Chapter 10: Into the inferno!

Lena sighs and picks up a cup of tea with both hands, sipping it quietly while both her legs sit flat under her at a long, wooden table. The room has green, marble flooring, light blue tiled walls, and pink pillars adorning those walls.

The sliding door behind Lena opens, and she looks behind her. Another Grim Reaper with a dark purple kimono walks in, her hair an almost black, dark purple hue. Her long, well-kept hair sways as she walks over and sits across from Lena, her long bangs almost down to her eyes.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Lena."

Lena sighs and sips more of her tea.

"Hey, Ume. I just needed a small break is all."

"Did something happen with that Mayumi girl you told me about?"

Lena puts the tea cup down and crosses her arms.

"She won't do any more cases, and I can't tell her that she's doing them for her spirit beast, since Enma Jr. told me not to tell her."

Lena suddenly groans loudly and begins scratching at her head.

"I mean, she never takes me seriously! It's so annoying, she swears I'm asking her to do all of them because I'm lazy and don't want to do my job! She's so ungrateful it drives me mad!"

Ume leans in. Her lips begin to form a big, sly grin. Her eyes squint at Lena.

"I think you do just want to freeload off her. You're lucky, a Grim Reaper actually working with anyone is so rare, it's been the talk of Spirit World lately."

"Gaaah! Not you too! You're just as bad as Mayumi, I swear!"

Ume leans back again and laughs, waving her hand a bit.

"I'm just messing with you! Listen, something happened to me that involves you, and maybe it'll get your mind off all that stuff."

Lena sighs again and looks back at Ume.

"What is it?"

"Well, I found someone who can see us! Grim Reapers, ghosts, apparitions, you name it!"

"What!? Where in the world did you find them!?"

"Well…"

Ume sighs as she sits on her oar in the sky. She puts her hand out and materializes her book, flipping through it.

"Where's the next one…"

Ume squints and looks at each case, until her eyes soften a bit.

"This one seems easy enough. Let's see… there it is."

She closes her hand and the book slams closed, vanishing. She leans forward a bit and begins to fly through the completely clear blue sky. After a few minutes of flying, Ume's ears perk up as she hears someone.

"...Hey! Down here!" a girl waves, "I see you up there!"

Ume freezes. A profoundly stumped expression encroaches on her face and she looks down at the girl, who yells up at her again in return.

"I see you looking down at me! Get your ass down here!"

Ume hesitantly floats down to be eye level with her, and looks her all over. The girl is holding a broom, is wearing an apron over some jeans and a jean jacket, has long, orange, messy hair, and her face is covered in bandages. She looks at Ume with squinted eyes, looking her all over in return. She talks like she's judging Ume.

"You're Lena, right? Floating around on that oar?"

Ume feels even more dumbfounded. Her eyes widen and she speaks in a puzzled tone.

"How do you know about Lena? Better yet, how can you see me?"

Youko flicks her head back aggressively and groans loudly.

"God dammit! So you're not her!?"

"Uh, no. Can you answer my question? Normal people shouldn't be able to see us."

Youko sighs and looks back at her, speaking in an annoyed tone.

"Mayumi was right, all you people do is complain. I got a good sixth sense, and the lady at this place I work at helped me get it under control so now I can see spirits."

She points her thumb at the building next to her. She then speaks in a more angry tone.

"And by the way, all of you are doing a shitty job! I was getting haunted by spirits forever until she helped me, what the hell do any of you even do!? Aren't you supposed to take care of that!?"

"Hey! We still have outside lives just like you! We're not some omnipotent force that controls every spirit!"

Youko waves her hand dismissively and sighs.

"You're clearly not Lena, but I'm assuming you know her from how you reacted. Tell her that she needs to bring Mayumi to me, it's been a while since I've seen her and she doesn't know I can see the dead now."

Ume crosses her arms and has a thoughtful look on her face.

"You're breaking a lot of laws in Spirit World right now, but it's not like I can do much I suppose. Just don't go messing around with restless spirits, that'll make problems. I'll pass the message along."

"Thanks, whatever your name is."

"I'm Ume. Nice to meet you."

"Youko. Just get the message to her for me."

Ume looks around and notices a small group of people have appeared behind Youko, watching her talk to nothing. Ume smirks and gets an idea, quickly floating up and talking boldly with a giant smile.

"I don't think I will! Thanks for the chat though!"

Youko's face twists into pure anger and she slams the broom she's holding down onto the ground.

"WHAT!? I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Ume laughs as she watches the group of people begin muttering to themselves, and watches Youko's resulting reaction to realizing she just looked absolutely insane in front of all those people.

Lena's face slams down into the table, and she groans loudly. Ume looks puzzled and raises her hands a bit curiously.

"So you do know her?"

"She's Mayumi's friend. Everyone just loves making my job harder." Lena sits up and stands, "I'll go deal with it. Thanks for telling me."

"It's nothing, just passing along information."

Mayumi lays on top of a flat roofed building, staring into the clear sky. The most bored expression possible is painted across her face.

"At least it's not dealing with restless spirits, curses, animals, dreams…" Mayumi sits up and begins to get angry as she thinks about everything she's had to deal with during the past week or two, "Dammit! I'm gonna kill Lena for making me do all this!"

Suddenly the sky begins to darken, filling with clouds and accompanying thunder. Mayumi jumps up and shuffles back a bit, gritting her teeth. Suddenly a blue ball of lightning shoots down from the sky, and begins to fly around rapidly, a blue trail curving sharply around where it flies.

It flies right in front of Mayumi, and before she can even speak it bursts into a giant white light, making Mayumi cover her eyes with her arm, yelling as a loud roar echoes from the light.

The light dissipates, and Mayumi begins to move her arm down to see what just happened.

"Hey, pleased to meet you!"

Mayumi's eyes widen as a smooth but slightly lower toned voice speaks out. What's more attention grabbing is that what's in front of her is a floating little girl, with blue hair and eyes, and a lighter blue frilly dress that looks like a nightgown.

Mayumi feels some sweat drop from her forehead and she begins to yell.

"Are you trying to blind me!? The hell was that entrance!?"

"Just as rowdy as they said you'd be. I'm the investigator. " She says that last part with a slight hint of malice in her voice.

Mayumi doesn't like how sarcastic the girl is coming off as. She floats up a bit and crosses her legs, relaxing a little.

"No kidding? You investigating how bright to make a light before someone's eyes give out?"

"Funny." The girl says with little interest in Mayumi's attitude. "I'm Sayaka."

Mayumi sighs and knows this is probably another Spirit World thing and just goes along with it.

"Alright then, Sayaka. What're you here to investigate about me then?"

"I'm sorry," Sayaka vanishes and reappears to Mayumi's side and begins to look around. "But that's a secret. Where is Lena? I thought she was supposed to be here with you."

Mayumi turns to Sayaka and shrugs dismissively.

"She said she was taking a break or something. She'll be back later."

Sayaka sighs, turning to Mayumi.

"Well, that makes things harder. I doubt you'll actually help me out with how you've been talking to me."

Mayumi gives her a pissed off side eye in response to that.

"Stop treating me like I'm some asshole that doesn't want to help anyone. I've spent the last week and a half doing the jobs none of you people wanted to do."

Sayaka looks back at Mayumi and talks calmly.

"Not like I have much of a choice anyway. Since you want to help, can you tell me the name of your girlfriend? Kumiko, right?"

Mayumi's face suddenly turns red and she puts her arms out defensively.

"That again!? I don't– who's telling you any of this!? She's just a friend! She's a girl, we're not dating!"

"That's what you're worried about? Contrary to many human beliefs, we don't mind if two people of the same-"

"Shut up!" Mayumi's face grows even redder, "Just stop calling her my girlfriend! Look, I've been avoiding her and everyone else I know for a few days now."

"Why's that?"

"If I'm around them constantly, it'll just make me more impatient to come back to life." Mayumi scoffs a bit to play how she feels off and waves her hand dismissively, "I-It's distracting to them too, since apparently being near them makes them more spiritually aware or something."

Sayaka crosses her arms and floats closer to Mayumi.

"Well, that's nice and all, but I still need to find Kumiko for me to do my job."

Mayumi sighs, "We can just go look around. I'll look at her usual spots."

Both of them spend a while going and visiting all of Kumiko's places she frequents, but to no avail. Mayumi decides to just go look at the lot her gang hanged out at as a last ditch attempt to find her.

"If she's not here, I don't know what to tell you."

Suddenly, a small swish is heard and Lena flies down on her oar, waving her hand.

"Mayumi! I'm back- oh, Sayaka?"

Sayaka smiles at Lena, "Hey, Lena. I'm sure you know Koenma sent me. I'm looking for Kumiko, can you help?"

Lena's face curls up a bit at Sayaka calling him Koenma, thinking about how no one has respect these days. She looks down and points at Kumiko, "Yes, Enma Jr. told me you'd be coming to investigate. She's the one down there."

Mayumi perks up at the whole exchange, gritting her teeth and looking at Lena before speaking angrily.

"You knew she was coming and didn't tell me?"

"I did! I told you that Spirit World can send people at any time! I don't have exact schedules!"

"Well, why does she want to see Kumiko anyway!? What's she gotta do with me being dead!?"

"Stop asking so many questions and let her do her job!"

Mayumi and Lena shout at each other like usual and Sayaka pulls out a small red book. She flips through it until she gets to a page about Kumiko. It's filled with information about her, her hobbies, likes and dislikes, and lots of other information.

"Hard to believe a girl with such high markings likes someone with your record."

Mayumi flicks her head back as she's pulling on Lena's cheeks, "What's that mean!?"

Lena pulls the hands with an iron grip on her cheeks off, and floats over to Sayaka. She smiles warmly and points at Mayumi, talking in a warm tone, "Try not to tease her too much about Kumiko, she has the cutest crush on her. Don't listen to her if she tries to say something about it, she's just embarrassed is all."

Mayumi's lips sputter and she looks over to both of them, "Lena, I'm gonna sew your lips shut if you say anything like that again!"

"Look at you! You act all tough, yet you can't even admit you like someone!"

Sayaka crosses her arms with the book in her hand still and looks a little confused, "The relationship between you and Kumiko doesn't make sense. I'll just have to investigate more."

Mayumi grumbles and looks away, "Yeah, yeah. Come on."

Everyone floats down to the lot, and looks over to the circle that everyone's sitting around. Kumiko is talking to everyone, and Mayumi walks over with a confused look. Lena keeps a particular eye on Youko. Mayumi peeks over Kumiko's shoulder to see everyone with books out, asking Kumiko questions.

"No shit, she's actually getting everyone to study?"

Sayaka floats over and begins writing in her book, then speaks about Kumiko.

"Helpful and smart, willing to help out others…"

Mayumi scoots over to Youko, and crouches down to look at her notes. She begins to laugh, "I told her that she could do good if she actually tried. Too bad she needs help for shit this easy!"

As Mayumi stands and smirks down at Youko, Lena looks confused. Ume told her that Youko could see spirits, was she just pranking her? Lena sighs quietly but suddenly, Youko's eye twitches. She stands up in a blink of an eye and turns to Mayumi, "Oh yeah jackass!? The only reason I'm doing any of this shit is because you kept complaining!"

Mayumi expression freezes. Sayaka and Lena freeze as well. A small, almost whimper like "Huh?" escapes from Mayumi's lips.

"Yeah, what, thought I wouldn't be able to hear you?" A triumphant grin crosses Youko's face. Mayumi stares at her, dumbfounded. She points to Youko.

"...You… you can see me!? But I'm dead!"

"Yeah, well I've been getting training on my sixth sense! I can see spirits and stuff now, so how's that?!" Youko puts up a middle finger at Mayumi and laughs. Mayumi tries to smack her hand down but her hand just goes right through Youko's.

Lena and Sayaka quickly float over, both looking concerned and confused. Lena speaks up, "So Ume wasn't lying?" followed by Sayaka speaking in a baffled tone, "This is definitely something that shouldn't happen."

Youko looks at both of them, "If you don't want stuff like this to happen, why do you let people get such good sixth senses, huh?"

Lena speaks up, "We don't have control over that kind of thing…"

Mayumi shakes her head, regaining her train of thought. "Nevermind the stupid rules, how did you even get to this point!?"

Youko talks nonchalantly like she's better than Mayumi, "Kumiko told me about this old fortune telling place since I was getting haunted by spirits every night after you visited me. I went to go ask for help and the owner roped me into working there and cleaning the place, old hag is a goddamn slave driver. Did some real spiritual stuff and now I can see all kinds of crazy things."

Youko looks at all three of them and raises an eyebrow, "Anyway, who the hell are these two? Every time I hear from you, you always got something going on. First it was the egg and now it's whatever this is. You sure know a lot of girls, you cheating on Kumiko?"

"I'm so sick of-!"

Mayumi turns to see what was once a happy looking Kumiko who had slid over to Youko while they were talking, suddenly having extremely worried and almost glossy eyes with her hands to her chest.

"Look at what saying that did to Kumiko! I swear to God I'm gonna kill you when I'm back! Tell her they're no one!"

"Yeah? Why should I!? I'm still pissed about what you said thinking I couldn't hear you."

"You petty bastard!"

They both begin shouting to the ire of Lena and Sayaka, who both look at eachother. Sayaka talks in her same calm tone.

"Is it always like this?"

"Yeah, it's just how she is."

They both fly back, thinking it'd be best to give them all space. Everyone in the gang has to calm Youko down despite not even being able to see or hear Mayumi, and thinking she might be a little insane. Everyone sits down in a circle again and there's an open spot across from Youko for Mayumi, despite only Youko being able to see her.

The wind blows as everyone awkwardly sits there, silent. Everyone stares at the empty spot until the girl with brown hair and a ponytail looks over to Youko and speaks up.

"Youko, is she saying anyth-"

Aika suddenly blurts out, "When are you coming back!?"

Everyone suddenly begins yelling and talking over each other in a cacophony of noise, all asking questions about what Mayumi's been doing and scooting in closer to her. Mayumi freaks out at the sudden change in tone and puts her arms out, "Woah, calm down!"

Everyone seems excited and happy to be able to talk to her again, even if they can't get answers from her. Kumiko tries to calm everyone down since she knows Mayumi isn't the best with these kinds of situations, but to no avail.

Youko suddenly yells louder than everyone, putting her arm up. "She said calm down! Everyone back off, I'll be the medium here!"

Suddenly like they're all being controlled, everyone darts back into their original spots, sitting and looking over to Mayumi silently. Mayumi feels sweat dripping from her head and sighs, "Uh, thanks Youko. I guess we can just go around and let everyone ask me whatever…"

The next long while is spent with everyone asking random stuff and Mayumi answering. She updates everyone and it seems like everyone is really happy to talk to her again, some of them even tearing up a bit and apologizing for everything. Lena and Sayaka just watch, and Sayaka sighs after a while.

"It's clear they all want her back. It's odd, the file makes her out to be much worse than she really is. It's not like us to have such sloppy reporting…"

Lena nods a little. She's known about how different Mayumi's case is since the beginning. She remembers how much Koenma drilled into her that she can't tell anyone the true reason she's being brought back, so she stays silent and lies to Sayaka about the truth.

"You're right. I've thought some things were strange about this case since the beginning. I'll have to pester Enma Jr. about it I suppose…"

Going back to the group, Youko sighs and looks at Mayumi with a face of disbelief and anger.

"And get this, the guys who stabbed you were gonna get charged, but after your heart started beating again the whole thing was thrown out the window! It's 'cause their parents all paid off the cops! Can't wait to kick their prissy rich asses once you're back, I hate that damn school and how high up everyone thinks they are because they got money."

Instead of feeling enraged at that, Mayumi grins and laughs like a maniac. "Wait until they see the ghost of Meiou come and break every damn bone in their body!"

Youko grins in return and pumps her fist in anticipation and excitement, "It's gonna be a bloodbath after we're done! We'll show them what happens when you piss us off!"

Everyone looks over to Youko, curious about what Mayumi said. Kumiko begins to ask, "What did she-" before they're all cut off and look over to a neighborhood association van driving by with a voice blaring out of the loudspeakers in the top of it.

"THIS IS YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION WITH AN ALERT! MULTIPLE FIRES HAVE YET AGAIN BROKEN OUT THROUGHOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD. WITH FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED, WE BELIEVE IT TO BE THE WORK OF THE SAME ARSONIST AS THE PAST FEW DAYS. KEEP ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS LOCKED, AND KEEP WATCH FOR THE SUSPECT. REPORT IF SEEN."

As it drives by and everyone looks back at each other to comment on how loud it is, Kumiko's eyes widen in complete terror and she suddenly shoots up, charging through the circle everyone's in. She runs like her life depends on it, and everyone suddenly gets up and darts to catch up to her.

Youko speaks in a panicked tone, "What the hell's wrong!? Why are you freaking out!?"

Kumiko speaks in between pants as she runs, "Mayumi's back window is still open, the one to her room! The fires have all been around her neighborhood lately, I've been trying to keep track of them and look out for that arsonist in case they target Mayumi's house!" She lets out a shaky, horrified noise and puts her hands on the sides of her head, "What if the house is already burned down!? What about Mayumi's body!?"

Mayumi quickly floats over and begins to talk in a panicked tone, "Tell her I'm fine! I'm still here so my body's fine!"

Youko looks over to Kumiko, "She's behind me right now, she said she's fine since she's still here!"

Kumiko doesn't seem to take that in and somehow manages to begin outrunning Youko and everyone else. Mayumi looks back to an equally panicked Lena sitting on her oar with Sayaka, and she frantically speaks.

"Lena, let me on that damn thing! Get us to my house!"

Before Lena can say anything, Mayumi quickly grabs a hold of the end of it, since she can't fit on her oar with Sayaka already sitting in the other open space on it. Lena nods and darts ahead of everyone, cutting through the air as fast as she can before they reach Mayumi's house.

Sayaka points down at it nonchalantly, "The house is on fire."

Mayumi scrambles over and grabs the sides of her head with an extremely terror-stricken and panicked expression, "MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE! What does the world have against me!? Why did Kumiko leave my goddamn window open!?"

Lena quickly flies over, "Focus on everything else, who cares why she did!?"

"Well, I can't do anything!"

"How about you look for your body, stupid!?"

"Shut up!"

Mayumi quickly lobs herself through her house, finding herself in her room. It's already burned beyond recognition, but she ignores it and begins floating around and trying to look for her body before she spots it in the living room. Her body is still tucked in on the futon, laying on the floor. The fire isn't completely spreading around, but it's making progress.

"Great, what the hell can I do now!? My body's gonna be firewood!"

She crouches down and begins to punch at her own face, "Wake up! Let me back in before you die, you stupid jackass!" She stands up and begins to stomp at her own face, "I'm still asleep, dammit! Lena, can I possess myself!?" She says this as she sits down on herself, repeatedly laying up and down on her body to try and repossess it.

Lena, who's watching this unfold from behind her, shakes her head. "No! Remember, you aren't allowed to interact with the living until your spirit beast hatches!"

"What do I do, then!?"

Kumiko gets to Mayumi's house, only to see a crowd frantically talking surrounding it. There's a few people running over with buckets of water and dumping them into the windows to try and put it out to no avail. Kumiko watches as a window explodes, with fire bellowing out of it. Her eyes widen, and without thinking she begins to forcibly shove everyone away as she quickly slams through the crowd. She yells without thinking as she wades through.

"Get out of my way!"

As she reaches the front, multiple people grab her and pull her back, trying to stop her.

"You can't go in there! The house is too far gone, stay back!"

"There's someone in there, GET OFF ME!"

She flings her arms forward and throws the people holding her off of her, and quickly runs towards a person running over with a water bucket. She rips it from his hands and dumps it all over herself, then throwing the bucket to the side. She immediately charges through the front door, the flames flaring wildly as the air from outside comes in contact with it.

"I need you to take care of my body.."

Mayumi's words echo in Kumiko's mind as she wades through the flames, the roof beginning to crash down and spread further flames. The heat molds against her skin, her water soaked skin and clothes stopping any embers from lighting her clothes ablaze. Her eyes widen in relief and happiness when she sees Mayumi, still lying there asleep. An ember flickers onto the futon, and a small fire begins to cover it. She panics and begins to aggressively pat out the fire with her bare hands, singing them a bit.

"I'm here, I'm not gonna leave you!"

Mayumi's ghost is frozen, her eyes widened in terror as soon as she saw Kumiko run up to her body. She can't believe what she's seeing. Her eyes flick over to the front door.

There's no way out anymore.

The fire covers the door, the flames raging closer and closer to her body and Kumiko. She watches in stunned silence as Kumiko wraps up Mayumi's body, with a soft smile on her face to try and comfort herself and Mayumi.

"Thank God you're still breathing… It's all my fault I left that window open. Some caretaker I am, huh? I'm gonna get us out of here, okay? Don't worry about anything."

She hoists up Mayumi's wrapped up body, wrapping the one arm she left out over her shoulder for support. As she looks over to the door, her expression changes from a guilty smile to terror. There's no way out anymore. The fires get closer and closer, and she's stuck. She looks around for another room to leave through, but the fires surrounding them.

It's over.

Mayumi snaps out of it and begins to scream at her to no avail, "What are you doing!? Leave my body, and just run!"

Sayaka quickly appears to Mayumi's side, "If she leaves you, you know your body will be burned and you can't come back, right?"

" WHO CARES!? I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT HER!"

Sayaka's eyes widen, and Mayumi looks over to Lena with the most desperate and pleading expression she's ever seen. Mayumi talks in a heartbreaking, shaky tone. "There's gotta be something we can do! I swear to God I'll do anything, I don't care what! I promise! Please, just help her!"

Lena begins to stammer a bit as her hands tremble. Suddenly, Sayaka speaks up in a monotone tone.

"There is one way. Although you may not-"

"I said I DON'T CARE! Just tell me what to do!"

Sayaka points down to Mayumi's skirt, "You can use the spirit beast's power you've been accumulating to save her life."

Mayumi's eyes widen and she pulls the small egg out of the hidden pocket under her skirt. "You mean this thing!?"

"Yes. Just throw it into the fire and you can save Kumiko's life. But, you'll be giving up on your own, and you'll never be able to come back yourself. This is a one way deal."

Mayumi suddenly runs for the door, grasping the egg tightly. Lena and Sayaka watch as she turns back to them, flings her right arm back, putting her left arm in front of her to balance herself. Her left foot slams forward, " EASIEST DECISION OF MY LIFE!" and she hurls the egg straight through the flames, towards her body and Kumiko.

The room is enveloped in a comforting blue light as the flames explode backwards, cool air bellowing into the room. Kumiko yells as the air crashes into her, and she holds onto Mayumi's body tightly in a protective way. She peeks up towards the door, and her eyes widen in shock.

A figure stands near the door, pointing to it. The figure is like a black silhouette, with no human features visible. But its hair is extremely long and wild, going all the way down to its calves. Strange, tribal-like tattoos adorn its body and arms, glowing a deep blue .

Kumiko feels no fear or worry from the figure in front of her, no malice or fear radiates from it at all. It feels like the very embodiment of Mayumi's presence helping her find a way out. With a deep breath she charges towards it, watching as it morphs into smoke and fog as she gets close to it.

Suddenly she's outside again. Youko and everyone else in the gang are standing with wide eyes, staring at her. Youko is covered in water since she was about to run in, and everyone else in the gang is holding water buckets. Kumiko snaps out of her daze and looks around to everyone staring at them

"U-Um, sorry to worry everyone! We'll be on our way!"

Kumiko quickly begins walking again, bringing the wrapped up Mayumi with her. Youko looks at all the onlookers and shouts, "Mind your own damn business! The house is still on fire!"

Everyone in the gang hands off the water buckets and runs with Youko to Kumiko, who's setting Mayumi down in the grass to look at her. All the onlookers are focused on the fire again. Kumiko gently pulls down the sheet to see Mayumi's unscathed face, and lets out a relieved sigh.

"Not a single burn. Your face doesn't deserve a single scratch on it…"

Youko groans as the fire truck sirens blare in the distance, "Now they wanna show up!? Everyone, we're going to my house! Take the back way, we don't want the police to get us!"

Youko walks over and begins to pick up Mayumi, but Kumiko quickly shakes her head and pulls back.

"No, it's okay! I got her!"

Youko flinches back and shrugs.

"She's all yours then."

Kumiko smiles and nods, and they all begin to run to Youko's, taking a more discreet way to get around. Mayumi sighs happily and looks down with a small blush, before mumbling.

"Thanks for carrying me…"

Suddenly, Lena gently places a hand on Mayumi's shoulder. As Mayumi looks back, she expects to hear Lena making fun of her, but instead she speaks in a softer and sad tone.

"Mayumi, we have to go."

"What?"

Lena moves her hand to her chest, "Your spirit beast was the thing that let you stay here. With it gone, you don't have any connection to this world anymore. I… have to take you back to Spirit World."

Mayumi floats back a bit and her eyes widen, her tone growing more confused and angry.

"What!? There's nothing else I can do!?"

"Things aren't going to be so easy anymore. I'm sorry, Mayumi…"

Sayaka adds, "I did tell you the conditions."

A small confused noise escapes Mayumi's lips, and she just looks down. She looks back behind her to Kumiko, Youko, and everyone else.

"...So it's over? No coming back?"

Lena sadly nods.

"Yeah. It's over. I'm not sure who Kumiko will-"

"It's okay. I knew what I was choosing when I threw the stupid egg. Can you Spirit World people make her forget about me or something? I don't need to have her looking after me if I'm never coming back. And I sure as hell don't want her to find me with my heart not beating again.

"...I'll see what I can do for you."

Mayumi looks over to Sayaka.

"Can you at least tell me what the stupid test you were here for was?"

"I guess so, since it's over." She makes her book appear in her hand again. "It was a test to see if anyone cared for you. Coming back is a big thing for Spirit World, and the council needs a lot of evidence and reason to make it happen. For the record," Sayaka smiles, "you passed with flying colors. You had a lot of good people in your life, and I'm sorry it has to end this way."

"Don't be. It was my choice to do what I did, nothing to be sorry for."

Mayumi floats up into the orange sky, the sounds of yelling and sirens fading as she gets higher and higher up. The sun sets behind her, her figure silhouetted against it. She looks down at her home one more time, smiling to herself a bit.

"Figures. Just when I thought it was gonna work out."