubey and Miss Mami, so it can't be wrong!"

Madoka shakes her head. "No… it's not wrong exactly, but Kyuubey hasn't told you the whole truth of what you've gotten into, Sayaka-chan," she says. "Even Miss Mami doesn't know the truth about magical girls… and I can't even tell her about it. It would break her. I don't ever want to see the kind Miss Mami like that… so please, I must ask both of you to promise never to say a word to Miss Mami about what I'm about to tell you."

Sayaka stares at her for a few seconds, then nods slowly.

"If you're insisting that much, it must be serious… so I won't tell Miss Mami about whatever it is," she says. "But why are you acting so serious about it…? Surely it can't be that bad…"

"Excuse me, but… is Miss Mami the senior with drill curls that you've been spending a lot of time with recently?" Hitomi asks.

"Yes… her full name is Tomoe Mami," Madoka says.

"Alright… I won't tell her about whatever you're going to say," Hitomi says.

"It's possible she'll find out about it some other way," Madoka says. "If that happens then maybe we can talk about it with her, but otherwise… not a word."

Sayaka and Hitomi nod in sync.

"Alright," Madoka says. "Um, so… before I go into the full explanation… I want to lead by saying that I intend to become a magical girl too. I just haven't decided on a wish yet. Um… I just wanted you to know that, for me, even though what I'm about to tell you is a dark and sad truth, it wasn't enough to make me decide not to become a magical girl."

"Okay… get on with it then!" Sayaka says.

"There are two big things that Kyuubey hasn't told you or Miss Mami," Madoka says. "The first is the true nature of your soul gem. As the name suggests, the soul gem is actually your soul. Your life, personality, consciousness, everything… it's all inside that little rock. If you lose your soul gem, you will die."

Sayaka gasps. "Y-you can't be serious…!"

Madoka nods. "It's the truth," she says. "Do you want to hear it from someone other than me? Or would a demonstration help you to understand?"

At that moment, Oriko butts in on the conversation.

"If you wish for a demonstration, I could ask Kirika-chan to fetch some ice cream," she says.

"Huh? I don't get how that's a demonstration…?" Hitomi says.

"Well… I don't understand either, but… I guess a demonstration might help to get the point across," Sayaka says. "Because… I'm not really sure I understand what Madoka is saying…"

Oriko nods.

"Well then, Kirika-chan," she says.

Kirika hops to her feet.

"Ice cream, you say!?" she says. "I'll go, I'll go!"

Oriko transforms her soul to gem form and hands it to Kirika.

"Take very good care of me, okay?" she says.

Kirika takes the gem and grips it gingerly, frowning a little until it returns to ring form so she can slip it on her finger.

"There we go!" she says. "Safe as pie!"

Oriko then hands over some money.

"And this is for the ice cream," she says.

"Got it!" Kirika says. "I'll be back in a jiffy!"

And with that, she races out of the room.

"Please, do not be alarmed," Oriko says. "In a minute or so I will be out of range of my soul gem, but fear not – everything will return to normal once I am back in range."

"Uh… okay then…?" Sayaka says.

Everyone watches Oriko until she suddenly slumps over on her side. Hitomi and Sayaka gasp in unison.

"W-what happened?" Sayaka asks.

"Miss Oriko is currently out of range of her body," Madoka says. "It means she's unable to maintain her body. Please, feel free to examine her."

Hitomi and Sayaka both get up to check on Oriko.

"Huh?" Hitomi says. "It seems as though… she's dead…?"

The two of them look back at Madoka, who nods.

"The body can't function without the magic from the soul gem," she says. "If the soul gem is out of range, it looks the same as if she died. I believe the range is around one hundred metres."

"But… you're saying she's not actually dead, right?" Hitomi says.

"Hey… what are you saying, Madoka?" Sayaka asks. "Doesn't this mean… it's like I'm just a zombie…?"

Madoka slams the table and jumps to her feet.

"N-no!" she exclaims. "You mustn't think that way! You're nothing at all like a zombie! A zombie's nothing more than a mindless, rotting corpse, but Sayaka-chan… you're still very much alive! You can eat and breathe and think, unlike a zombie. So don't you ever think of yourself as a zombie!"

"O-okay, if you say so…?" Sayaka says uncertainly.

Madoka takes a couple of deep breaths and sits down again.

"Anyway… to answer your question, Hitomi-chan, you're correct. Miss Oriko is currently with Miss Kure. When they come back, her body will come back to life. However… if the soul gem were to be broken, then there's no recovery. That's what happened to Kyouko-chan last time – she used too much magic, and her soul gem shattered from the strain."

"I see," Hitomi says. "So it's something of a Faustian bargain, is it not?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that…?" Madoka asks.

"You get a wish, but in return, you're turned into something not quite human," Hitomi says.

"I don't think I quite agree," Madoka says. "I can't see magical girls as not quite human. What's the actual difference between magical girls and normal people, after all? Sure, magical girls can use magic, and they're stronger and faster than other people, and their soul is an object they can hold in their hand… but they still have friends and family like other humans. They still laugh and cry and mourn like other humans. Who decided that the location of your soul determines whether or not you're human? I don't like that. I won't accept it. How could you think of a kind soul like Miss Mami as not quite human? No, I won't accept it! Magical girls are just as human as any other human! You can't convince me otherwise!"

"Alright, alright, I get the point, Madoka!" Sayaka says. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you this passionate on something before…"

"Isn't it wonderful?" Homura says.

"Ah… yeah, I suppose," Sayaka says.

At that moment, the door opens, and Kirika's voice is heard.

"I'm back! Ice cream for everyone!"

A moment later, Oriko sits up with a sharp intake of breath, and then Kirika enters the room to distribute the ice cream. Everyone accepts one, unwrapping it to take a bite or two. Then Madoka speaks up again.

"So, that's the first truth about magical girls that Kyuubey didn't tell you," she says. "The second one is the dark secret of the soul gem."

"That sounds like it's going to be even worse than the first one," Sayaka says.

"Quite frankly, it is worse," Madoka says. "I don't think I care about what form my soul takes, but this second one is enough to make me hesitate about becoming a magical girl. However… it's still not enough to make me not want to. In fact, in a way you could even say it's the reason I want to become a magical girl."

"Alright, so get on with it," Sayaka says.

"You know how your soul gem slowly gets clouded up as you use magic, right?" Madoka says. "And you need to use grief seeds to clear it up. But no-one has actually told you what would happen if you didn't use grief seeds, right?"

"Now that you mention it… I don't think either Kyuubey or Miss Mami mentioned that," Sayaka says. "They did make it obvious that something bad would happen, but not exactly what…"

"Well, that's because if Kyuubey told people, most of them would decide not to make a wish," Madoka says. "When your soul gem fills up with impurities, it turns into a grief seed, and a new witch is born."

Sayaka and Hitomi gape at her.

"Y-you can't be serious!?" Sayaka says.

"I'm serious," Madoka says. "Remember how I said that Hitomi-chan's words indirectly led to Sayaka-chan's death last time? That was death by turning into a witch."

"Ah… so you've even seen it happen?" Hitomi says. "And to Miss Sayaka of all people…"

Madoka nods. "Yeah… and Homura-chan has seen it happen to me as well…"

"Also Kyouko and Mami," Homura adds. "Though only occasionally…"

"Huh? What do you mean by occasionally?" Hitomi asks.

"Well, I only came back in time once, but Homura-chan has been repeating this month and a half over and over for quite awhile," Madoka says. "So she's seen a lot of stuff… I think that might be why she is how she is…"

"Ah… I know what you mean," Hitomi says.

Homura frowns. "What on earth are you talking about?" she asks. "I feel like I'm being badmouthed…"

"No, I don't mean it that way," Madoka says. "You've just been through a lot, haven't you? I don't think I can even imagine what you must have gone through…"

"Now I kinda feel bad about how I treated her when she first transferred in," Sayaka says. "I guess I was a bit rude, wasn't I, Homura?"

"It's already forgotten," Homura says. "Or you could say that I've come to accept that it's just how Miki Sayaka is."

"I feel like I'm the one being badmouthed now," Sayaka mutters.

"So, if I get this right, you're saying you will take the risk of becoming a witch in order to become a magical girl, Miss Madoka?" Hitomi asks. "What on earth could convince you to do such a thing?"

"I've finally found something I can do," Madoka says. "Something only I can do, perhaps. I've always felt I wasn't particularly good at anything, just average at best. There wasn't anything I really excelled at. But when it comes to being a magical girl… Kyuubey says I have more magical potential than anyone else he's ever spoken to in all of human history."

Hitomi blinks. "Seriously…? In all of human history? How could that be?"

"Well… I don't entirely understand why," Madoka says. "And it might not even be my potential, technically. From what Miss Taylor has said, it seems to be related to how Homura-chan has been looping over and over in her efforts to save me. But it's still something I can do, and I want to make the most of that potential. I want to find a way to save magical girls from their sad fate. If someone tells me it's wrong to have hope, then I'll tell them that they're wrong, every single time!"

"Is it even possible?" Sayaka asks. "Saving magical girls, or whatever."

"I'm certain of it," Madoka says. "I just need to decide on the best wish. But even then… it's not going to be easy. Perhaps I could make it easy with my wish, but I think that wouldn't be fair to everyone else. I don't want to trample on everyone else's wishes just so that magical girls can be saved. But Sayaka-chan, Homura-chan, I want to grow old with you, to have a long life. I won't turn into a witch, and I won't let either of you turn into a witch either. I won't let Miss Mami or Kyouko-chan or anyone else turn into a witch either if I have any power to stop it. I want to create a world where no-one turns into a witch. That's my hope, my dream… the reason why I'm going to make a wish. Even though I haven't quite decided on the wish itself yet."

Oriko suddenly chuckles.

"It's ironic, actually," she says. "I can actually see the future, yet I was so incredibly short-sighted. All I could see was the seeming inevitability of Miss Kaname turning into a witch, and the only way I could think of to save the world was to end her life… I'm very satisfied that Miss Taylor showed me the error of my ways. Miss Kaname, you have my support on the path to your dream. If you ever need anything, please call on me whenever you want."

Madoka nods. "Thank you… I might just do that!" she says.

"I almost can't believe my ears," Homura says, looking at Oriko. "I knew you'd changed a bit ever since Miss Taylor showed herself, but… I never thought I'd hear you disavow the plan that originally brought us into conflict…"

Oriko smiles. "I only vaguely know what you're talking about, but that's just the type of person I am," she says. "It's not like I wanted to become a villain. I wanted to save the world. Of course I'd choose a moral option once one came to my attention. I just lacked the imagination to think of it on my own."

"Well… fine," Homura says. "I suppose I can call this a truce of sorts… you definitely won't try to kill her again, right?"

"Only if she's on the verge of turning into a witch," Oriko says. "As long as it doesn't come to that… you have my word that I won't harm a hair on Miss Kaname's head. After hearing her rhetoric today, I'm convinced the world is much better off with her in it."

"Ah… I'm glad you two have made up," Madoka says. "Anyway… that's pretty much everything I wanted to say, for now. There might be a few more things I think of later, but nothing like those two truths about magical girls. And Miss Oriko, thank you very much for letting us use your place for this conversation."

"There's no need to thank me," Oriko says. "I got to hear something great as well, so I'm glad I had you and your friends come over. In fact, I'd like to thank you for coming over."

"Ah, you don't need to thank me!" Madoka protests.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" Oriko asks. "It seems like Father will be announcing it's ready in just a few minutes."

"Ah… I didn't tell Mother I'd be out late, so I should definitely get back," Hitomi says.

"Yeah… I should probably get home too," Sayaka says. "It's getting a bit late…"

"Same here," Madoka says. "I guess we'll just get going then. See you later, Miss Oriko."

It's probably due to me being distracted by watching Madoka, but it seems like it takes a little longer to locate and defeat Quitterie, but once it's finally over, Inui and I head to Shiori's place as before, where we find her mother dead again. Everything plays out almost exactly as I remember, with Inui and I staying over at Shiori's place to keep an eye on her. I even remember to alert Mari to save Noriko from herself. The only notable difference is that I don't flap my gums so much when Kyuubey pops out. In particular, I'm careful not to even so much as hint at Eris's existence.

Over the next two days, I keep tabs on Kuroe and find that everything seems to be going almost exactly the same as last time. The only notable difference I see is that Iroha and Kuroe seem to be a bit closer than in the last two timelines – Iroha calls her 'Kuroe-chan' instead of 'Miss Kuroe', and Kuroe calls her 'Miss Iroha' instead of 'Miss Tamaki'. However, that newfound closeness doesn't seem to make any difference to the progression of events. They encounter Mokyu together, and then the next day Kuroe returns to Kamihama with San and Miyuri, where they then join the Wings of the Magius.

Then on Thursday, I head out with Inui to save Chihiro Karen. Again that goes much the same as last time, leading up to a visit with Oriko where we all have tea. Kirika appears to be absent today, and even Mr Mikuni isn't home.

"How are you feeling, Miss Chihiro?" Oriko asks.

"Um… well, not the best," Karen admits. "I just got my admissions results for St Lilliana's…"

"Did you not make it?" Oriko asks.

"It's… almost worse," Karen says. "I just barely made it."

"Wait, why is that worse?" Inui asks.

"What if I'm mocked for being the one who almost didn't make it!?" Karen exclaims. "P-plus, it means I don't qualify for honours…"

"Do you need a grief seed, Miss Chihiro?" Oriko asks. "I can probably spare one…"

Karen blinks. "I don't have a grief seed on me at the moment… huh? Wait… are you a magical girl, Miss Mikuni!?"

"I am," Oriko says.

"Not just her," I add. "My friend and I are also magical girls. It's nice to meet you, Miss Chihiro… I'm Ashley Taylor."

"I'm Itsumi Inui! Nice to meet you!"

"Ah… I'm Chihiro Karen… it's a pleasure…"

At that moment, Kirika pokes her head into the living room. Apparently she was here after all, unless I just didn't hear her come in. I'm not sure why she wasn't already in the room when we arrived this time, but hopefully it's not an important difference.

"Kure Kirika, at your service!" she exclaims. "Also a magical girl!"

"Could you fetch her a grief seed, Kirika-chan?" Oriko asks.

"Roger!" Kirika says.

She disappears once more, and Oriko and Karen both take a sip of their tea. I quickly check on Karen's soul gem, but it looks like there's nothing to worry about. It's around seventy to eighty percent corrupted, but not getting any worse.

"By the way, I actually have an acquaintance at St Lilliana's," I say. "She's even a magical girl. Her name is Aoba Chika."

"Oh! Really?" Karen says. "Aoba Chika… I'll remember that name. Maybe we can be friends then…"

"So you're definitely going even though you're worried about being teased for almost failing?" Inui asks.

Karen nods."Even if I didn't make the honour roll, there's no way I can pass up the chance to attend St Lilliana's. I'll definitely be turning in my acceptance letter as soon as possible."

"Then allow my to give my congratulations, Miss Chihiro," Oriko says. "It is not easy to get into a prestigious school like St Lilliana's."

"Even though it was only just barely?" Karen says.

"Yes, even then," Oriko says. "It is quite the accomplishment."

At that moment, Kirika hops into the room and presents her with a grief seed. Karen blinks at her.

"Ah… are you sure this is okay?" she asks. "I mean, you need them too, right?"

"Don't worry!" Kirika says. "We've got a couple more! You can keep this one!"

"A couple!?" Karen gasps. "Amazing… t-then I'll accept it. Thank you very much…"

She takes the grief seed and uses it to purify her soul gem, then stows it away somewhere.

"So, um… this might sound rude, but… since when has Miss Mikuni had so many friends?" Karen asks. "I don't mean anything bad by it, it's just… I thought she was pretty isolated since the scandal… I thought she must be feeling lonely, so I'm glad I was wrong…"

"I don't like you badmouthing Oriko," Kirika says sternly.

"I d-didn't mean it that way," Karen says quickly.

"I understand what you mean," Oriko says. "Don't worry… I have not taken offence at your question."

"Well, I only met her recently," I say. "The same is true of you, right? Miss Kirika?"

"Ah, yeah," Kirika says. "So now we're a team of three, with Komaki."

"Ah… could you mean Asako Komaki?" Karen says. "I never would have thought she'd be a magical girl…"

"There's also one more at your school," I say. "Hiraku Yumiko."

"I don't know her, though the surname is quite well-known," Karen says. "Oh, but it's also not my school anymore, you know. I just graduated."

"Ah, you're right," I admit.

"By the way, Miss Mikuni, I saw your father on the news a few days ago," Karen says. "Is it true that he didn't do it?"

Oriko nods. "It would appear so. I snuck a look at his diary while he was… sick. Then I had a little chat with the true culprit."

"Are you referring to Mr Yaegashi or your grandfather?" I ask.

"The former," Oriko says. "Though the chat did reveal my grandfather's hand in the situation… but I'm sure he's not long for this world. I'm not sure why you even brought him up."

"You're not planning to take revenge or anything, huh?" I say.

"I have not yet decided what to do with this revelation," Oriko says.

"Are you suggesting the scandal was actually orchestrated by Mr Yaegashi?" Karen says.

"It would seem that way," Oriko says. "With collaboration from my grandfather. However, I do not have any hard proof."

"That's awful," Karen says. "Why would he do that to his own son…?"

"My father and grandfather never got along," Oriko says. "He thought of Father as a failure, and he's the type of person who believes a failure once is forever a failure… so I suppose he could not stomach that Father was actually starting to become successful. That, and they have fundamentally different world-views."

"I guess you have some complicated family circumstances," Karen says. "By the way, is your father not home?"

"He's with Uncle Kimihide today," Oriko says. "Who knows what they're up to…"

"So he gets along with his brother just fine," Karen muses.

"Yes… it's only Grandfather who hates him," Oriko says. "Uncle Kimihide and Aunt Sumi both get along fine with him."

"Your grandfather doesn't seem to be very well-liked," Inui notes. "Even Dad hates him, apparently."

"Well, he's not a very likeable person," Oriko says. "Or so it seems. I have never met him myself."

"I have a feeling your grandfather would actually come to like you if he'd deign to see you, Miss Oriko," I say.

"Mr Yaegashi did say I was more like Grandfather than Father, but even if that's true, I don't particularly want to meet him," Oriko says. "Now, I believe we've discussed my family circumstances quite enough. Are you looking forward to your new school, Miss Chihiro?"

"Ah, yes," Karen says. "I'm particularly looking forward to meeting other magical girls, like Miss Aoba."

"You should be careful interacting with other magical girls, however," Oriko says. "They may be hostile. Many magical girls are fiercely territorial, or so I've heard… though most of the girls of this city appear to be different. It will probably be fine if she is an acquaintance of Miss Taylor, but just bear that in mind as a general note."

"Really? I think it would be better if magical girls can work together," Karen says. "But of course, I would not push the issue if someone did not want to. Well… in any case, thank you for the tea, but I have many things to take care of now that I will be moving to Kamihama."

She bows and then gets to her feet.

"It was a pleasure talking with you," Oriko says. "Even if the topic was a little…"

"My apologies for bringing up such a sensitive topic," Karen says. "Until the next time we meet."

And with that, she leaves the room. At a signal from Oriko, or perhaps a telepathic missive, Kirika hops up to usher her out, then reappears a few moments later.

"Now, I am sure you had reasons of your own for visiting," Oriko says. "How may I help you?"

"Before I get to that, I want to mention one more thing relating to your father," I say. "You're not the only one who remembers the true history."

Oriko's eyes widen. "You can remember too? Even Kirika-chan forgot what she wished for, so I thought… until Miss Kaname mentioned it, I thought I must be the only one who…"

I nod. "There may be others as well. I don't know of anyone specifically besides me, Madoka, and Homura, but if we remember, I'm sure there are more."

"I wonder why that is," Oriko muses.

"Something to do with karmic destiny," I say. "Anyway, moving on to the main topic. The events I predicted have come to pass. I have confirmed the formation of a magical girl group calling themselves the 'Wings of the Magius', who plan to save magical girls from the fate of becoming a witch. I'd like to discuss our next course of action with you."

Oriko nods. "If I recall correctly, you said there are some major flaws in their approach, right?"

"Basically, the Magius may be geniuses, but they're terrible leaders," I say. "In the worst case, their plans could potentially level Kamihama."

Oriko blinks. "Wow… that's an impressive claim," she says. "Do you intend to stop them, then?"

"I haven't fully worked out what I'll be doing, but… I'm going to wait about a month before I start interfering in earnest. However, even then, I intend to let them destroy Kamihama a little, because that destruction will help heal the divide between east and west created by the Witch of Symbols… though we'll probably still have to find and defeat the witch herself for that to stick."

"East and west…?" Inui says. "What are you talking about? It sounds interesting…"

Ah, right, Inui doesn't remember this from last time. I'd almost forgotten that. With a small sigh, I proceed to explain the relation of the Witch of Symbols and the battle priestesses of Kamihama – Mizuna Tsuyu, and Chizuru. I allow the conversation to flow more or less the same way as in the previous timeline, trying to give similar prompts when it's my turn to speak while acting as though I hadn't already heard her responses before. That continues right up until she recognizes Tsuruno.

"I have heard that story too," Oriko says. "And I too only remember two."

"Ah… yes, there's not a lot known of the third one," Inui says. "There are only a few circumspect references to her here and there, but it seems like she was an outsider who appeared, helped out with the situation, and then vanished, never to be seen again."

"What is this third priestess like?" Oriko asks. "This truly is the first time I've heard that there were three…"

"Hmm… if I recall, there were some references to her battle outfit, which was a brilliant orange and barely covered anything," Inui says. "And she used war fans and fiiire… huh? Wait a second…"

She and I speak the same name in unison.

"Tsuruno!?"

"But… that can't be… right?" Inui says.

"I think it's really her," I say. "Remember that painting of Yachiyo and Iroha from the Hundred Years' War? And something Scheherazade said in the last timeline also convinced me that Tsuruno must have been there at that time."

"I see," Inui says. "You're saying if Iroha somehow interfered in history at that time, it's not a stretch for Tsuruno to interfere in the situation in Souma back then…"

"The only thing I don't know is how she got there or why she went," I say. "The reason and means that I know of don't seem to fit in with the events of this timeline… but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. That's assuming my plans don't go awry, after all. Speaking of which… if Tsuruno was there, then Futaba Sana should've been there too. Is there any evidence of that?"

"Hmm," Inui says. "Her power is invisibility, right? There are a few minor discrepancies in the narrative that could be explained by her otherwise unrecorded presence… but they could also be explained by imprecise writing or poor memory."

"Anyway, we should get back on topic," I say.

"Ah, right," Inui says. "You were talking about how the east and the west have bad blood between them, right?"

"Right, because of what happened in Souma Province back then," I say. "Not what you just described, but that came after."

Inui nods. "I mentioned the Souma Betrayal earlier, right? That refers to the death of the Mizuna clan head, which was blamed on the Taito Group, though there's some evidence that suggests it too was orchestrated by Suitoku," she says. "You're seriously saying they're still holding a grudge over that!?"

"Kind of, but I think it's partly because of the Witch of Symbols that the grudge has survived so long," I say. "I'm not sure where the Witch of Symbols actually came from… apparently it's even older than Scheherazade. I do know it devoured Mizuna Tsuyu's witch."

"So basically you're saying that this witch has been nurturing divisiveness for centuries," Inui says.

"Exactly," I say. "Anyway… sorry for the little impromptu history lesson, Miss Oriko."

"I found it interesting also, so I do not mind," Oriko says.

I skip my query about the Kosho clan from the previous timeline and get the conversation back on topic a little earlier.

"Anyway, getting back on topic, we were talking about how Kamihama could potentially be levelled, right?" I say. "I'm only interested in saving people. Buildings as collateral damage don't bother me that much."

"Okay," Oriko says. "So… if you ask me, the plan should be to infiltrate this 'Wings of the Magius', right?"

"Correct," I say. "I'll infiltrate with Inui. Miss Kirika is welcome to join us too."

"Ehh… I don't want to," Kirika says. "I want to stay with Oriko…"

"It would be helpful to me if you did," Oriko muses. "Although, perhaps one extra person does not make a difference…?"

I nod. "We did fine without Miss Kirika last time, so if she doesn't want to, I don't mind at all. By the way… did either of you have a dream about a girl who says magical girls can be saved in Kamihama?"

Oriko and Kirika both shake their heads.

"I do not recall any dream matching that description," Oriko says.

"I figured," I say. "You said the same thing in the last two timelines. Alright… so Inui and I will meet a member of the Wings of the Magius tomorrow and get her to introduce us."

"Is there anything else we should know?" Oriko asks. "Like how to deal with this organization?"

"I can't think of anything in particular," I say. "But I can answer specific questions if you have any."

Oriko nods. "Then I will be sure to ask you if anything comes up," she says. "Do you have any questions, Kirika-chan?"

"Hmm… no, not really," Kirika says.

"I hope that your infiltration of this… 'Wings of the Magius'… goes well," Oriko says.

"See you later," I say.

With that, Inui and I get up and leave Oriko's place, heading back to the Hayashi house. On the way, I decide to check up on Iroha's progress.

March thirty-first. Iroha is laying down on a bench in a certain park, with Momoko nearby keeping an eye on her. After a few minutes, Iroha sits up and looks around in confusion.

"Huh? I… what?"

"Oh, you're finally awake!" Momoko says cheerfully. "How're you feeling? Like I have to ask… must be terrible, huh? You're lucky Kaede called me in!"

She giggles a little, and Iroha blinks at her.

"Eh?" Iroha says. "Um… have we… met before…? Who are—"

"Who, me?" Momoko says.

She transforms all of a sudden.

"See? I'm a magical girl just like you."

"Ah… I thought so," Iroha says.

Momoko powers down again.

"Hey, hey, are you alright?" she asks. "Better pull yourself together, unless you wanna get jumped by someone like me!"

"Eh!?"

"Just kidding!" Momoko says. "Hey, you survived, so look alive!"

"Survived…?" Iroha blinks. "Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't—"

"Don't worry about it," Momoko says. "Saving someone like you's all in a day's work for me. That said, it's really not good for you to be getting beat by familiars like that… so! To make sure you can survive any more encounters in Kamihama from here on out… let's go see the Coordinator!"

"Huh!?" Iroha blinks. "The… Coordinator? I… I don't think…!"

"Yep, you're new to Kamihama, right?" Momoko says. "All the magical girls in Kamihama know the Coordinator."

"I-is that so…"

"Sure is! It's especially helpful now that the witches in Kamihama are a lot stronger. See, she can enhance your magic, introduce you to other magical girls, or even provide you with tools or information if you need it."

"It sounds too good to be true!" Iroha gasps.

"You'll see if it's true or not soon enough," Momoko says. "Follow me, and I'll take you to her!"

"H-hold on!" Iroha protests. "I'll be okay, really… you don't need to take me to the Coordinator…"

"You didn't wander in here by accident, right?" Momoko says. "You've got a reason to be here."

Iroha falls silent for a minute or so, then finally nods.

"Y-yeah… you're right," she says. "I had a very good reason to come to Kamihama…"

"Then where's the harm in asking for help?" Momoko says. "Got nothing to lose, right?"

Iroha nods.

"I'm sorry… you're right," she says. "It can't hurt to at least meet the Coordinator."

"That's the spirit! I'm Togame Momoko, nice to meet ya!"

"Um, I'm Tamaki Iroha," Iroha says. "Thank you for the help, Miss Togame."

"Oh, one more thing," Momoko says. "Let's skip the formalities… just call me Momoko!"

"S-sure… um… is Momoko-chan okay?"

"Of course!"

Momoko leads Iroha to the Coordinator's place and barges in as usual, raising her voice.

"Yo, Mitama!" she calls.

Mitama looks up from where she's sitting in an armchair.

"Oh, hi Momoko," she says. "It's been awhile… I've missed you!"

"Ha, I doubt that," Momoko retorts. "With all the customers you've had lately, I'm sure you're too busy to be thinking about me."

"That's not true," Mitama says. "Oh! I don't think I've met your friend yet."

"That's right," Momoko says. "I'm not here for myself today. I'm here to introduce a new customer."

"S-so um… Miss Mitama is… the Coordinator?" Iroha says hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm the Coordinator," Mitama says. "Nice to meet you! My name is Yakumo Mitama, but feel free to continue calling me Mitama like you did just now. Come see me whenever you like!"

"Yes, um, so… I'm Tamaki Iroha," Iroha says. "Nice to meet you too…"

"Now, Mitama," Momoko says.

"What is it?" Mitama asks.

"I want you to tune Iroha-chan's soul gem."

"I'm running a business here," Mitama retorts. "I assume you have a payment?"

"Of course!" Momoko says. "It's on me today."

"W-wait!" Iroha says. "I haven't agreed to this! W-what does it even mean to 'tune' my soul gem…?"

Mitama giggles.

"It means that I can reach inside your soul gem and make it more efficient!" she says. "I can infuse another type of magic, or bring out your hidden potential."

"That… that's awfully vague," Iroha says. "Is that really possible…?"

"Well, since this is your first time, I can unlock the power of connect for you," Mitama says.

"Connect?" Iroha says. "What is that…?"

"It's a technique to share power with another magical girl to boost their attack," Mitama says.

"Um… I can already do that though," Iroha says.

"Huh… really?" Momoko says. "How'd you learn it?"

"Um… I'm not sure," Iroha says. "I don't really remember…"

"And if you could already connect, why didn't you do so earlier?" Momoko asks.

"S-sorry, um… I have no excuse," Iroha says. "I was just overwhelmed so suddenly that I got all confused and um… I forgot. Also, I was a little distracted…"

"Well, I think you'll be surprised at how you feel once you try a Coordination," Mitama says. "So on that note… shall we get started?"

Iroha falls silent for a bit, frowning as she thinks. Momoko and Mitama seem to be content to give her the time she needs. Eventually, however, she shakes her head.

"I'm sorry," Iroha says. "I can't explain it, but… something tells me I shouldn't. Like I'd be breaking a promise if I went through with this… though I'm not sure who it was I promised or why or even what…"

"Are you sure you're okay, Iroha-chan?" Momoko asks. "Is there something wrong with your memory…?"

"Um… probably," Iroha says. "Actually… I can't even remember what I wished for… but every time I think about it…" Suddenly she lets out a gasp of pain, wincing and pressing a hand to her forehead. "Ah… it's her again… why!?"

"Iroha-chan!" Momoko gasps.

"W-who is that girl?" Iroha wonders. "Does she have something to do with my wish?"

"So you can't remember your wish, or who that girl is?" Mitama says.

Iroha nods.

"But I'm sure that small Kyuubey has something to do with it," Iroha says. "It was only after I glimpsed it two days ago that I saw that girl in my dream…"

She turns and runs outside, and Momoko runs after her, grabbing her arm.

"Iroha-chan! It's too early for you to go out there!"

"Please let me go! I really need to go find that small Kyuubey!"

Momoko blinks. "The small Kyuubey? What are you planning to do with it?"

"This all started when I saw it," Iroha says. "After that, I had such a vivid dream about some girl I'd never seen before. Now for some reason I feel like… like I miss her… I don't know what's going on. So even though I don't know what's going to happen, I need to find it! I need to know what that dream was all about!"

She wrests her arm free of Momoko and runs off.

"Dammit!" Momoko groans. "If you go out there now, she'll definitely find you!"

As before, Iroha runs off, searching for the Sand Witch, but ends up running into Yachiyo.

"Stop right there," Yachiyo says, stepping out in front of her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry!" Iroha says.

"I told you to stop!" Yachiyo insists.

"Um, it's really urgent!" Iroha says.

"If you're dead set on going ahead, you'll have to defeat me first," Yachiyo says.

"But why!?" Iroha gasps.

"You of all people should know exactly why," Yachiyo says. "You're the one who lost so badly back in that witch's labyrinth."

"Ah! Does that mean you were the one who—"

"That's right," Yachiyo says. "So you were still conscious. If you remember, then I'll cut to the chase. I was interrupted before, but… now I can chase you out of town without any distractions."

"Chase me out…?"

"Yes, you made it clear you don't have what it takes to survive here. Go home."

"No," Iroha says. "I came to this town for a reason, so—"

"So what? Do you want to die without achieving what you came here to do?"

"I won't die!" Iroha suddenly shouts, the abrupt change in attitude briefly startling Yachiyo. "I won't die, so just let me go! Please, I'm begging you!"

Yachiyo sighs. "Well, fine then," she says.

Iroha lets out a sigh of relief. "So you're letting me go?" she asks.

"As long as you can prove that you're strong enough," Yachiyo says, transforming. "Bring it on. I will judge for myself whether or not you can survive here."

Iroha transforms as well.

"Are you prepared?" Yachiyo asks. "Now's your only chance to surrender."

Iroha doesn't say anything at all, just looking at Yachiyo with a determined look on her face.

"You look like a timid girl, but you're pretty stubborn, huh?"

Yachiyo thrusts with her halberd, and Iroha leaps back, nimbly dodging the blow. However, Yachiyo keeps up the pressure, driving Iroha back until she ends up with her back to a wall.

"Even if the Coordinator gave you a boost, you're still inexperienced," Yachiyo says.

Iroha raises her crossbow defiantly, pointing it at Yachiyo.

"Oh? Still want to fight?"

"Please, all I want is to find that small Kyuubey!" Iroha says. "I have to find it!"

Yachiyo blinks. "The small Kyuubey?"

"I finally found it, but… the familiars got between us…"

"I see… you can approach it without it running away?" Yachiyo says. "But that doesn't matter… give up already!"

But of course that's when Momoko shows up, already transformed, and jumps between them with her massive sword raised defensively.

"Waaaaait!"

Both Yachiyo and Iroha gasp at her sudden entrance, while Momoko sighs in relief.

"Looks like I was right to follow you!" she says.

"M-momoko-chan!?" Iroha gasps. "Why are you here…?"

"I had a hunch Yachiyo would attack you," Momoko says. "I see you're as unlikable as ever…"

"I just don't want any more people to die in vain," Yachiyo retorts. "That's all."

"Ha, don't make me laugh," Momoko says. "You just don't want the witches to thin out, right? The more magical girls in town, the fewer the grief seeds for you… that's what this is all about, right? That's why you're trying to drive her away instead of taking her to the Coordinator!"

Yachiyo stares at Momoko for a few seconds, then sighs.

"I'm tired of being misunderstood like this," she says. "It's not a good feeling. Okay… fine. Hey, you."

She points at Iroha, who lets out a little gasp.

"M-me…?"

"You said you found the small Kyuubey, right? Where'd you see it?"

"Eh? Um… it was in that witch's labyrinth," Iroha says. "The one with all the sand and the caterpillar familiars…"

"Alright, how about this?" Yachiyo says. "If you can beat that witch before me, I'll acknowledge your abilities. To make it fair, I'll fight alone, but I don't mind if you two team up. How about it?"

"I feel like I'm talking to a wall…" Iroha says. "Um… as long as I can find the small Kyuubey… then I don't mind."

"Alright!" Momoko says.

"Eh!? Wait, Momoko-chan!? I don't really care if she acknowledges me, you know…"

"You should!" Momoko says. "This is an easy way to get her to back down. Plus, if you win her game, you'll be free to search for that Kyuubey."

"Well… alright, I suppose you have a point," Iroha says with a sigh.

"Let's do it, Iroha-chan!" Momoko says.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Alright, we agree to your conditions!" Momoko says.

"Good," Yachiyo says.

They track the Sand Witch through the city and eventually locate it.

"There it is!" Iroha says.

"It's hiding pretty deep," Momoko says.

"It's only natural it'd want to run away when there's a group of magical girls chasing it," Yachiyo says. "It probably only felt strong before because the girl it ran into was so weak. As soon as it met me, it turned tail and ran."

"Weak… are you talking about me?" Iroha says.

"Or possibly Kaede," Momoko says.

"Anyway, I intend to stay true to my word and maintain that handicap," Yachiyo says. "Good luck, you two."

"Ugh, could you be any more annoying?" Momoko grumbles. "We're doing exactly what you wanted… aren't you happy?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Yachiyo says. "If you prefer, you can beat me in a direct battle instead."

"Momoko-chan, please don't let her get to you," Iroha says. "The important thing is that the small Kyuubey might be inside this labyrinth. So, I'm going to do this!"

Yachiyo chuckles.

"Well, I look forward to seeing you try," she says.

Momoko groans as the three of them step into the labyrinth. Yachiyo immediately breaks through the initial horde of familiars, leading Momoko and Iroha to defeat them on their own.

"Ugh, she's so fast," Momoko grumbles. "Iroha-chan, let's hurry!"

Then Iroha finally spots Mokyu and approaches it.

"Um, wait a second!" Iroha says.

"What are you stopping for!?" Momoko protest. "We don't have time for… um, Iroha-chan?"

"It's the small Kyuubey," Iroha says. "It's right here!"

Mokyu tilts its head at her and makes one of its cute noises.

"Iroha-chan!" Momoko says. "The witch comes first!"

"But it's the reason I came here!" Iroha says. "All I need to do is talk to it… then I can go home!"

"It's not that simple," Momoko says. "Iroha-chan, I know it may have something to do with your wish, but it's not guaranteed you'll understand everything after talking to it."

"Even so… I can't pass up this chance!" Iroha says.

"If you need to come back to Kamihama, she'll definitely interfere again," Momoko says. "So let's take care of the witch first."

Mokyu makes another cute noise, and just like last time, it seems to somehow convey its intention to lead them to the witch.

"Huh? What's that mean?" Momoko asks.

"Are you… telling us to follow you?" Iroha asks. "Wait, are you going to take us to the witch!?"

It makes another cute noise.

"Alright, then lead the way!" Iroha says.

"I'm really not sure if we should believe the little one," Momoko says. "How can you even tell what it's saying?"

"I'm not sure, " Iroha says. "It's like, when I hear those weird noises, I just… sort of know what it means? But if Kyuubey knows where the witch is, then at least we won't get lost."

"True… fighting the normal way, it'll be tough to keep up with Yachiyo," Momoko admits. "So maybe we should chance it."

"Let's go!"

So Mokyu turns to lead the way through the labyrinth.

"You know, if you win, you'll be one of us," Momoko says. "One of the Kamihama magical girls."

"Why would that make you happy?" Iroha asks. "Isn't it better to have fewer rivals?"

"I'd be happy either way," Momoko says. "It'd be like having more friends!"

After a few minutes, they arrive at the door to the central chamber. Thanks to Mokyu's guidance, they've been able to mostly avoid the familiars.

"So this'll lead to the deepest level," Iroha says.

"Yeah, that's the witch's private chamber," Momoko says. "I wasn't so sure about the little one, but it seems it really did guide us here."

"Did we make it here before Miss Yachiyo?" Iroha wonders.

"I guess so," Momoko says. "Let's go in before she gets here."

"W-wait, don't be too hasty!" Iroha says. "Maybe she got here before us and is already fighting…!"

As they enter the witch's chamber, they narrowly avoid Yachiyo's tsunami rolling across the room. The attack strikes Zenobia herself, stunning her.

"Iroha-chan, watch out!" Momoko gasps.

"D-don't worry, Momoko-chan! I'm okay!" Iroha says.

"Oh, you finally made it," Yachiyo says coolly.

"Y-you knocked out the witch with a single blow!?" Iroha gasps.

"I was tired of waiting, so I decided to play with the witch a little," Yachiyo says.

"You've gotta be kidding," Momoko groans. "You're way too fast…"

"Too fast?" Yachiyo says. "More like you two are too slow. Momoko, you should've known that I'm stronger than both of you combined. Anyway, it's pretty obvious who the winner is… but just this once, I'll give you another chance."

"Y-you will!?" Iroha gasps.

"Yes," Yachiyo says. "Defeat the witch by yourself. Then you'll have my permission to stay here. It's unfortunate that it's already been weakened by me, though."

"That's enough!" Momoko shouts. "Stop messing with her!"

"What an awful thing to say," Yachiyo says. "I'm having second thoughts, not messing with her. Besides, this is none of your business. It's up to her. So… what are you going to do?"

Iroha nods without hesitation.

"I'll do it," she says. "I'll defeat this witch, right here, right now. Momoko-chan, could you look after Kyuubey for me?"

"Of course!" Momoko says.

Mokyu leaps up and finds a perch on Momoko's head, making one of its cute noises.

"Alright," Yachiyo says. "Show me that you can defeat a Kamihama witch."

"You can do it, Iroha-chan!" Momoko says.

"Get to it," Yachiyo says. "The witch is moving."

Iroha steps forward to face the Sand Witch, much like she had in the previous timeline. The fight goes much the same as before, with several volleys of bolts and some acrobatics from Iroha before she finally unleashes her ultimate attack.

"Strada Futuro!"

At that point, the flow of the battle changes compared to the last time I watched it, for her ultimate is enough to finish the witch off, meaning there's no need for her to leap in close to land a final blow. Zenobia dissolves into a pile of sand, and Iroha snatches the grief seed as the barrier collapses.

"Great job, Iroha-chan!" Momoko says.

"Thanks!" Iroha says. "I did it!"

"Whaddaya say now, Yachiyo!?" Momoko says.

"Why do you sound so smug, Momoko?" Yachiyo asks. "You didn't even do anything. In any case…"

"What? Planning on giving her even more trouble?" Momoko asks.

"Oh no," Yachiyo says. "I acknowledge her strength. I figured she'd be fine from the start."

"Huh? R-really?" Iroha gasps.

"Yes, I just had that sense," Yachiyo says. "I can tell what people are capable of."

"Oh! So that's why you let me finish the witch off?" Iroha says.

"No, she's just toying with you," Momoko says.

"I'm doing no such thing," Yachiyo says. "I just arranged things so I could achieve my objective."

Iroha blinks. "Arranged things?"

"Yes… perhaps I was a bit too harsh on you, but that small Kyuubey kept avoiding me."

"Huh!?"

"The small Kyuubey," Yachiyo repeats, stepping towards Momoko. "It's an irregularity that was impossible until now. Every normal Kyuubey in Kamihama suddenly vanished, and before anyone realized, this little Kyuubey was the only one left. No matter how you look at it, it's dangerous."

"Momoko-chan, look out!" Iroha gasps.

"Dammit!" Momoko gasps.

"Too slow!" Yachiyo says.

Yachiyo has a grip on Mokyu before either of them can move to prevent her.

"No, Kyuubey!" Iroha gasps.

"Finally, I can dispose of it," Yachiyo says.

"Nooooo, stooooop!"

Iroha leaps at Yachiyo, trying to get her to release Mokyu to no avail.

"You don't catch on well either," Yachiyo says. "That Kyuubey is dangerous."

"What has it done wrong!?" Iroha protests.

"Nothing yet that I know of, but it might in the future," Yachiyo says. "It's best to eliminate risk sooner rather than later."

"But if you do that, I won't be able to ask it about… about that girl… I want to figure out who she is! She might be an important person to me!"

Iroha tussles with Yachiyo until the creature is able to slip free, landing on Iroha's head with a cute noise. At that point, Iroha breaks free from Yachiyo and hugs Mokyu to her chest protectively.

And for whatever reason, her memories return then, instead of a few moments later.

"I give you credit for making it this far," Yachiyo says. "But this is the end of the road! Let it go, or you'll be impaled too."

But Iroha is already collapsing to her knees in pain. As she clutches at her head, Mokyu slips free and runs off, while Momoko calls out her name.

"Iroha-chan!"

Yachiyo sighs.

"I told you… this is your own fault," she says.

Iroha lets out a groan, but manages to stay conscious long enough to blurt out a few words.

"Ui…! Ash… ley…! H-h-how… c-could I…!"

Yachiyo's eyes widen as Iroha falls forward, unconscious. Momoko catches her, shoots Yachiyo a glare, and gathers Iroha up for the second time that day.

"Did… did she just say… Ashley?" Yachiyo asks.

"Huh… is that someone you know?" Momoko asks.

"I wouldn't say I know her, exactly," Yachiyo says. "But I did recently encounter someone by that name…"

With a huff, Momoko turns and heads for the Coordinator's place. However… Yachiyo unexpectedly decides to follow her. As before, Momoko barges in with a shout.

"Mitama, you still there!?"

"Oh my, what's this?" Mitama asks. "Even Yachiyo came with you as well? That's unusual… huh? It's Iroha-chan… is she hurt? "

"I don't know!" Momoko says. "She just collapsed all of a sudden…"

"Hmm… well, you can lay her down over there, I suppose," Mitama says, indicating one of the couches.

Momoko lays Iroha down on a couch, and Mitama checks on her quickly.

"As far as I can tell, she's fine," she says. "I think she's just sleeping."

A minute or so later, Iroha's eyes flutter open and she lets out a long sigh.

"Oh my!" Mitama says. "Momoko, Iroha-chan is waking up!"

"Really!?" Momoko gasps. "Iroha-chan, are you okay?"

Iroha sits up, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Momoko-chan… Miss Mitama… even Miss Yachiyo…"

"Miss Tamaki… you mentioned a name earlier," Yachiyo says. "Ashley…?"

"I'm sorry… I don't remember," Iroha says. "The name is definitely familiar, but… I don't remember anything more…"

"I see… I guess this was a waste of time," Yachiyo grumbles.

With that, she leaves the place, and Momoko turns to Iroha.

"Don't let Yachiyo get you down," she says. "Is that why you're crying all of a sudden, or… is something wrong? Are you hurt?"

"I… I remembered some things," Iroha says. "I remembered… why I became a magical girl… for my little sister. I became a magical girl because I wanted to cure her. How could I forget… something so important?"

"What do you mean, you forgot?" Momoko asks. "Have you been living apart for awhile or something?"

"Not at all," Iroha says. "We've always been together… until recently, when she was hospitalized less than a year ago, we slept together and ate together… but now, everything is gone, almost as if… as if she never existed…"

"That's… impossible," Momoko says.

"I thought so too," Iroha says. "But it's the truth. I haven't felt strange at all coming home and not having Ui there. Until now, I didn't even think I had a little sister…"

"So if that's true," Mitama says. "If you've met her before… then that means you've forgotten her, right?"

Iroha nods.

"Yes… I must have forgotten her," she says. "I think I've forgotten more than just her… there are other memories that haven't come back yet. A girl named Ashley… and also a… Karen… Karin… Kaoru… Kara… something like that…?"

"Could a witch be to blame?" Mitama asks.

"I've never heard of a witch that did that," Momoko says. "And I've been fighting them for awhile…"

"Then why…?" Mitama wonders.

"I know a girl named Karin, but I doubt she's the one you're thinking of," Momoko muses. "Misono Karin…?"

Iroha shakes her head. "I'm not sure… the only thing I can clearly remember is that it began with Ka, and there was an R in it."

Mokyu hops up from behind the couch with a cute noise and settles into Iroha's lap. She strokes it a little.

"Kyuubey… it seems I can't remember anything more even if I touch you again," she murmurs. "But you definitely helped me remember Ui, right?"

Mokyu makes another cute noise, and Iroha smiles for a moment despite the tears.

"Yeah, that's got to be it," she says.

Then her smile fades as she pulls out her handkerchief to wipe her tears away, a determined look coming over her face.

"Alright, that's it," she says resolutely.

"What is it, Iroha-chan?" Momoko asks.

"I'll be back," Iroha says. "I'll come to Kamihama again."

"But you found what you were looking for," Momoko points out.

"Yes, but now I have a new goal," Iroha says. "I need to look for Ui, and recover the rest of my memories. I'm sure I'll be able to find more clues about Ui here in Kamihama. The cause of her disappearance… where she is now… after all, this little Kyuubey, who helped me remember Ui, is here."

"Perhaps that memory is false, and it was planted in your head for some reason," Mitama suggests. "It's not impossible."

"You might be right, Miss Mitama, but I trust this memory," Iroha says. "Because of all the love I have for Ui, this memory is clear as day… it gives me confidence that she really existed. More than anything, I feel like… without Tamaki Ui, I can't truly be Tamaki Iroha."

"So there's no Tamaki Iroha without Tamaki Ui," Momoko muses. "Then you're going to trust that memory, and search for your little sister, here in Kamihama."

"That's right!" Iroha says.

"Hmm, I see," Momoko says. "Alright… I'm more than happy to welcome you! The more the merrier!"

"I'll get another customer, so I won't try to stop you either," Mitama says.

"Always a saleswoman, huh?" Momoko says.

Mitama just giggles.

"Well, I'll watch over the little one until you come back," Momoko says. "Since it seems like it doesn't want to leave Kamihama."

"Thank you!" Iroha says.

"By the way, Iroha-chan," Mitama says.

"Yes?"

"You should name it."

Mitama indicates Mokyu sitting on her lap, and Iroha nods.

"How about Mokyu?" she says.

So the broad strokes of the event seem to be the same as in the first Magia Record timeline. I didn't watch this event in the previous timeline, so I can't comment on that, but I do note some significant differences in how things have played out. The biggest one is that Iroha didn't get a Coordination, just like she promised me. It's not clear though whether she remembers the promise or if she's feigning ignorance… although, given her personality, it seems more likely that she actually forgot. As to why… the Ui rewrite seems like the biggest culprit, though I'm not quite sure why that would affect Iroha's memory of the time travel but not touch anyone else's… is it just that the time travel is too intertwined with Ui's fate in Iroha's perspective? I'm not really sure. Whether or not she consciously remembers, though, those memories are clearly affecting her behaviour. I just hope it won't throw things off the rails too much…

After school the next day, I meet up with Inui, and we head for the haunted house.

"I came here on reflex, but… Nikola's not here for obvious reasons," I say. "Could you see if you can find any other witches nearby? Stay in telepathy range though. I'll see what Kuroe is up to."

"Got it," Inui says.

So Inui heads off on her own while I scry on Kuroe. I'm a little surprised to find that Iroha is with her, however. They seem to be talking about the school camping trip tomorrow – from the flow of conversation, it seems Kuroe is actually attending.

They get off the train after a minute or two at a station in this area of town. A few more minutes, they sense a witch and dash into an alleyway, tracking it across town towards the swimming pool.

«I can sense a witch!» Inui says suddenly. «It's to the south, towards your school!»

«That's the one to follow,» I reply. «Kuroe's in the same area, so she probably sensed the same witch. Oh, and Iroha's with her as well this time, but let's pretend not to know her, okay?»

«Alright,» Inui says. «I'm tracking the witch now!»

I head towards Inui's location, catching up with her just as she locates the witch's portal. A moment later, Kuroe and Iroha enter the same alleyway from the opposite side. Kuroe lets out a little gasp as she spots us.

"Ah! Um… I-I'm sorry," she says. "I just thought… we couldn't leave it alone…"

"Even if this is someone else's territory… what if you just weren't around today?" Iroha says with a nod.

"That's fine," I say. "I can't fault that line of thinking. The witch could've killed people if no-one was around to take care of her."

"R-right…" Kuroe says. "Um, actually… we can leave it to you…"

"W-what are you saying, Kuroe-chan…?" Iroha says.

"You don't want to fight it?" I ask.

"No, well… I'm just… scared," Kuroe says. "I'm scared of… what could happen if… my soul gem…"

"You're not new to this, are you?" Inui asks.

"Eh? N-no, I've been a magical girl for… several months now… but back then, I didn't know what I know now… I'm just really scared of fighting now."

"She won't tell me anything about it," Iroha laments. "I don't know what happened to instil such fear into her so suddenly… it's only been a couple of days since we last met, but so much has changed."

Inui blinks a few times, then nods.

"Don't worry… I think I understand," she says. "It's terrifying… especially seeing it in person… but I can't let that terror get the better of me or it really will be over."

Kuroe blinks at her. "Eh!? Y-you've actually seen it!? I was just… told about it… s-so then, it really is true…"

"Um… sorry, but what are we even talking about…?" Iroha asks. "Do you understand why Kuroe-chan is so scared…?"

"I think so, but it's not really the important thing right now," I say. "Why don't we fight this witch together? I'm Ashley Taylor, and this is Itsumi Inui."

"Miss… Ashley…?" Iroha says. "Um… this might sound like a strange question, but… have we met before?"

I shrug. "Wouldn't you remember if we had?"

"Ah, I guess so," Iroha says. "I'm Tamaki Iroha… of course we'll help!"

"Ah, and… I'm… Kuroe Asaka," Kuroe says. "Um… if you don't mind… then I will be happy to help…"

We all transform and step into the darkness of Suleika's barrier. I take the lead, using my magic to locate the correct path to the centre of the labyrinth, pausing as needed to take out any familiars that get in our way. Kuroe and Iroha both seem quite capable, bringing down Suleika's familiars in just one or two hits.

When we arrive at the central chamber, Iroha blinks in surprise.

"Whoa… we've already found the witch?" she says. "That was fast…"

"Y-yeah… I usually have to search for quite awhile," Kuroe says.

"That's just Ashley's specialty," Inui says. "I've gotten used to it ever since we started fighting together. Before we met, it would take me about two or three times as long to find the witch, sometimes even longer, but with Ashley it's always a cinch."

"It seems really useful for saving on magic," Kuroe says.

"For the people with me, sure," I say. "It's an aspect of my magic, so for me I'm using magic constantly just to find the way. Thought it's not so much magic as to be an issue, usually."

"Anyway, let's go finish off this witch," Iroha says.

We step into the witch's chamber, where we find the white-outlined eldritch monstrosity cowering at the centre of a jungle gym, as usual.

"Ah… it might be a bit tough for me to reach it," Kuroe says.

"My arrows should have no problem," Iroha says. "But I guess Miss Ashley's sword would have trouble getting close…?"

"So I just won't use it," I say.

I store the sword away and summon a quintet of Teddy Drones, starting to charge up magic for the particle beam.

"Huh… floating bear heads…?" Iroha says. "Ah, um, so… how should we do this?"

"Let's just go with the clear and simple method," I say. "That is… hit it with all of our magic all at once."

"I like simple," Inui says. "Anyone object?"

"No, um… that sounds fine," Kuroe says.

Although there are some familiars around, they don't present much of a threat – I can hold them off while I charge, and Inui seems to be okay too. That also means they don't even have a chance to reach Kuroe, who has summoned a ring of gymnastic clubs. I wait a bit while Iroha and Inui charge up their magic, then connect with Inui to boost her attack before starting a countdown. Iroha also slaps Kuroe's hand, initiating a connect of her own to boost Kuroe's attack.

"Alright, let's attack on the count of five," I say. "One… two… three… four… five!"

I fire the beams without calling the attack, and Inui just throws a direct blast of flame instead of the towering pillar of her ultimate. Kuroe flings her clubs at the witch, and Iroha shouts her attack.

"Strada Futuro!"

With all four of us attacking all at once, it's too much for the witch to handle, and it expires immediately. As the barrier collapses, I grab the grief seed and turn to offer it to Kuroe.

"I'll let you use it first," I say.

Kuroe checks her soul gem, which is no more than thirty percent polluted.

"Ah… I think I should be fine until I get home," she says. "You go ahead and keep it."

"I already have some spare grief seeds though," I say. "So it's really fine if you want to use it."

Kuroe blinks. "R-really!? I've never once had a spare grief seed… you must be really strong!"

"Me too… I don't think I've ever had more than one grief seed at a time," Iroha says. "Although that's not saying much, since I've only been a magical girl for two weeks…"

Kuroe accepts it from me and purifies her soul gem, then offers it to Iroha who does the same. They then pass it back to me – it does seem to have another use in it.

"B-by the way, in that battle, was that a connect skill you used?" Kuroe asks. "Where did you learn that? Have you met Miss Mitama too?"

"Ah, um… did you get your soul gem tuned by her, Kuroe-chan?" Iroha asks. "Or the two of you, for that matter…?"

"I… I was planning to, but… I haven't worked up the courage yet," Kuroe mutters.

"I haven't gotten a tune-up from her," I say. "I figured out how to connect on my own. I did get a tune-up from someone else, but I already knew how to connect by that time."

"Huh… so there are other Coordinators besides Miss Mitama…?" Iroha muses.

"As for me, I learned it from watching Ashley," Inui says.

"O-oh, wow," Kuroe says. "You really are strong… um… say… Miss Taylor… Miss Itsumi… what do you think of the idea of saving magical girls?" Kuroe asks.

"From what?" Inui asks.

"W-well, um… like what we were talking about earlier," Kuroe says. "You seem to know about that too… what if there was a way to ensure you didn't have to worry about it anymore?"

"I'd be very interested," I say.

"Kuroe-chan… what on earth are you talking about?" Iroha asks.

"Ah… never mind," Kuroe says. "If you don't already know, Miss Iroha… I think that's probably for the better. Um… let's just… exchange contact info and stuff…"

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Iroha says. "That'll double the number of magical girl contacts I have! I should ask Momoko-chan for her info too, next time…"

"Wait… if you say double, that means you currently have two, right?" I say. "So, Miss Kuroe and one other…?"

"Ah, Miss Aki," Iroha says. "She's Kuroe-chan's sempai at her school. I haven't actually met her yet, but she did send me an email earlier."

Oh, I hadn't expected Iroha to end up getting Mabayu's contact information as well… but I guess it can't hurt.

"Oh, I see. Anyway… I'm all for exchanging information."

Inui and I both take out our phones, and so do Kuroe and Iroha, and we all tap them together. The beep is slightly different from normal, as Inui and I both had Kuroe and Iroha's contact information already, but they didn't have ours. Still… that's a sign of success.

"So um… I should get going… I have an errand to run for my mother," Kuroe says. "I'll see you later, maybe…"

"Yes, I hope we can meet again!" Iroha says.

With that, the two of them power down and head off together. Inui lets out a sigh.

"Somehow it worked out," she says. "I was worried it might be thrown off because I defeated Nikola earlier… and then Iro-iro's unexpected addition… but that's a relief."

"Just to make sure, I'll send her a message," I say. "But yeah, it's a relief."

I compose a brief message to Kuroe on my phone.

[Hello, Ashley here… could you give me more information about this method to avoid the witch transformation?]

"Alright then," I say as I tap send. "Looks like we're on track to join the Wings of the Magius again. We don't have Kirika, but in retrospect she wasn't all that helpful last time."

"Yeah, you're right," Inui says. "All she cared about was Oriko… though she seems better this time."

I take out my soul in gem form and hold it out, and Inui does the same. Then I press the grief seed against both at the same time, purifying them and leaving the grief seed in a saturated state. After summoning Kyuubey to dispose of it, we return to the Hayashi house. Then I remember something else and pull out my phone again to compose another email, this time to Mabayu.

[Hello. Could I stop by tomorrow to meet Coeurl? Ideally I'd like to take her to join the Wings of the Magius as well, assuming she's interested.]

While I'm composing that message, I receive a reply from Kuroe, so I check it before sending the message to Mabayu.

[There's an organization in Kamihama that's working on a solution. If you show up here at 2 o'clock tomorrow, you can meet someone who will give you the full explanation. I can't make it myself though, as I have prior plans. I believe Azusa Mifuyu herself will be meeting you.]

The message also notes the meeting place. I compose a response indicating that we'll be there, then return to my draft to Mabayu and send it. The plans in question are presumably the start-of-term camp, so hopefully that'll help Kuroe gain a little confidence… and if not, I still have another plan to help her. Mabayu's response comes quickly – by the time I've sent the messages to Kimiko Anzu and Masuyo Mari just like in the last timeline, her response is waiting for me.

[I'll be at home until about 9 o'clock in the morning, so as long as you come before then. Or, if you don't mind me not being there, you can come a bit later, as Coeurl should be there for most of the day.]

She also includes her home address in the email. I send a quick response noting that I'll try to get there before nine o'clock, then send a message to Elise requesting that she accompany me to Kamihama in the morning.

The next morning I take Fliegende Krake's and Nikola's grief seeds, pick up Elise from her place, drop by Mari's place to claim her sister's grief seed, and catch a train to Takarazaki. Of course, Inui comes along too. We show up at Mabayu's apartment at around quarter to nine, and Mabayu answers the door. She already has her shoes on.

"Ah, good timing, I was just about to leave," she says. "Coeurl! Where are you?"

Coeurl appears from somewhere further in.

"What's up?" she asks.

"The friends I mentioned who came to meet you," Mabayu says.

"Oh, did you mention that?" Coeurl says. "I must've forgotten…"

"Would you like to go talk things over in the park?" Mabayu asks.

"That's fine with me," I say.

"Talk what over?" Coeurl asks.

"Well, I heard about how you came back from the future," I say. "So I wanted to talk about that a bit, and some other things as well."

"Hmm… well, I suppose it could be fun," Coeurl says. "Let's go!"

So she puts her shoes on and comes outside, and Mabayu locks up. Mabayu shows us to a nearby park before heading off on her own.

"So, let's start with introductions," I say. "I'm Ashley Taylor."

"I'm Itsumi Inui."

"Elise Pierrot."

"My name's Coeurl. So hey, how old are you guys?"

"Huh? You can't tell?" Inui says.

"I mean, magical girls don't usually age, right?" Coeurl says.

"T-that's the first I've heard of this," Inui says. "Is that true, Ashley?"

"Well, I think you could decide not to age if you really wanted to," I say. "Pernelle is a good example of that. But most of the time it seems we age normally…"

"Wait, so that means you're all newbies?" Coeurl says. "You just contracted a few years ago or something?"

"Less than a year," I say. "About five months if you don't count the time hops. I'm seventeen."

"I think it's been about four months for me now," Elise says. "Also seventeen."

"Um… I guess I've been a magical girl for eight or nine months…?" Inui says. "I'm thirteen years old. Could it be, you're actually an old lady, Culu-chan?"

"W-well, you could say that," Coeurl says. "I don't know exactly how old I am in the local years though… about thrice the age of adulthood."

"So around sixty," Inui says. "Yet you still look no older than sixteen! Amazing!"

"What do you mean by 'local years'?" Elise asks.

"Oh, well, Terminus and Wilussa both had different astronomical characteristics from Earth," Coeurl explains. "Terminus was about fifty percent larger, so the gravity was a lot more intense, and I think the orbital period was close to twice as long as Earth? The day was also longer, which makes it really hard for me to convert between the two. On the other hand, Wilussa had almost the same day length, but the orbital period was still a bit longer than Earth's…"

Elise gapes at her for a few seconds.

"Waaait… you're an alien, Coeurl!?" she gasps.

"Huh? No, I'm human," Coeurl says.

"Sometimes 'alien' is used to mean anyone not from Earth," I point out. "Though personally I think it's a bit rude… but I think that's what Elise meant."

"Oh, well yes, I'm not from Earth," Coeurl says. "I'm not even from this time, if you must know…"

"So how'd you learn the language?" Elise asks.

"What?" Coeurl says. "I don't know what you're talking about. What does 'learning a language' mean? Don't you just download it into your language implant? I have all the major languages of Old Earth installed… since I was trying to dig up ancient stories to help the war effort."

"Ehhh, we're suddenly becoming sci-fi!?" Inui gasps.

"I guess that's what she meant by not from this time," Elise says. "So there are at least two other planets with humans living on them in the future?"

Coeurl shakes her head. "No, only the one – Terminus, the last bastion of sentient life in the galaxy. Wilussa is the planet I landed on when I was thrown back in time… have you not heard of it…?"

Elise shakes her head. "No… as far as I know, the furthest humans have ever gone from Earth in this era is the moon," she says. "And that was nearly a century ago. There's plans to go back and build a base there though… so what's this about a language implant?"

"Oh right, I suppose you don't have language implants in this time period," Coeurl says. "Now that I think of it, the people of Wilussa seemed to have trouble understanding each other too sometimes…"

"Wait, back up a sec… you said something about ancient stories earlier, but how could that possibly help with a war effort?" Inui asks.

"Stories are a powerful form of magic regulation," Coeurl explains. "But due to the war, humanity had lost almost all its stories, which I'm sure was a big part of why we were losing."

"Why not just make your own?" Inui asks.

"No-one knew how," Coeurl says. "The art of story-telling was long lost. I wouldn't even know where to start."

"So you came from some distant apocalyptic future," Inui says. "How'd you end up in this time period?"

"I'm not really sure," Coeurl says. "We were attacking a temporal railroad junction, and it exploded… I got caught in the explosion… and then I woke up on Wilussa."

"Huh, a temporal railroad…?" Elise says. "Who on earth could've built such a thing…?"

"Though it's not certain, we believe the so-called magical humans built it," Coeurl says.

"Why aren't you certain…?" Inui asks.

"Because communicating with the magical humans is impossible," Coeurl says. "They don't even have a language anymore… they communicate entirely through telepathy, but even their telepathy isn't compatible with regular old magical girl telepathy."

"Why would they want to build something like a temporal railroad?" Elise asks.

"The theory is that they had plans to invade the past after wiping out all sentient life," Coeurl says. "But again, that's just speculation."

"Oh… so these so-called magical humans are the enemies," Inui says. "I thought they'd be more like mostly-benevolent fairies or something…"

Coeurl snorts. "Not a chance," she says. "They seem to view humans and other sentient life as no better than a disease, slaughtering on sight… though ironically, they're the ones actually acting like a disease. It might be more accurate to call them a magical virus…"

"So now that you've found your way back to the past, do you have anything you'd like to do?" Inui asks.

"Hmm, well, I was thinking it would be nice if I can take advantage of this to change the past, to avert the Magi Wars altogether," Coeurl says. "But the only problem is, I was thrown too far into the past. It'll be at least ten thousand years before there's a turning point where I could interfere… and I'll probably turn into a witch long before then. After all, the humanity of this era doesn't have grief extractors, right?"

"What's a grief extractor?" Inui asks.

"It's a device that extracts energy from a grief seed," Coeurl says. "It's a technology introduced to us by the Edalon, before they were wiped out. With this technology a single grief seed can be reused hundreds of times before it's eventually worn out."

"Whoa, that's amazing," Inui says. "I bet Kyuubey doesn't know about that, either…"

Coeurl tilts her head. "Hmm? Do you mean the Incubators? Why wouldn't they know?"

"I bet that's what Kyuubey does with all the used grief seeds we give it," I say. "Though I wonder what they do after all the grief is extracted… is it even possible for a grief seed to collect grief on the Edalon home planet…?"

"Of course not," Coeurl says. "Not only did they treat emotions as a mental illness, even those few that did demonstrate them never produced emotional energy on the scale of humans… there wouldn't be any atmospheric grief for the seeds to soak up."

"Huh? Why are you talking about Kyuubey in the past tense?" Inui asks.

"Ah, because they were extinct in my time," Coeurl says. "The Edalon were brought down by their own arrogance in thinking they could defeat the magical humans with their advanced technology… their creations, the Incubators, managed to hold out for several centuries more though."

"So the Edalon is the race that made Kyuubey…?" Elise says. "I didn't even know Kyuubey was created…"

"So did you figure out how to make magical girls without Kyuubey?" Inui asks.

"Not likely," Coeurl says. "I may not have been the last to contract, but I was the last surviving magical girl."

"Huh, so just how long ago was the last Kyuubey destroyed?" Inui asks.

"About thirty or forty of your years, probably," Coeurl says. "If I recall correctly, I had just passed the age of adulthood."

"Alright, enough future talk for the time being," I say. "Coeurl, what would you do if I told you there was a way to not become a witch? Even if it's not as advanced as the grief extractor you mentioned, it does the job."

"That depends," Coeurl says. "Is it safe?"

"Well, I'd say it's only a little bit dangerous," I admit.

"Does it mean becoming something that's no longer human?" Coeurl asks.

"No more than we already have as magical girls," I say.

"Don't be absurd," Coeurl retorts. "Just extracting the soul from your body isn't enough to make you not human anymore."

"If that's how you feel, then the answer's 'no'," I say.

"Still, you say it's dangerous," Coeurl says. "What kind of dangers are there?"

"Well, there are three potential hazards that I'm aware of," I say. "The least severe is a loss of ability to walk."

Coeurl blinks. "But walking for a magical girl is just magic manipulation… so it's something like damaged magic pathways…?"

Huh, Coeurl has some understanding of what that means? Maybe she could help Pernelle or Livia or Shirin or Nisha work out a solution eventually. Now's not really the time to go into that though.

"Maybe," I say. "I'm not sure exactly of the details. The second hazard I'm aware of is that the doppel can seize control and go on a rampage, in the worst case fusing with your body and spiralling out of control."

"That sounds like a pretty big downside!" Elise gasps. "Are you really sure it's safe to make me unleash my doppel!?"

"Well, I'll get to that in a minute," I say. "As for the third hazard that I'm aware of, it's possible for an out-of-control doppel to start behaving like a witch – creating a barrier and hiding away in it. I don't know if luring in victims is also a part of that though… the two cases I know of were both in a circumstance where they had no access to any victims to lure in."

"That last one in particular really is pretty extreme," Coeurl says. "How is that any different from turning into a witch?"

"The fact that it is reversible," I say. "If the doppel can be defeated, your soul gem will still be intact. And releasing a doppel also clears all the impurities from your soul gem. There are also ways to treat fusion with a doppel. I don't know how to treat the paralysis… at least you can cope with it though, and I wouldn't be surprised if a Coordinator could find a cure eventually. Also, these are all the worst-case scenarios. As long as you're careful and don't overuse your doppel, and work on staying in control when you do use it, you should be able to avoid all of those issues. All things considered, while it's far from perfect, I think it's quite an improvement compared to turning into a witch."

"What's a Coordinator?" Coeurl asks.

"A magical girl who specializes in the manipulation of souls," I say.

"Eh… isn't that really, really dangerous?" Coeurl says. "Carelessly manipulating souls is said to be what kickstarted the Magi Wars in the first place…"

"I agree," I say. "I think the power of a Coordinator could be utterly horrifying in the wrong hands. I haven't met any Coordinators whose character I'd doubt to that degree though… although there was one who got actually barred from practicing by the boss Coordinator… but I don't think even she is likely to be someone to worry about in that respect. After all… she was upfront about being barred and seemed to regret it. And Coordination can be useful, too – at least for us newer magical girls, it can strengthen our magic and unlock powers such as connect."

"Huh, is connect that rare of a power in this era?" Coeurl asks.

"Apparently so," I say. "Though Inui and I both managed to figure it out on our own."

"Well, I suppose it can't hurt to try out your doppel thing," Coeurl says. "My magic's already stabilized, so it's not too likely I'd turn into a witch anytime soon, especially in a peaceful world like this… but the chance is never zero. I knew one magical girl who just suddenly turned into a witch one day without warning… but that said, if such an amazing system existed, why haven't I heard of it? I'm from the future, after all! Though I guess nearly all records older than the Unification Wars were lost when Old Earth was pulverized…"

"Isn't that the answer right there?" Inui asks.

"Plus, there's a chance that it never happened in your history," I say. "Or it happened but was suppressed by the Incubators before it took off. The doppel system works, sure, but the Incubators would definitely prefer us to turn into witches."

"Really?" Coeurl muses. "They seemed more chill about it in my time… even sharing tips on how to avoid becoming a witch. I almost missed them when their network was finally destroyed… that was probably the final nail in the coffin for the war. After all, the technology for extracting souls had been lost long before that… and even our best scientists were unable to learn anything useful from the Incubator corpses. That's why we had high hopes when another Incubator suddenly emerged from the past via the temporal railroad, but unfortunately they were unable to find anyone with sufficient magical potential…"

"There's that temporal railroad again," Elise says.

"Right, speaking of, just who is Kiriha Kosane…?" I muse.

"Um, if I recall correctly, she introduced herself as a college student from the year 2021," Coeurl says.

"Wasn't that around the beginning of the covid pandemic…?" Elise asks. "I think that's what I heard in history class…?"

"That's right," I say. "I think it started a year or two before that, to be precise. Hmm… if she was a college student in 2021, then she'd only be in her fifties or so, right?"

"Something like that," Inui agrees. "I wonder if she's still around…? I'd like to ask her about some of this stuff…"

"Kyuubey mentioned speaking with her in the previous timeline, so I assume she's still around," I say. "Anyway, I'm sure the Incubators in your time had already reached their energy quota or found something that's higher priority than gathering energy, so that's why they seemed chill, as you call it. After all, they are logical to a fault."

"Alright, so tell me," Coeurl says. "What's the secret to this doppel system?"

"Well, if you accompany me to Kamihama, I can demonstrate for you," I say.

"Hey… that's going to be me demonstrating, isn't it!?" Elise protests. "Are you really sure it's going to be safe…?"

"Well… it's extremely unlikely that anything will go wrong just from unleashing your doppel once," I say. "That should be enough for a demonstration. If you want to avoid unleashing it again, we can go hunt some witches. In the last time I discovered that your power can be used without unleashing a doppel if your soul gem is simultaneously being purified by at least two grief seeds. Normally it would be tough to get that many, but Kamihama is absolutely teeming with witches right now. And if you really don't want to do it that badly, Inui or I could be the one to demonstrate."

"Ah, that definitely makes me feel a bit better," Elise says. "You don't have to go out of your way to do the demonstration for me. Alright then… let's get going!"

We catch a train into Kamihama, getting off at the first stop and hunting down a few witches – an instance of Zenobia, an instance of Lucy, an instance of Suleika, and an instance of Teresa. With those four extra grief seeds in hand, I lead the way to the old abandoned construction site, which is fortunately abandoned at this early hour.

"Alright Elise-chan… are you ready for the demonstration?"

Elise takes a few deep breaths, then nods. "Yes… I'm ready," she says.

I pass her Nikola's grief seed first, and she cups it in her hands, closing her eyes as she raises her hands to press her thumbnails against her forehead.

As expected, her doppel whooshes out as the grief seed is transformed back into a soul gem. Coeurl transforms and destroys Doki Yatsura before it even has a chance to attack, with a pair of laser beams. Then Elise opens her eyes and looks at me.

"That was… a little scary, if only for a moment," she says. "You said I should be able to do two more without unleashing a doppel, right?"

"I think so," I say. "It might be a close call though… but could I have your soul gem?"

Elise nods, converting it to gem form and handing it over. I pass her Fliegende Krake's grief seed, and hand Mari's seed to Inui.

"Huh? Why are you giving me a grief seed?" Inui asks.

"That's the third one we're restoring today," I say. "Just hand it to Elise-chan once she's ready. I don't want to risk overtaxing her by getting her to do two at once… not to mention I'm a bit worried they could somehow end up fusing together."

"Ah, okay then," Inui says.

Then I take a seat on the ground, just to be on the safe side, and arrange the four grief seeds we gathered so that they're all simultaneously touching Elise's soul gem. There's no grief to draw out yet, of course, since she just unleashed her doppel.

"Alright," I say. "Whenever you're ready."

I watch her soul gem as she restores Kimiko Chinatsu's soul gem. The grief seeds draw out the grief as fast as it builds up, meaning that her soul gem stays gleaming throughout the entire process. When she restores Mari's soul gem, the rate of build-up seems to slightly overwhelm the rate of drain by the grief seeds, but even then the grief isn't building up fast enough to pose a threat. Once she's done, all four grief seeds are saturated, and there's still a little grief left in her soul gem. I take the three soul gems from Elise and then stow them away.

"Would you mind disposing of these grief seeds for me, Elise-chan?" I ask.

"Ah, you mean with Kyuubey?" Elise says. "Sure."

"You should move quickly… they look like they might hatch any minute now," I say. "We're going to the Wings of the Magius next, so we'll see you later."

"Alright, seeya," Elise says.

I hand her the four grief seeds, and she sprints off towards the edge of the barrier. Inui turns to me, but at that moment my phone pings, so I take it out to check. It's an email from Anzu indicating that she's obtained a lock of her sister's hair, so I send a response asking her to meet me at the central station in Mitakihara on Tuesday.

"Are you going to unleash your own doppel too?" Inui asks. "Like last time?"

"Huh? Oh, right… no," I say. "I did that only because I wanted to scry on someone, and I had no idea how far away they were. Right now there isn't much point in scrying on them again… but maybe after Walpurgisnacht is defeated."

"Huh… right, someone outside of the universe, I think you said…"

"By the way, when we're alone next, remind me," I say. "I owe you an explanation about some things, but for now I'd like to restrict the information to you alone."

Inui nods. "Sure… it makes me happy that you've finally decided to trust me!"

"Well, it's more that I can trust Kyuubey is definitely not eavesdropping," I say.

"Right, I think you might've mentioned that before too," Inui says. "So… we're going to the Wings of the Magius now, right?"

"No… we're not supposed to meet until two o'clock," I say. "Which means we need to find something to do until then…"

"Ah, right, we had to come extra early to connect with Mabba-kun," Inui says. "We've got… about three hours to burn, I guess? Hmm… I got nothing…"

"Well, we might as well just kill a few witches then," I say. "It would be good to have some extra grief seeds."

So the three of us start looking for witches.

Once we've had enough of hunting witches, we stop by Meiyui's Chinese restaurant for a meal, since it happens to be nearby. Meiyui herself is not there, but the proprietor recognizes Inui and gives us a friends discount. Coeurl seems pretty okay with the extremely spicy food. After eating, we head out to the meeting place.

When we arrive at the park, Mifuyu is already waiting for us there, sitting on a bench. As we approach, she spots us and gets to her feet.

"Good afternoon," she says. "I am Azusa Mifuyu. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I say. "I'm Ashley Taylor, an exchange student in Mitakihara."

"I'm Itsumi Inui," Inui says.

"You can call me Coeurl," Coeurl says.

"Kuroe-chan told me you were interested in what we're doing here in Kamihama," Mifuyu says. "Would you like to join the Wings of the Magius?"

"Depends," I say. "I'd be a fool to join without knowing anything."

"That's understandable," Mifuyu says. "According to Kuroe-chan, you already know the secret of the soul gem, correct? The cruel fate of magical girls?"

"About turning into witches, yes," I say.

"We are working on a way to avert that fate," Mifuyu explains. "There is a prototype of an automatic purification system already set up here in Kamihama, and the goal of the Magius is to expand that to the entire planet. That's why we are gathering magical girls here. Strong ones are especially welcome."

"Ashley's pretty strong!" Inui says.

"So, are you interested?" Mifuyu asks.

"Well, I don't intend to ever turn into a witch, but it can't hurt to have some insurance," I say. "Alright… count me in."

"I'm in too," Inui says.

"It sounds kinda suspicious," Coeurl says. "But if it's really true, that would be amazing, so I guess I'd say I'm interested, yeah."

Mifuyu nods. "In that case, I'll show you to the base we've just set up."

Since we don't have Chiaki's croquettes with us this time, she doesn't bring up Riko. Instead she just turns to lead us away to the current entrance in the old railway yard, using her pendant to open the way for us to step through. She then follows us inside, and we spend a few moments staring up at the huge building before us.

"Welcome to Hotel Fendt Hope," Mifuyu says. "If you wish, you may stay here, or if you prefer to remain with your family out of town, you are welcome to continue living with them as well. Right now there are only a few of us, but we are recruiting new members every day."

"Huh, this is a pretty elaborate barrier," Coeurl says. "This was all made by one magical girl?"

"Pretty much," Mifuyu says.

Mifuyu flashes into her white feather robes, but thrusts the hood back, leaving her face exposed.

"These are my feather robes," Mifuyu explains. "We usually wear them when we are here at Fendt Hope, as well as when we are performing duties for the Magius. They are enchanted to store themselves into our soul gems, so we can pull them out at any time. The lower-ranking members have black robes instead of white."

She pauses, looking expectantly at us, but no-one has anything to say, so she continues.

"Let's go inside," Mifuyu says. "I should at least introduce you to the Magius. They can give you a better idea of the 'duties' I mentioned earlier."

Without further ado, she walks up to the front door and pushes it open, holding it for us to step through. I look around the lobby at the six magical girls currently present. They appear to be the same ones as last time – the white feather is Sue, while I recognize Hifumi Chiyoko, Megumi Moka, Hana, and Yaeko Mana among the black feathers. The last black feather, who I was unable to identify last time, looks like one of the doppel syndrome victims from the previous timeline – I think she went by the nickname Chiu.

"Oh, Mifuyu!" Sue says.

She jumps up and runs over to greet us with a bow.

"Are these more new recruits?" she asks.

"Yes indeed," Mifuyu says.

"Nice to meet you!" Sue says. "You can call me Sue… it's a nickname, but it helps to have something to address me by, right?"

"Sure… nice to meet you, Sue," I say.

"I'd like to take them to meet the Magius," Mifuyu says. "Do you know if they're in right now?"

"I think Lady Nemu is with the flute sisters," Sue says. "And I haven't seen Lady Alina yet today… but Lady Touka should be in her office."

"Alright, then that's where we'll be going," Mifuyu says. "Please follow me."

Mifuyu makes for the stairs and leads the three of us up to the top floor, where she knocks on one of the doors.

"Come in!" an irate voice says from within.

Mifuyu pushes the door open and steps inside. Satomi Touka sits behind a desk at the far wall, clad in the black and brown dress of her magical girl outfit.

"Good afternoon, Touka," Mifuyu says. "I've brought some new recruits."

"Again?" Touka says. "Excellent! How many does that make now?"

"Um, let me think," Mifuyu says. "I think they'd bring our numbers to twenty-six? Or was it twenty-seven? I feel like I'm missing one…"

«Hey, did you notice?» Inui says. «That's three more than the numbers she said last time… so there might already be someone who's new?»

«Though she doesn't seem confident on the numbers, either,» I point out.

«That's true,» Inui says.

"That's an average of seven per day," Touka says. "At this rate, we could easily reach two hundred members in just a month… so, what do you want from me?"

"I'm still not quite clear on the situation," Mifuyu says. "So I'd like you to handle explaining it again."

The explanation is pretty much identical to last time. Inui even interjects with mostly the same comments and questions, and I still point out the interplanetary hole in her plan. Coeurl even asks the same question as last time, about the efficiency of the system. Touka assigns us the same ranks as last time, and Mifuyu hands out our robes. The conversation with her goes the same way as well, with me doing my best to remember what was said last time and repeating my lines as closely as possible. We then visit the chapel where we meet Alina, followed by the training ground where we meet San and watch Coeurl unleash her doppel. There are no notable differences in how the events play out. Finally, Mifuyu assigns us rooms like before.

Once we're alone in our room, Inui flops down on the bed with a sigh, and I take a seat as well, on the desk chair.

"Knowing what happened last time totally changes my viewpoint," Inui says. "They're super-shady. Though I'm a bit surprised Mifuyumin is already open to rebellion…"

"Her priority is the girls," I say. "She's with the Magius because their plan will save people. I don't think she's ever been blindly loyal to them, or even to the cause of liberation – she'll drop them once they start doing terrible things. She almost has enough authority and power to wrest control of the entire organization away from those three if it came to that… though, emphasis on almost. Touka is a bit too powerful, and Nemu's control over the rumour a bit too strong, for that to actually work… she could definitely take down at least Alina though."

"Yeah, Mifuyumin is still really nice," Inui says. "Alina isn't as mean as she was later on… I don't know if that's because of the Mirror Witch like you suggested, though…"

"The Mirror Witch's influence on Alina will probably be crucial to one day defeating it though," I say. "So even though I don't like it that much, I hesitate to interfere…"

"Hmm… you're saying that being affected by it and recovering would give her a unique insight, or something?" Inui says. "I can't say I'm happy about that idea, but I don't think I could stop her from exploring even if I wanted to, so… I guess…"

"So, you're going to transfer to Kosho Academy again, right?" I say.

"Yeah, same as last time," she says. "I'll get Mifuyumin to talk to Dad and everything. Then I'll try to get to know as many members as I can, without arousing suspicions of course. Maybe we can recruit even more than last time."

"To tell the truth, I'm still not sure what I want to do in this timeline," I say.

"You did say you wanted to save Saka-chi," Inui says.

"Kuroe… yes, I'll need to talk to Miss Aki a bit more about that after they return from that camping trip," I say. "And I've mostly resolved to avoid any new interference prior to the Memory Museum, other than getting Karin-chan to make sure that Kaede doesn't unleash a doppel. But I haven't yet decided how I want to do things beyond there. Last time I organized a huge rebellion against the Magius and dragged in everyone in town, but… the only reason I was okay with interfering so heavily was because the future I was aiming for had already been derailed… we were well into the alternate future that I wanted to avoid. I did think there was a chance I could've salvaged it and called that the final timeline, though that didn't work out in the end… but it wouldn't've been my preferred final timeline."

"Come to think of it, isn't this a good time to tell me what you wanted to say earlier?" Inui says.

"Ah, I guess you're right," I say. "Although I'm honestly not sure if Nemu has some way of eavesdropping on us… so I'd prefer to say it outside of Fendt Hope…"

Inui sits up, nodding.

"Then let's go to the helipad building," she says.

"Sure," I say.

We leave the place, heading across the lawn and exiting back into the city. I quickly store the robe in my soul gem, and Inui follows my example. We make for the helipad, but instead of going all the way up to the roof, Inui leads the way to the disused conference room that we used before.

"So… what's your secret?" Inui asks.

"It's about my past," I say. "I was born as Chelsea Flanders in another world. It was a world very similar to this world around a quarter century ago, but without magical girls… or at least, I'm pretty sure they didn't exist, though I guess I can't be certain. The Holy Quintet – Miss Tomoe, Miss Sakura, Madoka, Miss Miki, and Miss Homura – were the main characters of a popular anime. Many of the magical girls I've met on this island are characters from spin-off works of the original anime. That even includes Ashley Taylor – when I somehow ended up in this world, I was fused with her."

"Huh," Inui says. "Well… that's not too far off the theory I'd already pieced together, mostly from things Mary said, but… the main thing that never even occurred to me is that your predictions of the future come from an otherworldly work of fiction. Still… it explains those posters quite nicely…"

"Well, that's how it is," I say.

"Say, was I a character somewhere in there too?"

"You were a minor named NPC who appeared and quickly died off in a side story featuring Nagisa," I say.

"Ehhh… sorry I asked," Inui says. "So, the future and the alternate future that you mentioned earlier are from this… what should I call it…?"

"One of the spin-offs was a video game called Magia Record," I say. "And the game was popular enough that it got an anime spin-off. The game depicted a happy ending where everyone survives Walpurgisnacht, which is what I'm aiming for. The anime however depicted a sad ending where a lot of people died, which is close to what happened last time."

"And I was one of the ones who died," Inui muses. "Okay, I get what you're saying now… when you say 'on the rails' you mean we're in a situation where the game's ending still seems achievable, whereas 'off the rails' means you think it's too late to reach that ending."

"Basically, yes," I say. "Although, that's not actually the end of the game… it gets darker later on, with several people dying. So I'm trying to match the game up to a point, but not perfectly."

"So, who dies?" Inui asks. "Anyone I know?"

"Off the top of my head, I think the people who die after Walpurgisnacht in the game are just Midori Ryo, Makino Ikumi, Kazari Jun, and Suzuka Sakuya," I say. "You probably know the first two, right? The last one also joined me in the time leap this time around. I haven't yet met Miss Kazari, but she should be moving to Kamihama sometime after Walpurgisnacht."

"Hmm, so I assume you have ideas to save them, right?" Inui says. "Do they turn into a witch or lose their soul gems?"

"Yes, of course," I say. "Miss Kazari is the only one who turns into a witch."

"So the other three lose their soul gems," Inui says.

"Yeah… so I'll probably ask Shiina Moe to help out, to be on the safe side," I say. "Or maybe to fake their death like I did with Sarasa Hanna… I haven't decided yet. It's too early to think about it now, anyway."

"Okay, so… you don't want to change anything until the Memory Museum?" Inui asks.

"Ah, that's true relative to the previous timeline, but not relative to the one you remember," I say. "Last time, I rescued the Rumour of the Anonymous AI, so I'll be doing that again this time. I think that's the only big difference from what you remember though… also, right after that we'll try to get Kuroe and Miss Tamaki to coincidentially meet."

"Alright, in that case, we might as well go home for now," Inui says.

We head to Kosho Academy to grab the transfer papers, and then we catch a train back to Mitakihara. On the way back, I email Mari to let her know we're coming, and once we've reached Mitakihara, we get off at a stop closer to her place and head over there. I hand over the original Mari's soul gem, and the conversation is pretty much the same as the last two times. Then we head back to the Hayashi house, where I put the two other newly-restored soul gems in a safe place. Like last time, I'll be waiting for Madoka to contract before I take them to Asunaro. That means I once again have Sunday off to laze around and rest, or perhaps get a few extra grief seeds.

We're really sprinting through things here, all the way back to the Wings of the Magius. This covers chapters 89 and 90 of the previous timeline, or 65 through 67 of the first Magia Record timeline, with a lot of stuff glossed over, but also a bunch of new things, and some stuff mostly the same. People familiar with the game will likely recognize what Ashley is planning for Kuroe. Everyone who was saved in the previous timeline was still saved, plus the new addition of Hiraku Yumiko, the mysterious calligraphy club president. And Iroha forgot that she came back in time. Who saw that coming?

I made more progress than expected last week, perhaps because it's the beginning of a new timeline so I can reference past timelines to help determine the flow of events. Chapter 104 is almost done, and chapter 105 is about ⅓ to ½ done, which means chapter 104 will be posted next week. Chapter 106 is likely where the timeline begins to drastically diverge, so I'm not sure how long that'll take.

While going through old chapters to determine the flow of the early chapters of this timeline, I noticed that Ashley was a bit too quick in chapter 63 to identify the assailants in one of Homura's anomalous timelines as the Folklore of Zero, so I added an extra sentence to Homura's explanation that makes it more obvious.

When I finally get to the end of Act 2, I intend to take a short break and then post an interlude featuring Tokime Oyura. I'm also considering posting a second interlude right after that, but I haven't decided who it would feature, so if anyone has a request, I'll give it due consideration. There are some requirements however.

• I would prefer to hear from you via private message, though public comments will still be considered.
• If you have more than one suggestion, please send them as a ranked list.
• The character must be someone who has been named in the main body of this fic, which means not a girl who was mentioned only in one of the Tasuke excerpts. Girls summoned by Scheherazade are fair game however. The main characters from Tart Magica and Monogatari are also not available, as they both have their own spin-off fic. (At least theoretically – the Tart Magica one is nowhere near ready for posting yet, and the Monogatari one is currently on hold.)
• Certain plot-sensitive characters are out of the question, such as the Scheherazade trio or Eris. Also keep in mind that Mary's backstory is already slated for a post-act-3 interlude, so she's also off the table.
• I make no promises to actually use any of the suggestions.
• The deadline is whenever I post the Tokime interlude.