"That's all it took? No—what I really don't understand is why punching a Witch can turn her back into a Magical Girl. Could I do that too?"
All she'd done was overwrite the reality her hands had touched. Without that ability, the only way Yimi could have helped Mami was by deflecting her misfortune outward.
"There goes another energy source. I really can't understand you emotional creatures." The white-furred creature perched on a dumpster, watching the two girls.
"Kyubey, you've got some nerve showing your face in front of us."
Kyoko hurled her spear without hesitation—genuinely aiming to kill this time—but Kyubey dodged nimbly.
"Tch." She didn't bother pursuing. Instead, she picked up Mami's Soul Gem. "It's already been modified, right? Mami won't turn into a Witch again?"
"Mm."
Having swallowed one herself before, Kyoko pressed her palms together and ground the Soul Gem into the finest powder she could manage, then fed it to Mami with mineral water. The water was stolen, but she'd made Yimi cover her eyes and turn around first—no need to worry about corrupting the child.
It went down smoothly, no choking.
Of course it went smoothly. Even Kyoko could tell—Mami had already regained consciousness the moment her discarded body started breathing again. The same way they'd lost consciousness when separated from their Soul Gems and come back once they were returned.
Kyoko carried her back and set her on the sofa in Mami's apartment.
"The truth is pretty devastating, huh—the whole Magical Girls eventually becoming Witches that harm people thing. But more than that, Kyubey's betrayal probably hit you harder, since you always considered it a friend."
Kyoko glanced at the broken glass on the floor. Cold wind blew through the gap where Mami had destroyed the floor-to-ceiling window.
Her voice was equally cold. "You really are terrifying. I'm starting to actually be afraid of you. You came this close to killing me. I know you can hear me—I'm not forgiving you, just so you know."
"I already told you what happened. You won't turn into a Witch again. The price is you'll probably have to stomach that kid's disaster cooking on a regular basis."
"I've said everything I need to say. If you still want to protect Kyubey after all this, then all I can do is wish you a lifetime of being beyond help. Good luck. I'm leaving."
She wasn't going to stick around offering comfort like some children's show Magical Girl. She had her own feelings to deal with, and she was a stubborn girl on top of that.
She'd been the one who rushed to save Mami. But that didn't mean she'd forget that Mami had fired at her Soul Gem during the breakdown.
Kyoko gave Yimi a pat.
Yimi, who still didn't fully understand what had happened, shook her head and placed one of the pork-floss buns she'd made with Mami that day on Mami's stomach.
"Eat it properly, okay."
Kyoko had promised—if she saved Mami, then Mami had to taste-test Yimi's cooking. Something about that felt a little off, though?
The kitty looked down at her own small hands, puzzling over what was wrong, before Kyoko dragged her away.
She'd snatched the kid in such a hurry, and now she was responsible for returning her. Ideally with some kind of five-hundred-word explanation attached.
"..."
Mami sat up. Her usual poise completely abandoned, she curled her legs up and planted her shoes directly on the sofa cushion.
In that moment of collapse, she'd believed it would be better to kill every Magical Girl preemptively rather than let them become harm-causing Witches.
And she'd ended up being the unreasonable, impossible-to-communicate-with one instead.
Mami picked up the pork-floss cake that had fallen beside her and took a bite. The same mediocre texture as a few days ago—because this was what they'd made together.
"Delicious..."
Two lines of tears traced down from the corners of her eyes, rolling across her gentle face.
She wiped her face with her sleeve, reaching one hand toward the direction Kyoko had gone.
How pathetic.
"She's already gone." Kyubey's voice appeared again, its gaze fixed unblinkingly on Mami's now-altered Soul Gem.
"Even a Witch that's already hatched can be reverted? The shape is the same as Sayaka's and Kyoko's modifications. So this miraculous power really can solve heat death."
"Kyubey... why would you do this?"
"I think my earlier words hinted at it. To address entropy increase—"
"For that, you've been deceiving other girls this whole time? And I kept thinking of you as my best friend. I'm such a fool..."
"'Deceiving' is a stretch. If humanity ever makes it out into the wider universe, this benefits your kind too."
A rifle blast struck Kyubey square on—as decisive as the shot she'd aimed at Kyoko's Soul Gem, too fast for anyone to react.
What triggered it was Kyubey's tone. That unchanging, vaguely cheerful voice.
Looking at the defenseless body crumpled on the floor, Mami's rifle dissolved back into ribbon. She crouched beside what she'd once called her dearest friend's corpse and felt a wave of nausea.
For herself. And for it.
She needed to apologize, at the very least. Even if Kyoko might never forgive her.
"Discussions with Magical Girls about this topic always end up being such a waste." Another Kyubey hopped out and began gnawing on the previous body.
"..."
Mami felt a surge of helplessness—the powerlessness of being unable to stop other girls from being exploited.
She snagged the new Kyubey with a ribbon and walked toward the kitchen.
The familiar nausea was creeping back in.
---
Quest completion: 4/5.
"Honestly, you can't do things like this anymore, understand?"
"Breaking someone's window and then not owning up to it—if this becomes a habit and you grow up to be an adult who runs from responsibility, that would be very bad."
Yimi's ears drooped as she stood there, small hands clutching her sleeves, at a loss under Tomohisa and Junko's scolding. Her eyes kept darting toward Kyoko.
Kyoko had fabricated a story about Yimi smashing a window at her place and getting scolded for it. To make it sound more serious, she'd specified it was one of those floor-to-ceiling windows that doubles as a wall.
Yimi kept shooting looks at Kyoko.
Because she felt deeply wronged. She'd been sound asleep when she was yanked out of bed, and now she was being thrown under the bus by Kyoko on top of it. The kitty had been so good—the kitty even helped Kyoko save someone!
Never in this young kitty's life had she encountered such a despicable adult (big kid).
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
Facing those pitiful little eyes, Kyoko averted her gaze. "It's fine, really. That window was due for replacement anyway. We were actually planning to take it out tomorrow. No need to pay for it."
Oh no, she looked like she was about to cry! I'm protecting your secret here—I don't mean any harm!
"..."
"...It's a little noisy."
Madoka, still awake, sat on her bed swinging her legs. "It has to be Magical Girl stuff again, right?"