"So Sayaka went to fight a Witch today? But why did she skip the whole day of class?" In the bathtub, Madoka had her arms loosely wrapped around Yimi, doing her best to keep the little cat from getting restless the moment she hit the water.
Homura was the same way—always looking like she wanted to say something, then blushing and turning away. It was impossible to read that girl.
Madoka gently took hold of Yimi's tail and smoothed it out. "Hitomi confessed to Kamijo-kun today, you know. They're officially dating now. Is that why Sayaka didn't come back to school?"
After all, it was Sayaka who'd used her wish to heal Kamijo-kun's hands, and she still had to go out on those dangerous Witch hunts regularly. Even Madoka could tell what Sayaka's feelings were, given how often she visited him. And yet things had turned out like this…
"Confess?" Yimi lifted her head.
"It's when one person tells another person they love them… Is this topic still too early for you, Yimi? Come to think of it, your real age seems to be about the same as you look."
Yimi nodded. "When I get home, I'll confess to Mother."
"That's not what it means." Madoka sank a little deeper into the water, staying in a reclined position. "I feel like everyone's been dealing with their own worries lately, but I'm the only one left out of everything."
There was also the matter of Hitomi and Kamijo-kun dating. At this rate, could their group's dynamic ever go back to normal?
As her newest confidante, Yimi—not yet even in adolescence—couldn't offer any kind of guidance. Besides, Yimi had her own problem to face.
After the bath, they stepped out of the bathroom to find Junko and Tomohisa poring over some pamphlets.
"Let's go with the same place Madoka used to attend."
"Mm, true… Though this child's situation isn't quite the same as Madoka's. If she gets bullied at school, you might have to step in."
They were picking a suitable elementary school for Yimi.
She'd been in this household for quite a few days now, after all.
Small children couldn't tell whether their own behavior counted as misbehaving. A cute little girl was already easy pickings for boys to pick on, and Yimi's ears—different from any normal person's—only raised those odds further.
But she was in perfectly good health. If they enrolled her in a school for children with disabilities, wouldn't that actually make things worse?
Once she started school, Yimi's free time would shrink even more—but having never attended school properly, she naturally had no idea about any of this.
She glanced at the kitchen, then padded over to Tomohisa in small steps and looked up at him. "How come you're home every day?"
"Uh…"
Her real problem was that with Tomohisa around, she had absolutely zero access to the kitchen—and Tomohisa refused to become a Magical Girl.
After the bath came lights-out and bedtime. But Kitty still had work to do. She didn't want Kyoko turning into a Witch, and if Kyoko did become a Witch, that would also mean one fewer target for her quest.
Opening the window, Yimi followed the scent she'd picked up before and slipped out into the night.
Kyoko's home was in a neighboring city, but she'd been drifting around Mitakihara for the past couple of days. With her personality, she'd obviously never pay for lodging—but that didn't mean she'd let herself lose out in that department, either.
Using Magical Girl abilities to break a few minor laws was pretty effortless, right? Like sneaking into an empty room at some hotel, for instance.
Yimi shifted back into cat form, bounded across several rooftops, and leaped from air-conditioning unit to air-conditioning unit toward Kyoko's hideout. Kyoko had locked the door from inside, but she'd left the window slightly open for a quick escape if anyone showed up.
The first thing Yimi saw was the girl lying facedown on the bed, punching her pillow. The little cat hopped over, tilting her head to meet Kyoko's eyes with a puzzled look.
Kyoko's face went red and she froze mid-punch. "What do you want—got kicked out of your house?"
"Came to check on you." Yimi shifted to human form and found a spot to sit. "What were you… doing?"
"None of your business. That damn Sayaka—and after I actually worried about her…" Kyoko stayed facedown, but even in this position, she wasn't facing Yimi.
Kitty was a little unhappy. "Why won't you sit up?"
Talking face-to-face was basic human etiquette, wasn't it?
"Are you messing with me?" Kyoko pulled out her Soul Gem and glanced at it, looking almost disgusted enough to throw it away—then remembered that this thing was her true self.
Yimi reached toward the gem. "Let me help you—"
Kyoko snatched it back instantly.
She didn't want to hear anyone offering to "help" her with anything. Not anymore.
Kitty watched the emotionally volatile Kyoko with confusion. "Did the blue one… bully you?"
Kyoko had just cursed Sayaka's name a moment ago.
"Ngh… Don't make me relive that." Kyoko slammed her fist into the pillow. "This isn't something an apology can fix! I'm definitely getting payback!"
But she happened to be slightly outmatched by that particular jerk.
Kyoko tamped down the anger in her chest for now and stood up to face Yimi. "Why did you even come here? Doesn't look like anything's wrong. Are you just hungry?"
"I can help you… get stronger." Kitty pointed at Kyoko's Soul Gem. "And I can put your soul… back."
"Put my soul back—you mean return my soul to my body, turn me back into a human?" Kyoko stared at her Soul Gem.
Even after using a Grief Seed, there was still a murky film over it.
"How would you even do that? Aren't you a Magical Girl just like me… Actually, come to think of it, I've never once seen your Soul Gem."
Kyoko narrowed her eyes at Yimi. "Something about you feels shady. Isn't this how it always goes in manga? 'I can make you stronger'—nothing good ever comes from lines like that."
Yimi planted her fists on her hips, offended. "I'm a good cat."
Kitty was being nice and worrying about you dying, and you're going to be suspicious of Kitty?
"You really do look like you don't know anything…" Kyoko thought of Sayaka acting like she wanted to dodge responsibility, and it made her grind her teeth. "Fine. How much worse can it get? I just hope you didn't learn some new catchphrase from a manga and rush out here to try it."
She tossed her Soul Gem to Yimi.
The World materialized from thin air, reaching out to catch the beautiful red gem. Its imposing figure made Kyoko wonder if it might accidentally crush her gem.
The method was simple: use The World's power to overwrite reality. Preserve the soul while rewriting the Soul Gem's structure into something like the apple she'd given Sayaka.
The only difference was that Sayaka's apple hadn't contained her own soul, which was why Yimi had needed to study the process first—to avoid accidentally damaging the soul inside.
From Kyoko's perspective, the massive silver-white figure simply gripped her Soul Gem for a moment, then tossed it back to her.
"That's it?" Kyoko frowned.
She didn't feel anything noticeably different.
Yimi shook her head.
Of course it wasn't finished—Kyoko's soul still hadn't been returned to her body.
She pointed at Kyoko's Soul Gem. "Now eat it."
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