Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The park along the river was deserted this late at night, so there was no one to notice the streetlamp that wavered, then flared back into existence--or the girl who popped neatly on top of it seconds later.

Her hair was the same sodium yellow as the lamplight, bound in two pigtails that curled into ribbon-like ringlets defying the laws of physics. She wore a yellow mini-skirt edged with black with a white ribbon in the back, a black corset lined with white and gold, a creamy white shirt with long puffy sleeves adorned with yet more ribbons, and dark fingerless gloves. Her legs were covered by striped blue over-the-knee socks, and heeled black and gold mid-calf boots. The ensemble was completed by a golden looping hairpin in the shape of a flower perched jauntily over her ear and a dark blue cap adorned with a feathery plume.

At first glance, she appeared to be approximately fifteen, but the ramrod straight posture and the weight in her eyes was that of an experienced combat veteran, not a third-year middle school student. This impression was further heightened by the aura of brisk, but firm competence radiating from her like a beacon.

"Ah, well, that's that!" the girl said with satisfaction. Brushing her hands on her skirt, she jumped the twenty feet to the ground without hesitation and landed lightly on her feet. A golden flash enveloped her and her costume was replaced by a yellow sailor fuku and plaid skirt that confirmed her status as a Mitakihara Middle School student.

"You're the one who took out that strange Hollow just now, aren't you?"

The girl was too experienced to cry out, but she took a half-step back as she peered up in the direction of the voice. A shadowy figure stood above her on the lamp-post she had so recently vacated, staring down at her with polite but pointed curiosity.

His costume--if it was a costume--was even more outlandish than hers: an olive-green jinbei and a matching haori edged with white diamonds and old-fashioned wooden geta. What hair was visible beneath his green-and-white striped bucket hat was blond and disheveled, blocking his face with heavy bangs, though it couldn't quite hide the dark circles under his eyes. A curved-handled wooden cane tucked under his arms completed the strange ensemble.

"Familiar," the girl corrected automatically--only for the implications of his words to catch up with her. "Wait a minute. You know about--"

"You're very skilled, you know," the man said smoothly as he stepped off the lamp-post into the air and picked his way to the ground with deliberate ease. "It's rare to meet anyone so young with such control."

The girl blushed. "I've--I've only been doing this for two years, but I've had plenty of practice--"

"Two years, huh?" he said in admiration. "So you're not the one who's been messing about with time, then?"

"Huh? I don't understand what you're talking about," the girl said. She recovered her poise enough to stand her ground as the man approached, though the wariness was still in her eyes. "Who are you, anyway, and what are you doing here? And how do you know about"--she waved a hand to indicate their surroundings--"this."

"My name is Kisuke Urahara," he said. "These days I'm a humble candy store owner. However, like you, I wear a number of different hats." He patted his own with an affectionate laugh, before continuing on in a more serious tone. "Every now and then I get called in as a--consultant, you could say--for spiritual problems."

"'Spiritual problems'?" she repeated skeptically.

Urahara chuckled. "In a manner of speaking. There's been a series of anomalies here in Mitakihara, and I'm here to get to the bottom of it. If they don't stop, the entire world could be in danger."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the girl said briskly. "But," she added as an afterthought, "there have been a lot of strange things happening lately."

And just like that, she'd come around. She didn't trust him, exactly, but whatever oddities she'd experienced had colored her opinion enough to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Urahara was far too skilled to reject the opening she'd given him.

"I am happy to explain the situation in more detail," he said, glancing around at the deserted park. "But perhaps a more private spot than shouting in public like this? One with refreshments, perhaps? Tea?"

"Yes," the girl said with a firm nod. "I'd like that very much."

***

Mami Tomoe knelt in seiza on the tatami mat beside the low table, contemplating her surroundings with interest as she sipped the tea that Mr. Tsubakishi had laid out for her.

Even before meeting Mr. Urahara in the park, it had been a most eventful night. After saying good-bye to Kaname and Miki--the two potential magical girl candidates Kyubey had selected--Mami had continued to her hunt for witches on her own, only to be confronted by Homura Akemi and her cryptic threats. Mami had walked away before they had come to blows, but she doubted the other girl, so thoroughly steeped in her own self-righteousness, would heed the warning to stay away for good.

More irritated by the encounter than she was willing to admit, Mami had intended to go back to her apartment and sleep. But then she'd felt the unmistakable tug of another familiar in the park along the river and had no choice but to investigate. She'd dispatched the creature with ease before it could harm anyone--and now found herself face to face with an entirely new mystery on her hands.

In her two years as a magical girl, Mami had patrolled Mitakihara every night--sometimes even during the day in emergencies. She knew all the secret nooks and crannies where tourists and ordinary citizens never went, down to isolated back alleys and the seediest corners of the red-light district. She would swear up and down that this particular courtyard, with its run-down little shop and handwritten sign proclaiming "URAHARA CANDY STORE", hadn't been there a week ago.

"It wasn't," Mr. Urahara confessed cheerfully when she confronted him about this. "Normally, we're based out in Karakura, but commuting back and forth every day would have been such a bother. So instead I decided to temporarily relocate! Don't you like it?"

Before Mami could gather her wits enough to respond, he threw open the sliding doors and swept her inside. "Jinta! Ururu! Tessai! I'm home! And I brought a guest!" he added, almost as an afterthought.

The shop itself was extremely small, crammed into the genkan of what appeared to be a traditional Japanese home with raised tatami floors and sliding shoji leading off to the rooms beyond. A makeshift aisle formed by a row tiered shelves on either side of the room were packed with a bizarre array of merchandise that Mami supposed must be candy, though none of it belonged to any brands she recognized.

With casual ease, the proprietor stepped out of his geta and onto the tatami. Mami hung back, uncertain as to whether she should follow his lead until he gestured her forward with a hearty laugh and a wave. "Come up, come up, Miss Tomoe! Make yourself at home!"

"Thank you for having me," Mami said, automatic politeness kicking in. She extricated her feet from her shoes and joined him on the platform in her stocking feet.

"Now, let's see what Jinta and Ururu are up to," Mr. Urahara said, rubbing his hands together.

As if on cue, the shoji screen along the back wall slammed open and two children stampeded in to greet them. One was a dark-haired girl who shied back when she caught sight of a stranger; the other--a red-haired boy a few years younger--with no such shortage of confidence as he pointed an accusing finger straight into Mami's face.

"What's she doing here?" the boy demanded, reminding Mami so much of Kyouko in that moment that she was too startled to respond. "Customers shouldn't be here now. Doesn't she know we're closed?"

"Now, now, Jinta-kun, Miss Tomoe isn't a customer--she's our guest," Mr. Urahara said. "Besides, it's rude to point. Miss Tomoe, this is Jinta and Ururu."

"Nice to meet you," Mami said, still running on autopilot. She hadn't expected Mr. Urahara would have children of his own, but clearly he was full of surprises.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Tomoe," Ururu said, bowing her head politely. "Welcome to the Urahara Candy Shop."

Jinta turned his scorn on his companion, grabbing her shoulder. "Idiot! The boss just said she wasn't a customer!" He shot Mami a look of pure disgust. "Never mind, it's time for Cazh Soul to start. See you later, house guest."

He exited back the way he had come, dragging Ururu in his wake. The shoji screen slammed and all was quiet for a moment as Mami stared after them.

"Oh, don't let his behavior fool you," Mr. Urahara said with a laugh. "Jinta's usually not so nice to strangers. I think he has a little crush on you~~~. "

Mami would never, ever, in a thousand lifetimes understand the minds of school-age boys. "If you say so," she managed.

Despite the noise emanating from the TV that carried through the thin paper walls--not to mention Jinta's enthusiastic sing-a-long with the opening theme--the presence of children in the house made Mami let go of a tension she hadn't realized she'd been carrying. She had spent enough time patrolling late at night in her school uniform outside of bars and clubs in the seedier parts of Mitakihara to be thoroughly acquainted with both unwanted male attention and the swift and necessary responses to it. She hadn't been afraid of anything untoward from Mr. Urahara, but the fact that he was a grown man who knew about magic and spirits was enough to make her wary. But he didn't seem like the type to invite her into his home before attacking her, especially not if his own children were playing nearby.

Mami's initial impression deepened even further when a black cat with golden eyes stalked regally into the room and Mr. Urahara completely lost his mind. He swung the cat around, clutching it to his chest and chattering in high-pitched baby talk about their dramatic reunion. The cat, though clearly not happy with the situation, bore its fate with remarkable grace and stoicism--perhaps resigned to its master's eccentricities by now.

Mami didn't know what business had brought Mr. Urahara and his bizarre establishment to Mitakihara, but anyone who liked cats so much couldn't be all bad.

Said cat--Yoruichi?--brushed against Mami's knees now with a demanding mew, as if sensing her train of thought. Mami obliged automatically, stroking the soft fur, and Yoruichi jumped into her lap, purring furiously in satisfaction.

"I trust you are enjoying your tea, Miss Tomoe?" Mr. Tsukabishi said as he re-entered the room. He set with his tray--laden with tiny cakes in the shape of cartoon rabbits and ducks--onto the table next to the tea service he had laid out for her a few minutes earlier.

"Y-yes, of course," Mami stammered, aware she was staring at him again.

In her defense, Mr. Tsubakishi was striking: a brown-skinned, muscular giant of a man, with bulging muscles visible beneath his white t-shirt and khaki slacks. His dark hair was tightly coiled in neat cornrows and he also sported a glossy handlebar mustache and long sideburns. Opaque rectangular glasses blocked his eyes, adding an air of severity. Despite his imposing physical presence, however, his speech was highly formal and his manners were so polite it was impossible to be nervous around him for long.

"Ah, I see you and Yoruichi-san have become fast friends," Mr. Urahara said, as he settled down across the table from Mami. "Tessai, would you mind putting Jinta and Ururu to bed after Cazh Soul is over? Miss Tomoe and I may be some time."

Mr. Tsubakishi bowed. "Of course, boss," he nodded, and left, shutting the shoji behind him on his way out.

(It was a little odd for two men to live together, Mami thought, but maybe Mr. Tsubakishi or Mr. Urahara had a wife she hadn't met yet?)

Mr. Urahara favored Mami with a winning smile. "So, Miss Tomoe, I'm sure you have no end of questions for me."

"Well, yes--" Who are you? How is it an adult can have magic--and a man, at that? What do you know about witches? What are you *really* after here in Mitakihara? But the question that came out was, "Why have I never seen anyone like you before?"

Her voice wavered and she cursed herself for letting her loneliness seep in to what was supposed to be a simple question from someone who hadn't yet earned her trust. Still, it wasn't like she had very many people to talk to--about anything, really, let alone magic--over the last two years. For a while there had been Kyouko to watch her back, but--

Mami shook herself, trying to stay focused on the conversation at hand. If there were other people out there who knew about witches--who could use magic--then maybe she didn't have to be so alone...

"Excellent question!" Mr. Urahara agreed with a nod. "You've never seen my little shop because, as I mentioned earlier, we recently relocated from Karakura. For reasons that are still unclear to me, there hasn't been much of shinigami presence in Mitakihara in the last few decades--which is why you are unfamiliar with our operations."

"Shinigami?" Mami's mind raced. Soul Reaper. "You mean, you're--dead?"

"Technically, yes," Mr. Urahara said cheerfully. "Though I should point out that we at the Urahara Candy Store are not directly affiliated with the main shinigami bureaucracy in Soul Society--more like independent contractors, if you will."

Contractors. That got her attention. "So you've also made a contract with Kyubey?"

Mr. Urahara regarded her for a long moment without blinking. "Who is Kyubey?" he said at last.

That was a no, Mami realized, her face reddening.

"He's--" What was Kyubey, anyway? She'd spent two years off and on with the fluffy creature as a guide and companion, yet she knew so little about him. "--a friend," she finished lamely. "The one who grants magical girls a wish in exchange for protecting ordinary people from witches."

"I see," Mr. Urahara said, his eyes narrowing. He didn't move, but the energy in the room intensified--calm enough on the surface, but edgy and restless beneath, as if a storm was about to break.

Mami took a sip of tea, wondering if she'd said the wrong thing and he was going to attack her after all.

Kyubey had never mentioned shinigami before. Mr. Urahara didn't seem to know about him--or about magical girls in general--so perhaps the ignorance was mutual. But Mami was so used to relying on Kyubey that the implication that he had blind spots made her extremely nervous about what she might be up against now.

The cat on Mami's lap got up, yawned, and stretched, seemingly oblivious to the rising tension. Then it opened its mouth, and said in a deep raspy voice, "Come on, Kisuke, tone down the reiatsu a little. Can't you see you're scaring her?"

Mami's jaw dropped. Cats can't talk! she thought absurdly.

Then again, she'd spent the last two years with a telepathic creature ordinary people couldn't see as her closest companion. Was it really so strange that Mr. Urahara had a magical friend of his own? Maybe shinigami made their arrangements with cats instead of beings like Kyubey--

--and it was increasing clear Mr. Urahara wasn't as eccentric as Mami had initially assumed.

"Yoruichi-san! How delightful of you to grace us with your wisdom!" Mr. Urahara said, without missing a beat. The oppressive weight vanished as quickly as it had arisen. "My apologies, Miss Tomoe, I meant no offense. Please do explain this contract of yours in more detail."

Mami did her best, skirting around the circumstances that had led to her contract in the first place. Mr. Urahara listened intently, never contradicting her or rejecting her experiences in the way she'd come to expect from adults. Yoruichi occasionally interjected with a thoughtful question of his own, and  Mami quicklygot used to including him in their conversation.

"May I see your soul gem?" Mr. Urahara asked, when Mami trailed off at last. Mr. Tsubakishi must have made good on his promise to put Ururu and Jinta to bed; the whole house was eerily silent without the echo of canned and real laughter from the other room.

Mami manifested the source of her power from the ring on her hand, letting the golden egg-shaped jewel roll across her palm. She did not offer it to Mr. Urahara, and to his credit, he did not ask to touch it.

"So, it's like a zanpakutou then," Mr. Urahara said after a moment of careful scrutiny from across the table. "But--incomplete."

Soul-cutter sword. Another phrase she had never heard before. "What do you mean, 'incomplete'?" she added, not sure whether to be offended.

"It's--" Mr. Urahara paused, considering his words carefully. "Every shinigami has a weapon that is a reflection of their soul--usually, but not always a sword. They use it to purify spirits and send them onto the afterlife, among other things. It seems what this Kyubey does when making the contract is to allow you to manifest something similar while you are still inhabiting your human body. And as for 'incomplete', well--does your soul gem have a name?"

"No, of course not," Mami said. She restored the gem to its ring form, glancing up sharply as a question occurred to her. "Do you have a zanpakutou, Mr. Urahara?"

The cat chuckled, although there was only so much magic could only do for feline vocal cords and it came as a raspy cough. "She's got your number, Kisuke."

"I'm afraid mine's not as... nice... as yours," Mr. Urahara said quietly. He looked pointedly at the cane resting across his lap, then tugged at the handle, exposing a few centimeters of glinting silver from the blade hidden within. A distinctly feminine aura permeated the room, along with the coppery taste of blood in Mami's mouth--only to vanish as the sword disappeared back into its sheath.

"Benihime is quite the show-off," Mr. Urahara added by way of explanation.

"Wait, so your sword--is a person?"

Mr. Urahara regarded her impassively. "As with any relationship, you'll find that your power grows if you take the time to learn your zanpakutou's name. Didn't this Kyubey explain that?"

Mami wasn't sure what shocked her more--his matter-of-fact incredulity, or the fact that Kyubey might have deliberately withheld information from her. Surely he would have told her if Soul Gems had names! No doubt shinigami magic was very different from her own, and it was foolish to expect anything to carry over so neatly.

Some of her skepticism must have shown through her polite mask, because Mr. Urahara said, "Well, Miss Tomoe, I am happy to learn more about your soul gem if you choose to share your knowledge with me. But it's already quite late--no doubt your family will be wondering where you've been all this time."

Mami's eyes burned. "N-no," she managed, annoyed at herself for letting his assumptions get to her so easily. "My parents are dead. I--live alone."

"Oh, dear, my deepest condolences," Mr. Urahara said. "My apologies for stirring up what are obviously painful memories."

"I should go home," Mami said, still in a daze. Too much had happened all at once, and she yearned for the familiarity of solid ground and routine after so much upheaval. "I appreciate your hospitality, but I'll see my own way out. Thank you very much for the tea," she added, lest he think her ungrateful. "Please tell Mr. Tsubakishi that his cookies were delicious."

"Of course," Mr. Urahara agreed. "Please know you are always welcome here at the shop, Miss Tomoe, at any time of the day or night. And if you do come across anything strange in Mitakihara on your witch hunts, I'd certainly appreciate hearing about it."

"All right," Mami dipped her head in acknowledgement."But you should know you are technically in my territory, and I don't take kindly to unnecessary interference."

She half-expected him to laugh--most men did when they were told off by a fifteen-year-old girl--but Mr. Urahara didn't even crack a smile. "Of course, Miss Tomoe," he said with a deep bow. "I would expect no less from someone as dedicated and conscientious as you are."

Mami held out a hand to Yoruichi, who sniffed it appreciatively, and rubbed his chin against her knuckles as if to scratch an itch. "Nice to meet you, Yoruichi-san," she said. "Perhaps we can talk more on my next visit?"

She was going to come back, she realized as the words left her mouth without conscious thought. She had far too many unanswered questions to leave it at that. After she'd had a good night's sleep and recovered her bearings, she'd come back to the shop tomorrow and get to the bottom of all this--

"Perhaps," the cat demurred. "I have very busy schedule, you know--so many naps and so little time. But perhaps I could make an exception if you were, say, to bring treats with you--"

Mami hid her smile as best she could. It was reassuring to know that cats were still cats, even when they could talk.

Maybe especially when they could talk.

***

Urahara was far too wired to sleep by the time Mami Tomoe departed, pacing back and forth across the tatami in lieu of rest. There was so much to think about, so much they'd overlooked until now--her mere existence was a giant question mark he still didn't fully understand.

The one good thing about the unofficial nature of his investigation was that Soul Society wasn't calling the shots. The last thing he needed was the usual hamfisted, bungling approach from the military, one that would scare off a girl like Mami Tomoe from providing any information at all.

As if on cue, his soul phone rang. Urahara fished the device out of his sleeve, taking care to check the caller ID before accepting the call.

"Hello, hello?" he said in his fakest, most agressively cheerful voice. "Urahara Kisuke speaking. How are you today, Akon-pin?"

The current third seat of Twelfth Squad and the Vice-President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute sighed wearily on the other end of the line. "This isn't a social call, Urahara. Status report, please."

"That's because there's nothing to report," Urahara said, still obnoxiously upbeat. "My people and I are settled in Mitakihara, and I'm investigating several leads, but nothing's panned out yet."

"Well, let me know as soon as you find anything," Akon said. "Captain Kurotsuchi remains unconvinced that the problem exists, but as far as I can tell, there's been no change in the sensor readings. If anything, it's getting worse."

"I understand," Urahara said, all levity gone. His enunciation when he spoke again was crisp and polite, without any hint of affected childishness. "Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Akon. One way or another, the situation should reveal itself very soon."

"I hope so," Akon said. "The last thing we need is for space-time to collapse completely because some unknown enemy is meddling with it."

"Oh, I don't think whoever is responsible is our enemy. At least not yet," Urahara said grimly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not sure yet. Good-night, Mr. Akon." He hung up before the third-seat could get another word in.

Stowing the phone back in his sleeve, he tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and contemplated his options.

Akon had first noticed the distortions in Mitakihara last week while analyzing long-term data from the SRDI's real-time monitors in the world of the living. He'd immediately reported his findings to Mayuri Kurotsuchi--only to be dismissed by the Twelfth Division captain as "unimportant" and "irrelevant" with "insufficient data" to support his "irrational hypotheses".

Alarmed by his superior's intransigence in the face of what appeared to be a potentially dangerous situation, Akon had taken the unusual liberty of stepping outside the chain of command. As Kurostuchi's predecessor--and someone who had been exiled from Soul Society in part due to meddling with forbidden kido--Urahara was the logical choice.

"Are you responsible for this?" Akon said bluntly at the start of that first phone call, cutting straight to chase.

"No," Urahara said absently, sifting through the third-seat's charts and maps on his phone with increasing interest.

"Damn." There was a pause over the line as Akon mulled the possibilities over in his head. "Then who is it?" he said at last.

Urahara was wondering the same thing. "I don't know. But I'll look into it."

"Quietly," Akon said firmly. "And if anything big comes up that requires the captain's attention, this conversation never happened."

"But of course."

Right now, the intrusions were small and subtle enough for even a scientist of Kurotsuchi's caliber to dismiss as random fluctuations or equipment errors. The problem was that if Akon was right, these distortions could expand exponentially without warning--and once such a dramatic rip appeared, it would be all but impossible to stabilize it without a major intervention.

So here he was in Mitakihara to investigate the situation directly. And who should he encounter on a late-night stroll around the city than a magical girl with mysterious secrets of her own? Kurotsuchi's lack of involvement might well prove to be a blessing in disguise.

The last time Urahara had thrown himself into a situation with so many unknown variables was six months earlier, at the height of the Winter War against Aizen. For all the chaos in the Fake Karakura Town, the actual mechanics had been extremely simple: toss every possible weapon--including Ichigo Kurosaki--long enough to distract Aizen from Urahara's true agenda.

He sighed. The only problem with that strategy was that Kurosaki had been forced to sacrifice his shinigami powers in the process. Soul Society was at work on a solution--including Captain Kurotsuchi, which might explain his complete disinterest in Akon's data--but there was no guarantee it would work. Kurosaki's loss might well be permanent.

"Still rolling in residual guilt over the Kurosaki situation, eh?" Yoruichi drawled from behind him. Even with his eyes completely closed, he could tell from the smugness in her voice that she was human again and utterly unselfconscious in her nudity, as if daring him to peek.

She knew him so well. "Of course. Just because it was necessary to defeat Aizen doesn't mean it wasn't unfortunate." He pushed his conscience aside and changed the subject without addressing the obvious bait. "What did you think of our guest tonight? You must have liked her or else you wouldn't have intervened like that when I pushed her. Though I do think you went a little overboard on your plea for treats."

Yoruichi's smugness deepened. "Of course I like her. Third or fourth seat as is, and almost entirely self-taught. I bet with a little training we could have her up to lieutenant-class in no time. And who can resist this beautiful face of mine, anyway?"

"She's not the anomaly we're looking for, but she may know something about it," Urahara agreed thoughtfully. "I intrigued her enough with talk of zanpakutou that she'll return, and we'll have a chance to keep picking her brain for information. And she may let slip important details with you that she won't admit to me."

Yoruichi sighed. "That ring--Soul Gem--whatever it was--was weird, Kisuke. I've never seen any zanpakutou like it before. It looked more like a piece of soul candy-- except that it's capable of granting at least one wish, like the Hougyoku--"

"So you noticed that, too."

"Of course. And the news that there's this--creature--out there who just makes those things willy-nilly out of girls' souls--" She made a feline mew of disgust. "I don't like it."

"And here you thought this trip to Mitakihara was going to be boring," Urahara teased, opening his eyes to admire her at last.

She leered back at him with a pointed smile. "Boring? With you? Never."

Chapter Text

Kyubey? Mami called as she entered her apartment, wondering if the strange little creature would be curled up in his usual spot at her bedside. He didn't spend every night at her place, but he was there more often than not, which made his absence tonight all the more striking.

There was no answer, not that she really expected any. The fact that he spent so much time with Mami given his other responsibilities was proof of his kind and generous spirit. But her life was much less lonely when Kyubey was with her; even if he couldn't help her directly against the witches, he was still welcome company in her otherwise solitary existence.

No doubt he was with Madoka Kaname tonight--Mami had never seen him so taken with a potential magical girl candidate before. Of course, Kaname was quite the latent talent, and Kyubey knew better than anyone how critical it was to have another strong magical girl right now. Walpurgisnacht was due to arrive at the end of the month, only two weeks away, and Mami would need all the help she could get to ensure Mitakihara emerged from the encounter with as little damage as possible. Kaname's power levels made her an ideal choice, and Mami couldn't blame Kyubey for his intense interest, even if it made him borderline pushy at times.

Mami herself had mixed feelings about the two new magical girl candidates. On the one hand, it would be lovely to have trainees to mentor--especially with a witch as powerful as Walpurgisnacht looming on the horizon. However, if the two of them weren't careful with their wishes, they could end up regretting their choice, forced to fight on despite their unhappiness--

Mami sighed. If Kamane and Miki didn't contract, her options for allies among existing magical girls in the area were extremely limited. Kyouko might be persuaded--or bribed--to step in if necessary, but Kyouko was difficult to work with; there were good reasons why the two of them had split in the first place. And given Homura Akemi's erratic behavior, there was no chance partnering with her would go well.

Since Kyouko's departure to Kazaimino a year earlier, Mami's life had settled into routine--long hours of tedious hunting for witches and familiars, intermixed with adrenaline and the occasional pure terror when she found one. For better or worse, Kaname, Miki, Akemi, and the looming threat of Walpurgisnacht had disrupted that equilibrium, and Mami was struggling to hold it all together. Now Mr. Urahara and his bizarre candy shop were here in Mitakihara, with ties to an alleged bureaucracy secretly controlling the afterlife, adding even more complications into the mix.

There was no doubt in Mami's mind that all these events were connected. If Walpurgisnacht didn't fell under the category of "spiritual problems," what did? But that still didn't explain why Kyubey had never mentioned the shinigami before--or why they had left Mitakihara alone for so long if they were so important...

Mami shook her head, yawning as she settled into bed. She'd ask Kyubey about Mr. Urahara when she saw him at school tomorrow. No doubt there was a simple explanation for everything.

***

Mami slept poorly, tossing and turning for what little remained of the night, only to linger in bed so long she was nearly late for school. She cheated and used her magic to boost her speed to comepnsate, sliding into the clear-walled classroom at Mitakihara Middle School seconds before the bell. Throughout the morning, she could barely concentrate, wracking her brains for the best way to broach the subject of last night's mysterious encounter to Kyubey.

When her class filed downstairs to the locker rooms to change for gym, Mami made a point of peeking in at Kaname's classroom. Sure enough, Kyubey was snoozing on the pink-haired girl's school bag, his fluffy tail twitching with every breath. A grim-faced and stoic Akemi sat a two rows behind her, glaring pointedly at Mami before turning away.

Mami wasn't the least bit sorry for Akemi, though she did feel a brief pang for disturbing Kyubey's rest. Sorry to wake you, but can I speak with you privately for a minute? Mami thought in his direction, just in case he was broadcasting to Kaname and Miki as well.

Kyubey's head jerked up in her direction, his bright red eyes unblinking as he met her gaze through the glass. Sure! What's on your mind, Mami Tomoe?

Kyubey didn't understand honorifics at all; Mami had given up trying to explain. It was a little off-putting to speak with someone so direct, so forthright, so utterly... alien at times. The first time she'd met him, well--

Of course Kyubey had turned out to be a friend, and it wasn't his fault Mami hadn't made the best wish, but still... sometimes... it was hard not to wonder if she'd made a mistake.

If I hadn't been desperate, would I have still made a contract? Or would I have made a different one? a voice in the back of her mind whispered. Would it been better if I had died that day, instead of being selfish enough to go on living like this--?

She pushed the question away. She'd had her chance, and she'd blown it. What was done was done--there was no going back and changing the past. Now she would make up for it by doing whatever it took to save as many people as possible from witches--even sacrificing her own life if necessary.

Perhaps Akemi had wished for the wrong thing, and that was why she despised Kyubey. But surely that girl knew how foolish it was to blame Kyubey for her own mistake--

Mami? Kyubey said. Is everything all right?

Mami shook herself. Yes, yes, of course. I just... didn't sleep well last night. Still miffed by Akemi's haughty silhouette, she abruptly changed topics. Why do you think Akemi attacked you the other day?

I don't know why she has a grudge against me. Homura Akemi is quite the irregularity; there is a great deal I don't understand about her.

"Irregularity." The hairs on the back of Mami's neck prickled. Was it significant that Mr. Urahara had used a similiar word last night to describe the phenomenon he was investigating? Or was it only a coincidence?

Most of her class was already gone by now; Mami was forced to abandon the conversation as she hastened to catch up with them. It wasn't until she was changing in the locker room that she was able to mentally reach out again.

Kyubey, have you ever heard of shinigami? she asked, pulling her gym shirt over her head.

Shinigami? Kyubey said, not missing a beat. That's highly unusual. There haven't been shinigami here in Mitakihara for quite some time. Did you see one, Mami?

Well-- In the bright daylight, the story of Mr. Urahara and his talking cat seemed increasingly outlandish, an exceptionally elaborate prank he'd concocted to string her along. And even if he was really a shinigami, Mr. Tsubakishi and the children seemed normal enough....

I don't know, she admitted after a moment. I thought they were only a legend.

Hmmm, Kyubey said. Well, you would know right away if you met one. They're extremely hostile to magical girls. If they knew you were here, they would probably attack you on sight.

Why?

They believe that they should be the only beings with the power to purify the world of evil spirits. Several hundred years ago, they went so far as to exterminate an entire race of spiritually aware humans they considered a threat to their monopoly.

Mami drew back, stunned, the laces of her shoes half-tied.

But don't worry, there haven't been any shinigami here in Mitakihara for many years now, Kyubey continued blithely. I'm sure what you saw last night was a false alarm. But if you were to encounter one, the safest course would be to avoid them at all costs.

Oh. Ah. I see, Mami stammered. There was no graceful way to admit that it was already too late for that.

"Daydreaming again, Tomoe-san?" one of her classmates teased, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Come on, we better not keep everyone waiting--let's go!"

Mami nodded and rose to her feet, embarrassed at being caught out. She did her best to focus on her surroundings as she filed out to the track with the other girls, but it was tough going after what she'd just learned from Kyubey.

He had to be mistaken. Mami fancied herself an excellent judge of chracter, and the bloodthirsty portrait he painted didn't match the tenor of her encounter with Mr. Urahara last night at all.

Certainly, the man was eccentric, prone to flashes of unsettling intensity--not to mention carrying a deeply disconcerting sword hidden in his cane. But he had shown absolutely no interest in hurting her after she'd revealed herself as a magical girl. He'd welcomed her into his home, and invited her to return at her leisure--an invitation she planned to take him up on as soon as possible in order to get to the bottom of all this.

All the more reason to tread cautiously, though.

***

Between all the things Miss Tomoe had said last night--along with all the things she'd very deliberately left unsaid--Urahara had no end of questions in need of answers.

Who was this mysterious Kyubey and what was his agenda? Why recruit middle-school girls for a job usually done by shinigami? What was the purpose of these contracts?

What were witches, anyway? Were they unusually powerful hollows under a different name, voracious enough to devour the pluses and more typical hollows (perhaps the "familiars" Miss Tomoe had casually mentioned)? Or where they a different breed of creature entirely?

And then there was the connection between the grief seeds and and soul gems, which Urahara still didn't fully understand. Why did Miss Tomoe need them to power her magic? Why was Kyubey so keen on collecting them? Was Miss Tomoe's soul gem really the equivalent of a shinigami's zanpakutou, or was Yoruichi's observation correct and it was closer to ginkongan, or artificial soul pills? Either way, the implication that they could grant wishes like a Hougyoku at least once on their formation was highly disturbing--

Why had there been little to no shinigami presence within Mitakihara in the last hundred years? Why had no one at the Spiritual Wave Measurement Lab noticed anything unusual until Akon's most recent analysis? How had Soul Society let this situation get away from them like this?

Urahara sighed ruefully. So many questions swirling around, and no answers in sight, at least for now. Hopefully, Miss Tomoe would make good on her promise of another visit soon. Perhaps Yoruichi could arrange to accompany her on her next witch hunt for more data to confirm or reject his hypotheses.

***

Mami expected Kaname and Miki to shadow her again that afternoon, but when she met the two underclassmen in the hallways after the final bell, they shame-facedly admitted they had business of their own that took precedence.

"Sayaka-chan is going to the hospital to visit a classmate of ours," Kaname explained, Kyubey in his by-now routine perch on her shoulder.

"Yeah! I got a new CD for him to listen to!" Miki added, pumping her fists excitedly. "No witches for us today, sorry!"

Reading between the lines, it was clear that this "friend" was the person whom Miki had been alluding to last night--was it really only last night?--when she'd asked about wishing for the benefit of others. Mami had done her best to discourage Miki from that particular line of thought, which the younger girl had (hopefully) taken to heart.

Of course, it wasn't wrong to want to help others--and it was a credit to Miki's spirit and generosity that she would think to do so. It was just that Mami had seen with Kyouko how quickly a wish made for the sake of someone else could quickly become something to regret...

"Sounds like he's lucky to have a friend like you," Mami said, hiding her smile behind her hands. "And Kyubey's going with you?"

That's right! he agreed cheerfully, clinging to Kaname's shoulder like a limpet.

Mami waved and left them to it, heading out on her own in the bright afternoon sunlight. She made her way to the Urahara Candy Story, stopping in at a convenience store along the way to pick up some treats for Yoruichi per the cat's request.

It was just as well Kaname and Miki were otherwise occupied now, she thought. She enjoyed their company, but introducing them to Mr. Urahara meant far too many questions she couldn't (yet) answer, which would spoil the juniors' impressions of her as a reliable mentor. Better to wait until she had established that Mr. Urahara could be fully trusted--especially if what Kyubey had told her earlier was true. Mami was no stranger to personal danger, but she would never forgive herself if the other girls came to harm on her watch.

She half-expected to find the courtyard abandoned, as if last night's encounter really had been nothing more than a bizarre dream. But it was still there, albeit  shabbier in the daylight than she remembered.

Jinta and Ururu were out sweeping the walkway in front of the building--though Jinta's idea of "sweeping" was more like a one-man game of baseball, complete with extended commentary that made Mami chuckle to herself as she approached. She waved at them both as she passed and was rewarded with a sneer from Jinta and hesitant wave so reminiscent of Kaname from Ururu in response.

"Ah, Miss Tomoe!" Mr. Tsubakishi greeted her from behind the register when she opened the doors. "So glad you could join us again today. The boss was hoping you would drop by. I'll go put on some hot water for tea and wake him up."

"Yes, please," Mami said, trying to conceal her confusion. Wake him up? she wanted to ask. It's afternoon! Surely Mr. Tsubakishi must be exaggerating--

He was not. Mr. Urahara staggered in a few minutes later in the same clothes he'd been wearing the night before, rubbing the stubble on his chin and yawning. A much better groomed Yoruichi padded silently in his wake, amber eyes gleaming in the dim light. True to his threat from the previous evening, the cat immediately accosted Mami, demanding treats and attention, both of which she was happy to supply.

When Mr. Tsubakishi returned with the tea, the three humans settled themselves around the low table with their mugs and saucers. While Mami drank her tea and complimented Mr. Tsubakishi on his skill with wagashi, Yoruichi playfully batted at a string Mr. Urahara dangled just out of reach.

"So," Mami said, when they had dispensed with the pleasantries. "Kyubey says the shinigami are against the existence of magical girls like myself, and would would kill us if they knew of our existence. He also told me that the shinigami went so far as to murder an entire race of spiritually aware humans they considered to be a threat."

Mr. Urahara didn't even blink. "Your friend is extremely well informed. It's true that in the past Soul Society has been far too quick to judge and destroy what they do not understand--regrettably so, in many cases. Why do you think I no longer live there myself?"

"Oh," Mami said faintly, caught off-guard by this open admission. "You mean--"

"Some years ago, Tessai and I were arrested on false charges under the orders of the Central 46, the main governing body of Soul Society," Mr. Urahara said with remarkable equanimity, as if he were discussing the weather. "We were given no chance to prove our innocence and were tried in absentia and found guilty. Our sentences would have been carried out if Yoruichi-san"--he smiled fondly at the cat, who lunged for the string, only to fall short when Mr. Urahara jerked it away at the last minute--"hadn't rescued us in time."

"Why I saved your sorry ass escapes me now," Yoruichi grunted, eyes fixed on his prize.

Mr. Urahara fluttered his fan modestly in his free hand, even as he continued taunting the cat with the string. "Ah~~, Yoruichi-san~~~, you always say the nicest things!"

Mami was still wrangling with the implications of all this. "So why are you... consulting for them now if you all are wanted criminals?"

"Politics," Mr. Tsubakishi rumbled.

"The current regime has recently undergone a change of heart, and now makes an effort to welcome dissidents like us back into the fold," Mr. Urahara explained. "Also, as you may imagine, we are uniquely invested in the survival of this world seeing as we happen to live here ourselves. If the space-time continuum collapses, I'm afraid all of us--humans and shinigami alike--are going to be extremely unhappy with the results."

"So you're not going to tell the other shinigami about me?"

"I have no plans to at the moment," Mr. Urahara agreed. "However, in return, I'd appreciate if you would refrain from mentioning any further specifics about our presence here in Mitakihara to your friend until I've established that he isn't responsible for the strange phenomena we've observed."

His tone was so pleasant it took Mami a second to realize how easily she'd been outmaneuvered. Her face burned. "Kyubey wouldn't--"

"Most likely not," Mr. Urahara agreed. "But I trust you understand the need to prove that for ourselves."

Mami weighed her tea cup thoughtfully in her hand as she pondered her options. "How long do you need?" she said at last.

"Oh, only a few days at most," Mr. Urahara said genially, as if he hadn't neatly blackmailed her into an agreement. "We just have to run a few simple tests. Once we've ruled out your friend as a potential suspect, I'd be more than happy for you to introduce the two of us. He seems like a very interesting character."

Phrased that way, his logic made sense, but Mami still didn't like the idea of hiding something this important from Kyubey, even if it was only for a short time. However, the problem would resolve itself soon enough once Mr. Urahara's tests proved him to be mistaken.

"Tell me about more about this... anomaly you mentioned last night then," she said, desperate to regain her footing in the conversation.

"Of course!" Mr. Urahara abandoned the string to Yoruichi's claws and regarded his guest keenly. "We shinigami have many talents, including the art of kido--what you would call spells. Most kido are graded on a scale from one to ninety-nine--the higher the number the more powerful and and more difficult. An incantation is usually required, although experienced masters, such as Tessai here, can trigger them with intention and gestures alone."

"The boss exaggerates my capacities," Mr. Tsubakishi demurred, with a modest little bow.

"Most kido are intended for combat use against spirits--hado for direct attacks, and bakudo for battle support," Mr. Urahara continued. "However, there are other spells, such as teleportation and time manipulation, that are illegal in Soul Society, and their use commonly results in some form of lengthy imprisonment or worse. The latter is particularly forbidden, not only because of the possibility of paradox, but because if used repeatedly, it can warp the very fabric of space-time itself."

"Huh?"

"Picture a thread, if you will." Mr. Urahara retrieved the string from Yoruichi and stretched it taut between his hands. "Normally, time is a straight line moving in one direction, yes?"

"Yes," Mami agreed, wondering where this was going. Yoruichi mewed in annoyance and batted for his plaything, with Mr. Urahara shifting at the last possible moment to avoid injury.

"But then imagine someone going back in time." He looped the string back on itself. "Suddenly things start to get--tangled." Flip, flip, flip. "Keep doing the same thing over and over again, and our previously straight timeline becomes a very... big... mess."

He held up the tangled snarl of string and dropped it to the ground. Yoruichi pounced on it and began tearing it apart with his claws.

"Eventually, reality itself begins to warp and fray from the repeated strain of re-living the same moments over and over again as so many parallel timelines exist simultaneously. Any further meddling rips holes in the already weakened fabric and then..." Mr. Urahara trailed off as Yoruichi tossed the ragged, messy blob away with a snort.

"Not good," Mami managed.

"Understatement," Mr. Tsubakishi said firmly.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Mami said, taking a sip of tea.

"Once we find the source of the anomaly, we'll have a better idea of how to fix it," Mr. Urahara said.

So it wasn't Walpurgisnacht, then, since the witch wasn't here yet. That left--

"What if it's--a person?" Mami said. "Hypothetically, I mean. How would you 'fix it' then?"

Dark-circled eyes and glinting glasses both regarded her with renewed interest. "You know something, Miss Tomoe?" Mr. Tsubakishi said mildly.

"N-no." Technically, that was true. She didn't know anything. Maybe the anomaly they were after had nothing to do with Homura Akemi at all. Walpurgisnacht was such an unusual witch in so many ways, perhaps it was distorting space and time even before its arrival into this dimension--

"But you suspect?" Mr. Urahara pressed.

"I'm not sure." Mami didn't like Akemi, but could she hand over the other girl to these two without any proof? Should she warn them about Walpurgisnacht, just in case? Or was it better to hold off for now, lest they use this knowledge against her somehow?

"You're getting carried away again, Kisuke," Yoruichi said, coming to Mami's defense. "Stop being so suspicious of everything! Can't you see she doesn't know what you're talking about? You know very well that best way to explain kido is to see it in action."

"Oh!" Mami exclaimed, her face reddening. "I didn't mean--"

Mr. Urahara waved aside her concern. "Not at all. Yoruichi-san is correct, as usual. Tessai, will you show Miss Tomoe down to the study chamber? Yoruichi-san and I will be along in a few minutes."

***

Mami didn't know what she was expecting from the so-called "study chamber", but a secret underground cavern definitely wasn't it. A disconcertingly long ladder concealed beneath a trapdoor under the tatami led to immense cavern with ceiling and walls painted to resemble a clear blue sky, with a bare earth floor punctuated by rough outcrops scattered at random over the landscape and a few dead trees for additional atmosphere.

"No need to worry, Miss Tomoe," Mr. Tsubakishi said, sensing her disquiet. "It's perfectly safe."

"Oh--er--" Mami said. She struggled to think of a polite observation to make. "I've never seen anything quite like it before," she managed after a moment.

"It's modeled after the one underneath our shop in Karakura, which the boss built in a single day and night. But we have only been here in Mitakihara for less than week, so this one hasn't seen much use yet," Mr. Tsubakishi explained.

"I see." That would explain the smell of fresh paint, then.

"You like it?" Mr. Urahara said from behind her, making her jump. She would have sworn he hadn't been there a moment ago. Yoruichi was perched on his shoulder, his tail twitching with excitement.

Yoruichi pawed at his mount's ear. "Enough talking. Let's get on with it."

"Ow, ow, ow!" Mr. Urahara whined. "See what abuse I tolerate?"

"Stop whining. No one actually believes you," Yoruichi said dismissively.

"If I may, boss?" Mr. Tsubakishi said with a bow.

Mr. Urahara waved him on. "Go ahead, Tessai. Show her what you can do."

"First, Miss Tomoe, I will create a barrier around you and the others so you will not be hurt." He pressed both of his hands together and bowed his head. "Bakudo #73: Inverse Mountain Crystal!"

Blue light radiated outward from his clasped hands, extending upward and outward in four directions. After about six meters, the light stops and a blue-white pyramid descended to the ground, encompassing Mami, Mr. Urahara, and Yoruichi within its borders.

Mami drew in a breath as she reached out and found the barrier was solid to the touch. Magical girls could throw up something similiar to keep civilians--or each other--out of a fight. But Mr. Tsubakishi didn't even have a soul gem! How was he doing this?

"And now that you are protected, I can unleash an offensive spell," Mr. Tsubakishi said. "Any suggestions, boss?"

"Hmmm." Mr. Urahara made an exaggerated show of tapping his chin. "Let's go with Hado #31. That's always impressive."

"Sure thing, boss." Mr. Tsubakishi turned, his hands in front of his chest as if in prayer. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" Fire kindled in his bare hands. "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

As his chant built to a crescendo, the flaming mass expanded in strength and power until it was far too bright to look at. Mr. Tsubakishi turned his palms to face away from his audience. "Hado #31: Red Flame Cannon!"

At his command, the fireball on his palms rocketed away, hurtling like a bullet until it slammed into the blue wall in the distance and bounced back into the ground, resulting in a smoking crater several meters deep. Even with the barrier shielding them from the brunt of the impact, the heat from the explosion was fierce.

Mami's mouth dropped open. "That was a 'mid-level' spell?"

"The final effect depends on the strength of the practictioner," Yoruichi said as Mr. Tsubakishi bowed. "Reciting the full incantation never hurts, of course."

"That was... incredible," Mami said, still unable to believe what she had witnessed.

"Thank you for the compliment, Miss Tomoe," Mr. Tsubakishi said modestly. He pressed his hands together and the blue barrier around them dissolved as quickly as it had come.

"And it doesn't corrupt your soul gem--zanpakutou--whatever it is you use to power the spell?" Mami asked.

Mr. Tsubakishi shook his head. "Kido is based on the reiryoku--spiritual power--that every being, including living humans, naturally possesses to one degree or another. Shinigami also manipulate it to increase our strength and speed or use our zanpakutou's special abilities. Spiritual power is naturally regenerated over time, and is essentially renewable energy."

Mami shook her head. That was so backwards from how soul gems worked! But, oh, how liberating it must be to not depend so heavily on grief seeds to avoid corruption... to not have to hunt the witches just to survive...

"Perhaps because we have no soul gems, there is nothing to corrupt," Mr. Tsubakishi said, regretting Mami's obvious discomfort.

"Then how does my magic work...?" she started.

"It's a mystery, isn't it?" Mr. Urahara said. "Maybe you should ask your Kyubey to explain it. I'm quite curious myself. However, I would be happy to teach you the elements of kido if that's something you're interested in."

Mami hesitated. On the one hand, she'd never been one to turn down knowledge, especially the kind that would give her an asset in battle--and magic that did not involve grief seeds definitively qualified. On the other hand, she wasn't sure what to make of Mr. Urahara--a condemned criminal by his own account--let alone the abrupt pivots from master tactitian to irreverent joker and back.

Aside from his request not to mention his prescence to Kyubey, he'd been open and welcoming, answering all of her questions with candor and respect she'd never experienced from an adult before. He'd made it abundantly clear he had the power to complicate her life by bringing down potentially bloodthirsty shinigami down on her head--and that he had no real desire to do so unless she forced his hand.

But maybe she didn't have to fully trust him in order to learn from him. It was going to be hard to juggle anything else on top of her patrol duties, especially if she had to train Kaname and Miki, too, but maybe--

Speaking of which...

Mami glanced at her watch, and was startled to discover how late it was. "Oh, no! I can't believe I lost track of time!" She forced herself to take a deep breath and remain calm. "I think this is enough for one day. I must go out and patrol for witches now. Perhaps we could discuss this in more detail later."

Mr. Urahara smiled at her. "But of course. Didn't I say you were always welcome here?"

"Especially if you bring treats with you! I did mention treats, right?" Yoruichi wheedled shamelessly as she departed.

***

The last thing Mami expected to find when she emerged blinking from the courtyard of the Urahara Candy Shop into the evening twilight was Madoka Kaname, panting and gasping for breath as if she'd run across half the city to find her.

"Kaname-san! Weren't you going to visit your friend--?" Mami started.

"Mami!" Kaname cried out in relief. "We found a grief seed by the bike racks at the hospital--about to hatch a witch--Sayaka-chan is there with Kyubey now to make sure it doesn't hurt anybody if it wakes up--please--she needs your help!"

Mami pursed her lips. A civilian--even one with magical girl potential--inside an active labyrinth was a recipe for disaster. What had Miki been thinking to be so reckles? At least Kyubey was with her, which would make tracking her down that much easier--

There was no question in Mami's mind what she had to do. Grabbing Kaname's hand, Mami turned towards the hospital and burst into a run, heedless of the golden glowing eyes watching from the shadows.

Chapter Text

The fading sunset cast the hospital into a glowing orange beacon, its shadows smeared blood. Dropping her school bag beside the bike rack, Mami scanned the side of the building for the entrance to the labyrinth.

"Here, right?" she said, raising the soul gem ring on her right hand up before Kaname could speak. The gesture was mirrored by her reflection in the floor to ceiling plate glass window of the hospital. Light flared from the soul gem as a shield-like opening appeared in the glass.

Mami brought her hand to her chest and closed her eyes. Kyubey's familiar presence pulsed deep inside the labyrinth, faint but recognizable.

Kyubey, what's the situation? Mami called, projecting her mental 'voice' so that Kaname could listen in on their conversation.

We're still okay, Kyubey reported. It looks like the witch isn't going to hatch just yet.

Thank goodness for small favors. Mami inwardly cursed herself for not exchanging cell phone numbers with Kaname and Miki earlier. If only she had been here sooner, then Miki wouldn't have felt the need to step in like this--

Are you okay, Sayaka? Kaname called nervously.

Miki nervously assured her friend she was fine, and Mami pursed her lips. This isn't a game, she wanted to hiss, but the damage was done. There was no point in lecturing Miki about her recklessness now, lest she panic and inadvertently awaken the witch, but Mami was going to have  stern words with the girl when this was all over. 

Maybe Akemi was right and I gave her the wrong idea, she thought with a sudden flare of guilt. I made hunting witches look so 'easy' that Miki thinks she can handle it without being a magical girl herself--!

Still, Miki's instincts to protect others from the witch were admirable, if foolhardy without any means to protect herself. Now that Mami was here to dispatch it, Miki was unlikely to be in any real danger, but...

It'd be better not to use any large amounts of magic that might disturb the egg, Kyubey advised. There's no need to hurry, so come to us as quietly as you can.

Mami opened the gate--a pulsing, glowing shield that expanded into a gateway in the side of the hospital building, though there was no chance the real hospital waited for them on the other side.

Got it, Mami said, casting a glance back at Kaname. The pink-haired girl swallowed, clutched her hands against her chest before she nodded and followed Mami through the portal.

As they stepped through, the doorway disappeared behind them as Mami withdrew the magic used to generate it. She could force another opening into existence later if they needed a quick escape, but there was no point in leaving it open so anyone could wander in, especially not when its presence might alert the witch to the intruders.

Mami had fought many battles in and around the hospital over the last two years and  kept a detailed journal documenting her fights in an attempt to unravel any patterns. So far she had only deduced the obvious: hospital witches seemed to be born from the fear of sickness and death, as well as endless tedium and despair present in so many of the patients.

On the surface, this witch was no different. Mami and Kaname stood in a dark cave, an incongruous queue staked out with needles and thread. Giant candies, cookies, and bizarre signs (clocks?) with a single number printed on their faces in bold type lined the walls, intermixed with massive pill bottles and glistening syringes melded and fused with mountains of cake and rainbow glazed doughnuts. Raised tables decorated with gelatinous cubes bore arrows pointing visitors on their way, past portraits of neon-green cheese set against an equally violent orange background, and warning signs etched with ornate but unintelligible runes. If there was any rhyme or reason to this place, it was the bizarre, inexplicable logic of dreams, where everything present ought to yield some deeper meaning, but remained forever elusive.

This was camouflage the witch used to hide its monstrous true nature as it drew in unsuspecting victims to its heart. The dessert theme continued with, chunks of tiramisu and gnawed squares of chocolate lining the path, while red and blue cables swirled like blood vessels above their heads. Mami couldn't help but wonder what Mr. Urahara would make of this place, given his profession.

"Delicious cookies," promised one of the few signs in English that Mami could read. For a kissed victim, these markers were part of the siren song pulling prey onwards and inwards. Witches excelled at telling people what they wanted to hear, counting on the anger, grief, and pain in peoples' hearts to blind them to the dangers.

Off to the sides, familiars squeaked and jostled with each other--blue and white bipedal lumps with black spiral swirls across their chests. They were too preoccupied with their own affairs to notice the interlopers, dull and stupid without the guidance of their master. Mami made sure to give them a wide berth just in case, skirting past colorful scissors with their blades jammed into the ground. She held Kaname's hand as they walked, unwilling to let go lest her companion inadvertently be drawn into one of the witch's traps.

Despite the strangeness of their surroundings, Mami was oddly relieved to be back again in a world she understood once more. Her visits to the Urahara Candy Store had left her confused and restless, and it was a welcome relief to be back in a world where Mami could fall back on her expertise and trust her instincts.

"Thank goodness we made it in time," Kaname said, staring nervously around her.

"Though Miki took such a huge risk that I'm actually a bit angry," Mami admitted. "But in this one case, it was a good, clear-headed call on her part. This way we won't have to worry about the witch getting a--" She dropped Kaname's hand, abandoning her train of thought as a dark silhouette approached from behind them.

The newcomer was neither a witch's familiar, nor a human victim: a dark-haired girl in a Mitakihara Middle School school uniform strolling calmly through the labyrinth as if she hadn't a care in the world. Homura Akemi. Of course she would be here, sticking her nose where she wasn't wanted.

"I thought I told you I didn't want to you see again," Mami called, summoning a bravado she didn't entirely feel into her voice. She'd tried so hard to give this strange girl the benefit of the doubt. She'd offered every possible warning, more than any other magical girls in her her situation would. If Akemi pulled such a stunt with Kyouko, she'd likely be dead.

"I shall hunt this prey," the girl said in her cold, emotionless way, completely unmoved by the implied threat. "The two of you should leave here."

"I don't think so," Mami said, annoyed by Akemi's audacity. "Miki and Kyubey are waiting for us in there." I'm not abandoning them to *you*.

To her credit, Akemi didn't beat around the bush. "I shall guarantee their safety," she hedged.

"And you think we could trust you?" Mami retorted. Before Akemi could react, Mami raised her right hand and flared her magic. Red and yellow ribbons shot out of her soul gem, trussing the dark-haired girl up like a package, complete with a floral bow across her chest. The keyhole of the lock was in the center of the flower, which Mami thought was a nice touch.

"I-idiot," Akemi gasped. With the restraints so tight around her chest, even that much was a struggle. "This isn't the time for--"

"I don't want to hurt you, of course," Mami said, surveying the scene with satisfaction. "But if you insist on struggling, the cords will only tighten." It was was one of her favorite techniques, and she was proud of it, although it was rare she had the opportunity to use it on someone she wasn't intending to kill. She had even thoughtfully raised Akemi off the ground to keep any familiars from accidentally stumbling across the now-defenseless girl.

"This witch is not like the others!" Akemi insisted.

"Behave and I will release you unharmed after I finish up here," Mami said firmly, turning away. "Let's go, Kaname."

"O-okay," Kaname said, glancing back and forth between the two magical girls as if uncertain which one to support before hastening after Mami.

"Wait--" Akemi called, leaning forward as she struggled to escape--only to jerk back as the ropes tightened around her.

Mami was unable to summon any sympathy. I warned her and she didn't believe I was serious.The little fool is lucky I didn't kill her for defying me. But I'm not like those other magical girls. That's not why I fight. Unlike Kyouko, Mami knew very well that "good" did not necessarily mean "soft".

Fortunately, the magic she'd used against Akemi had not awakened the witch, and the two of them pressed on without further incident. They kept on at a steady pace, only to find the path inward was blocked by a cookie-shaped gate. Simultaneously, the witch did and did not want to be found.

Mami leaned forward, searching for the next inevitable door, only to run for it as soon as she saw it, with Kaname at her heels. She pushed it open a few centimeters first to scan for any passing familiars before venturing forward into the dark.

Pill bottles floated around them in a misty haze, stretching off into infinity. There were ugly twisted things in the jars that Mami knew better than to examine too closely. It was enough to keep moving towards the cold bright spark of Kyubey's presence and the softer blur that was Sayaka Miki. She led the way carefully, their footsteps echoing through the corridor as Kaname clutched at her hand.

"Ehhhhh... Um... Mami-san?"

"What is it?"

"I've been thinking really hard about all sorts of different wishes, but..."

"Did you decide on one?" Decisions were hard for Kaname, Mami guessed. But why shouldn't they be? Had she ever had the opportunity to make such a momentous decision in her life? Most girls their age didn't. They had parents who made choices for them.

Most girls their age were lucky.

"Yes," Kaname confirmed. "But I think it might be the naive kind of wish that might make you mad..."

At least Kaname had taken Mami's caution to heart. Ironic, given Akemi's accusation that Mami was recklessly encouraging the girl!

"So what is this dream you want granted?" Mami asked, unable to hide her smile as she scanned for the way out. She knew from experience the exit had to be somewhere nearby; all she had to do was keep walking until she found it.

"Well, I've never been good at school, and I don't have any kind of talent I could take pride in. And I'm sure I'll continue on like this, being of no use to anyone and having to bother others for help. Thinking about that makes me feel so awful, I can't stand it...."

There was the next door. Mami opened it and peeked her head through to check for any traps or ambushes before proceeding onward.

This layer was a dressing room of sorts, with framed portraits of cheese interspersed with stenciled graffiti of a weird cartoon character - a vaguely humanoid doll with two triangular pigtails emerging from the side of its head. Geometric solids swirled with candy hearts and hard candy gleamed, illuminated by lighted birthday candles the size of lamp-posts dripping melted wax (frosting?) down their sides. And of course, there were more signs in English and those strange warping runes all meant the same thing, regardless of language: Come closer, come closer, delicious treats await you further in, the hunger that gnaws deep within your soul can be satisfied if you come a little bit closer--

Kaname was still babbling on, perhaps to distract herself from the weirdness of their surroundings. "But then I met you, Mami-san, and you showed me what it's like to fight to save people. And then, when I heard that even I might be able to do the same thing... it was the happiest feeling I had ever experienced in my life."

They crossed a red bridge, lined only with a frail wooden handrail to keep them from plunging over the side. The line of birthday candles continued to light their path, their true height lost in the shadows of the darkened depths below. Spiraling red helices twisted around them, and mobiles of strange, jagged creatures spun from the ceiling. Layered slices of cake bedecked with frosting and sliced strawberries hovered on the horizon like a mirage, perpetually out of reach.

Mami's lips curled. Maybe Akemi was right, and she never should have encouraged Kaname and Miki in the first place. They'd gotten entirely the wrong idea about what life as a magical girl was like.

"That's why I think that just becoming a magical girl would fulfill my dreams," Kaname said. "If someone like me can help people and live my life with pride--that would be my greatest dream!"

Mami let go of Kaname's hand, and kept walking, stung by both the poignancy and the earnestness of such a simple wish.

"It won't be easy, you know?" Mami countered, playing devil's advocate. "You'll get injured, and you won't have time to go on dates or have fun with friends."

"Even so, after watching the way you keep doing your very best, I really look up to you, Mami!"

Wasn't this exactly what Mami wanted? She'd been trying to impress this girl, convince her she was really as accomplished and perfect as she pretended to be. Mami had only known Kaname for a few days at most, yet she was drawn to her by some connection she couldn't articulate, the sense that Kaname really was destined to be a magical girl and fight at her side. Where had that come from? Had they met before somewhere, in another life? Who could say?

Why,then, did Kaname's adoration feel so terribly, terribly wrong?

When will I learn to be careful for what I wish for?

It was one thing to present a brave face to the world, but Kaname deserved better than to throw her perfect life away on a whim. She deserved to know the truth: everything about Mami's carefully cultivated facade was a lie.

Mami stopped short, unable to turn and face the other girl. "I'm really not worth looking up to," she confessed, staring at the pink polka dots scattered across the floor.

"Huh?"

"I only push myself and pretend to be cool. Even when I'm scared or hurting, there's no one I can talk to. All I can do is cry on my own." Mami took a deep breath and said what she should have told Kaname earlier, the words Akemi had scolded her for holding back. "It isn't a good thing to be a magical girl."

She would never, ever admit that to Kyubey. She hadn't fully understood the consequences of her decision when she contracted--how could she? It wasn't Kyubey's fault she hadn't thought it through first; there had been no time for any reflection in the moment. But once she had made her choice, there was no going back, and so Mami had vowed to do her best and put a good face on it, lest he think her ungrateful for the gift she'd asked for.

(And if Kyubey ever left her, then she really would be all alone...)

"But you're not alone anymore, Mami-san," Kaname piped up, as if Mami had spoken that last thought aloud.

"You're right," Mami realized with dawning wonder as the implication hit home. So much for her aura of unflappable poise. "I'm not alone anymore, am I?"She turned and grabbed both Kaname's hands, not even bothering to hide her tears. "Will you really stand and fight with me from now on? Will you really stay with me?"

Her voice cracked on the last word. She was so tired of being alone, being confused, trying to figure everything out herself. She was just so tired--

"Yes," Kaname whispered, meeting Mami's gaze without any hesitation. Blue and white pills were falling from the sky like rain around them, gleaming in the light from the giant birthday candles as they tumbled past into the abyss."If someone like me will do."

Oh, you have no idea, Mami thought in a daze. A magical girl with Kaname's potential could do anything she wanted--anything at all. We can defeat all the witches in the world before they can hurt anyone--even Walpurgisnacht will be no match for us--

With Kaname at her side, there were no limits to what was possible.

"Oh, goodness," Mami said, wiping her eyes in embarrassment by her uncharacteristic display of emotion. "Some role model I'm supposed to be. I'm really no good at this, am I?" she added with a shaky laugh.

(Kyouko would laugh to see her like this, Kyouko thought fighting for anyone besides yourself was a sucker's game, Kyouko would hate Kaname, just like she hated Mami--)

"Mami," Kaname whispered.

Yellow bubbles of light were rising up from the depths of the abyss beneath them. Maybe those were also pills? Mami was too distracted to care. "Still," she said, trying to pull herself together and be practical, "it's not every day you can have a wish granted, so try to think of something you want."

"Yes, it is a special chance, isn't it?" Kaname agreed.

"You're still making a contract, after all, so you may as well get something out of it. You could wish to become a billionaire, or have the perfect boyfriend. Anything you want.

Kaname blushed. "Well, but.."

"Okay, how 'bout this?" Mami teased, raising her finger playfully. "If you can't decide on a wish by the time I finish off this witch, we'll ask Kyubey to give us a huge feast with a fabulous cake!"

It was a silly joke, but cake was Mami's favorite dessert and spending so much time in a labyrinth full of food was making her hungry.

"C-cake?" Kaname stammered, utterly aghast by Mami's flippancy.

"Of course! The biggest and most extravagant cake ever! And with it, we'll have a big party for everyone to celebrate the two of us becoming a magical girl duo!"

"B-but I can't become a magical girl for cake--" Kaname said in disbelief as Mami walked off.

"No?" Mami called back. Did Kaname really think she was serious? "Then decide on a wish you really do want."

Mami! Kyubey's panicked cry rang through their heads as the labyrinth shook and the bridge rumbled underfoot . The grief seed's moving! It's going to hatch! Hurry!

Damn. Out of time.

Okay, I've got it, Mami called back. Buoyed by Kaname's sincere offer of support, every movement was like floating on air. Today's a special day, so I'll finish it off fast!

As Kaname cowered behind her, Mami stuck out her right hand and the ring transformed into jewel form with a golden flash. As she brought the soul gem to her heart, reality shimmered around her and she flipped forward, her school uniform quickly replaced by her costume.

Alarmed by the sudden burst of Mami's magic, the dormant familiars exploded in protest. An small army lurked in the depths beneath their feet, primed to eliminate any intruders to protect their master. Mami spun a quick protective barrier of golden ribbons around Kaname before stepping off the side of the bridge to engage them, pulling half a dozen rifles into existence as she fell. Even as she slid the final gun free and cocked it in her arms, the others fell around her, landing tip first in the ground around her in a protective ring.

The familiars rushed her, and she fired, using the spent weapon to block the blow of the next assailant before tossing it aside and repeating the same maneuver with a fresh flintlock. Her supply wasn't infinite, but as long as she had enough magic in reserve, there was no need to worry about running out of ammunition.

Once she'd cleared out the initial wave, she hauled herself up out of frosted depths on a ribbon, firing at any stragglers as she wove in and out among the towering birthday candles.

I feel so light today. This is the first time I've felt so happy during a fight. It had been a long time since Mami had company during a fight, but she didn't remember ever fighting this well before, even with Kyouko by her side.

For the first time in her life, Mami could believe wholeheartedly in herself the way Kaname believed in her--as someone worthy of respect, instead of a guilty fraud playing the roles that had been thrust upon her by life and chance. For the last two years, Mami had pushed herself to be the perfect student, the perfect hunter, the perfect adult--anything to ward off the terror and the guilt that she wasn't good enough.

But in Kaname's eyes, Mami was enough. Kaname believed in her, Kaname trusted her, and Mami would do everything in her power to be worthy of that image--

Her attacks blended together into a harmonious blur. She mowed down row after row of familiars without missing a beat. This witch was, to put it bluntly, a piece of cake. I'm not afraid of anything anymore. Because I'm not alone anymore. 

She flipped back to Kaname, and grabbed the girl's hand as she rushed forward towards the final door to confront the witch at last. Mami burst through the opening into a wide cavern, dragging Kaname past the giant frosted cupcakes and upturned silverware into the heart of the witch's inner sanctum. The room was littered with ridiculously high tables, each with its own pair of equally distorted chairs. Miki crouched behind a giant doughnut, while Kyubey perched nearby on its pink, sprinkle-encrusted surface.

"Sorry for the wait!" Mami said. Letting go of Kaname at last, she knelt beside Miki and scanned the room for the witch.

Be careful. It's coming! Kyubey warned, seconds before the world bent and shifted around them.

White light dribbled forth like frosting from a hole in reality, a giant box of cookies ripped away and replaced by a tiny, doll-shaped figure that matched the stenciled silhouettes advertised in earlier layers of the labyrinth. Its body was tiny blob wrapped in a red cloak and a polka-dotted scarf that oozed and shifted like a beanbag on its chair. Sporting with neon pink pigtails and wide, piggish blue eyes, its sweet and harmless expression would have been funny if it hadn't been an illusion. Underneath that dainty facade was a monster that would devour them all if it could to feed its own animal hunger.

Well, she'd fix that soon enough.

Mami slammed the base of the chair with one of her guns, sending the witch toppling to the ground. "Sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm gonna finish you right here!"

She hit the witch with the spent flintlock and it flew across the room and slammed into the far wall. It bounced off with a graceless thud into the stream of razor sharp ribbons Mami threw at it before crumpling to the ground at her feet. Mami put the tip of her flintlock against the creature's head as it lay on the ground before her and fired.

The creature twitched, its head absorbing the blow without shattering like a human head. Mami raised its body up with a glittering cage of ribbons, and prepared to fire again. Gonna need a bigger gun, she decided. All the better to make sure it was really dead--

"Yes!" Miki cried from her hiding place behind the doughnut, raising a fist. "You did it!"

Mami's flintlock shifted from a thin barrel to a massive, thick-barreled cannon with supports to keep it from collapsing under its own weight--the size of the gun was directly proportional to the power of the attack. She aimed the resulting contraption at the witch and poured her power into it for the final blow. "TIRO--FINALE--!"

She fired. The canon vanished as all of its power was transferred into the kinetic energy of the bright red ribbon that tore the witch's body into shreds. Before the witch could wriggle free and escape, the ribbon looped and tightened into coils around its chest, squeezing tight in a more fatal version of the trick Mami had used earlier on Akemi.

Just squeeze tighter and tighter, Mami urged the ribbons. There's no way you can survive *this*, you horrid creature--

She was wrong. Even as the noose tightened around it, a giant clown-faced worm burst from the doll's head, its jagged teeth gleaming in the light. It launched itself at Mami, its mouth opening wide in a toothy grin as it prepared to swallow her whole--

No no no no no no--

She couldn't move. She couldn't even scream. Everything was happening in slow motion, her victory obliviated by the glaring jaws aimed directly at her and she stood there, paralyzed and helpless, unable to do anything to prevent it.

I am going to die, I am going to die, I am going to die--*alone*--

Pain exploded in the side of the face, as something black and furry slammed into her head, knocking her to the ground. Mami crumpled to her knees, and the world went black.

***

One minute, everything was fine, or at least as well as could be expected in a twisted version of reality packed with giant desserts where the normal physical laws didn't apply. Regardless of the details, most of which Madoka still didn't fully understand, Mami had everything under control and the witch's defeat was a foregone conclusion.

The next moment everything went horribly wrong.

Both Sayaka and Madoka screamed in warning as the horrible clown-creature burst from the witch's body and hurtled towards Mami, its mouth opening to devour her. The older girl stood frozen in shock, staring wide-eyed at her impending death as if she couldn't believe what was happening.

With an angry yowl, a dark shadow launched itself overhead from one of the towering cheese chunks above them, knocking Mami to the ground seconds before the worm snapped its jaws down on the empty air where she had stood seconds earlier. The giant caterpillar pivoted in irritation towards Mami again--only to be met with a howling and spitting black cat crouched over the girl's prone form, its hackles raised and fur on end as it dared the creature to come closer.

The worm hesitated, its cartoonish face cheerfully stupid as it registered its new opponent.

Quick! Kyubey cried, jammed between the two girls sheltering behind the giant doughnut. Madoka! Sayaka! Make a contract with me and you can save her!

Even as Madoka and Sayaka clutched at each other in horror, the worm's garish eyes narrowed and it lunged straight for the cat standing over Mami--

Seconds later, it was all over.

***

Mami woke sprawled on the ground outside the hospital in her school uniform, staring up at the darkened sky. Homura Akemi leaned over her, purifying Mami's soul gem with a grief seed. As her gem's luster was restored, strength returned to Mami's body and she was able to gingerly ease herself upright.

Kaname and Miki hovered a few feet away, watching the two magical girls with widened eyes--he former clutching a familiar black cat with golden eyes to her chest as if to ward off further disaster. Yoruichi bore this treatment remarkable patience, no doubt accustomed to far worse indignities from Mr. Urahara. Aside from their little group, the plaza was deserted.

"It's all right," Akemi said in her quiet monotone as she stepped away. The grief seed vanished as she tucked it away behind the shield on her arm, and so did her magical girl outfit.

Mami appreciated that she did not add I told you so, even though Akemi had every right to rub it in. Nearly dying in front of potential recruits was already humiliating enough.

"Thank you," Mami said, unable to keep the coldness out of her own voice. She knew she ought to be grateful, but she didn't like owing Akemi anything, especially not with witnesses on the scene. Maybe it would be easier if Akemi acted like something mattered to her for once--or if she actually said what she meant instead of being so damn cryptic.

"Mami! You're alive!" Miki cried in relief. "We thought you were--"

Kaname let go of Yoruichi long enough to throw herself into Mami's arms, sobbing in relief. Mami hugged Kaname back, ruffling her hair as Miki joined in for a group hug. Yoruichi rubbed against Mami's leg, golden eyes gleaming in the darkness as he purred.

"Yes, well," Mami said, doing her best to comfort them, even though she was still shaking herself. "I told you being a magical girl is very dangerous work. What were you thinking wandering into a labyrinth like that on your own, Miki?"

"I, uh--" Miki stammered, a blush rising over her cheeks. "I just didn't want anyone to get hurt! There are so many innocent people here--"

Right. She and Kaname been visiting her 'friend' at the hospital when they'd discovered the witch, so Miki had a personal stake in this. That explained a lot.

"Well, thanks to Akemi here, everything turned out fine," Mami said, gritting her teeth as she exchanged nods with the transfer student. No matter the circumstances, she would be polite and gracious and maintain what little dignity she had left. "I thought there was no way anyone could escape from my ribbons, but it's lucky for me that you did," she added as an aside.

Akemi shot a pointed look at Yoruichi. "Your ribbons were quite the effective restraint. Were it not for this animal knocking you unconscious and breaking the spell, I would not have been in a position to interfere."

"Oh." Mami rubbed her cheek where she vaguely recalled a black blur--Yoruichi?--slamming into her. Between the grief seed and her augmented healing powers, there was no scar or even a bruise, but she did have a throbbing headache. "Yoruichi-san? What were you doing following me? How did you get into the labyrinth in the first place?"

Yoruichi met her gaze with inscrutable calm and a wink. Mami wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or relieved that the shinigami cat was pretending to be normal now that they had an audience.

"I didn't know you had a cat, Mami!" Kaname bubbled, her earlier distress eclipsed by her love for cute animals. "That's so cool! I love cats!"

Akemi raised an eyebrow. Mami blushed.

"I--uh, he's not mine, but he follows me around sometimes. He's very intelligent." She reached out to pat Yoruichi's head, deliberately pitching her voice in the same higher register that Mr. Urahara used when addressing him. "Aren't you, Yoruichi-san~~~?"

Yoruichi refused to rise to the bait.

"What? No apologies for putting yourself in danger like that?" Mami chided. "Cat got your tongue?"

Yoruichi let out a delicate little mew.

Everyone--even Mami--laughed at that. Only then did she realize someone was missing. "Where's Kyubey?"

Akemi shrugged. "Who knows?"

Mami's eyes narrowed. "You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"I told you I would guarantee his safety. But your feline friend made no such promises." The faintest hint of a smile crossed Akemi's face. "He decided to retreat elsewhere before it came to blows."

"Ah, well," Mami sighed, trying to recover her wits at this unexpected turn of events. "So much for hoping the two of them would get along..."

"Well, then, I'll be off," Akemi said. "Burn this sight into your minds, you two," she added to Kaname and Miki, flipping her long black hair back over her shoulder. "Death could strike at any moment. This is what it means to be a magical girl."

Both Kaname and Miki were subdued enough that Akemi's warning might have actually sunk in. Despite all Mami's cautions, this last inadvertent lesson had destroyed their illusions in a way that no abstract lecture could.

There was no way Kaname could look up to Mami anymore after witnessing such an incredible failure. She hadn't said anything yet, but it was clear from the way the girl carried herself that she now regretted her impulsive promise to fight alongside Mami. No one would choose to risk their life like this if they didn't have to--especially not when they couldn't even think up a wish!

"Wait!" Mami called after Akemi's retreating figure.

Akemi paused, but did not turn. "Yes?"

"Walpurgisnacht is coming," Mami said.

"Yes," Akemi said.

"You know about it?"

Akemi hesitated. "That would be... telling," she said at last.

Damn her! Mami gathered her wits and tried again. "Is it responsible for the anomalies in the space-time continuum or is it something else?"

"Yes," Akemi said simply and walked off.

I don't know why I even bother trying to reach out to her, Mami thought with a sigh as the three girls and the cat stared after the lone figure as she vanished into the dark.

Chapter Text

Kaname and Miki hovered awkwardly around Mami, uncertain what to say or do next in the aftermath of Akemi's abrupt departure. Wide-eyed and silent, they kept shooting nervous glances back and forth at each other, unable to believe Mami's assurances that she was fine.

"Trust me, I'm all right," Mami said with more bravado than she felt. She dusted herself off and rose to her feet to demonstrate, more gingerly than she would have liked. "If magical girls were really so fragile, I would have died a long time ago. Our magic helps us recover more quickly. Remember how I healed Kyubey's wounds the other day?"

Not buying her display of toughness for an instant, Yoruichi turned his golden, inscrutable gaze in her direction but didn't comment.

"You two should go home. It's late, and I'm sure your parents will be worried about you," Mami said, summoning every remaining ounce of energy to keep her tone upbeat and cheerful. "Next time, call me before you go off investigating witches on your own. You have my number, right?"

Of course, they didn't. It had been so long since anyone had a reason to call Mami that she kept forgetting she owned a phone in the first place. At Mami's urging, both girls dutifully recorded her cell number in their devices, but their body language made it clear they were only going through the motions to humor her. Their earlier enthusiasm for a career as magical girls was all but extinguished in the wake of the botched battle.

Mami's heart ached at how Kaname refused to meet her eyes, embarrassed by her impulsive promise to fight now that she understood the risks. It looked like Homura Akemi would get her wish after all. Both Kaname and Miki would remain uncontracted, leaving Mami to fight on as best she coud alone.

Maybe not completely alone, she thought, considering the black cat beside her.

"Well, that was interesting," Yoruichi said, once the two girls were safely out of earshot.

"Yoruichi-san!" Mami scolded, not sure whether to be annoyed or relieved by the cat's sudden reversion to human speech. "How did you get inside the labyrinth? Were you following me?"

Perhaps it was churlish to lecture the cat for violating her privacy--Yoruichi had saved her life, after all. Shouldn't Mami be grateful it had all worked out? Even so, the cat should have said something earlier--otherwise she could have very well mistaken him for a familiar and shot at him by accident--

Yoruichi yawned and stretched leisurely to his full length, completely indifferent to Mami's reproach. "I overheard your conversation with Kaname outside the shop about a witch and I wanted to see what one of those creatures looked like for myself. It wasn't like the labyrinth was difficult to get into--I just slipped in after Akemi. I caught up with you all just in time to see that caterpillar creature burst out of that doll-thing and then my instincts took over. Kisuke would never let me live it down if anything happened to you on my watch, you know."

"Thank you," Mami said, oddly touched by this unexpected display of loyalty. "I owe you my life." You and Akemi both, she thought, but didn't say.

She wanted to ask Yoruichi about his antipathy towards Kyubey, but couldn't figure out a diplomatic way to phrase the question. Even if they were both intelligent enough to talk, Kyubey did look like prey; maybe the same feline instincts that had driven the cat to attack the witch had gotten the better of him again. And Akemi had made it clear that Yoruichi hadn't actually hurt the fluffy little creature, so...

Her head throbbed and she lost her train of thought. She'd hurt for another few days--the magic expedited the healing but did little for the pain.

"I guess I should go home now..." she muttered.

The cat's tail twitched back and forth like a living black ribbon. "You shouldn't be alone right now. Let's go back to the shop."

Too numb to argue, Mami followed Yoruichi back on the now-familiar route to the Urahara Candy Shop. A handwritten sign on the door claimed it to be 'closed,' but the door pushed open easily under Mami's hand at Yoruichi's urging, and the two of them slipped inside.

The shop itself was was dark except for a single oil lamp on the table at the far end of the room, casting everything else into deep shadow. Mr Urahara sat cross-legged on the tatami as if expecting them, still in the garish green jinbei and matching haori that Mami was beginning to suspect were the only clothes he owned.

"Welcome home, Yoruichi-san. Welcome, Miss Tomoe," he said gravely, his solemnity a mirror of their own. "Shall we have tea?"

Mami nodded slowly, not trusting her voice.

"You know I don't do tea, Kisuke," Yoruichi said, jumping nimbly up onto the platform beside his master.

"Of course there will be milk for Yoruichi-san," Mr. Urahara agreed without missing a beat.

"And tuna if you have any," the cat said.

Mr. Urahara chuckled at his wheedling tone, but Mami didn't have the energy to laugh.

"Spirits are always with you!" a deep and imposing voice bellowed from behind the shoji screen separating the public and private parts of the house, right in Mami's ear.

Mami started and dropped to one knee, her heart pounding as she scanned the room for enemies. None were forthcoming, but that didn't stop her from raising her soul gem up as a protective shield--only to be taken aback by a chorus of hysterical laughter on the other side of the wall.

"Now, now, no need to be alarmed," Mr. Urahara said soothingly, as if her reaction was utterly natural. "You arrived right in the middle of Jinta and Ururu's favorite program, Cazh Soul. Now let's see about that tea, eh? Oi, Tessai~~~!"

A few minutes later, Mr. Tsubakishi had supplied the trio with two steaming mugs of tea, a bowl of milk, and a heaping platter of oddly-shaped but tasty wagashi before retreating behind the screen to supervise Jinta and Ururu with the television.

"No tuna?" Yoruichi called at Mr. Tsubakishi's broad and muscular back.

"We're out," Mr. Tsubakishi said without missing a beat. "I'll go out tomorrow and pick some more up tomorrow."

Yoruichi sighed. "Figures. Ah, well, I suppose milk will have to do."

"Temper, temper, Yoruichi-san!" Mr. Urahara said. "Now, Miss Tomoe, what have you been up to in order to get this one in such a foul mood?"

"She fought a witch, Kisuke," Yoruichi said bluntly into the silence.

Mami opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. All the churning emotions she had managed to keep under control until now--anger, shame, guilt, humiliation, fear--rose up in her chest, clogging her throat. Tears welled up and she fought them back, staring at the floor in hopes that no one else would notice.

Mr. Urahara generously ignored her lapse in control as he waited for her to recover herself. "Tell me about this... witch," he said gently when she had pulled herself together again.

Mami did. Slowly, haltingly, pausing every now and then for a gulp of tea, she sketched out everything that had happened since she had left the store earlier that afternoon, leaving nothing out, not even the parts that made her look bad. There was no point in lying to puff up her ego, even if she had been so inclined, since Yoruichi had been there to witness everything.

"Yoruichi-san! My bold, valiant kitty! Such a fighter!" Mr. Urahara cooed when Mami finished her tale, much to Yoruichi's annoyance. "And Miss Tomoe, too, of course!" he added quickly.

"I was careless," Mami said, staring at the tatami again. "Yoruichi-san saved my life, and Akemi defeated the witch without me."

"Now, now, don't be so hard on yourself. If it's any consolation, even an experienced shinigami with twenty years of combat experience would have trouble with a witch like that one," Mr. Urahara said.

Mami's head jerked up, her eyes wide. "You think so?"

"Of course! And in the end, there was no lasting harm done, and you'll never make a mistake like that again, will you?"

"N-no," she admitted.

"Well, then, what's the problem?"

"I'm so weak!" Mami burst out all in a rush.

"Stop making the house guest cry, you bastard!" Jinta shouted from the next room, rattling the shoji in emphasis.

"Oh-ho-ho, looks like Jinta-kun really does have a crush on Miss Tomoe after all~~~~!" Mr. Urahara trilled.

Jinta wrenched open the dividers for a counterattack, his face flaming as red as his hair. "SHUT UP, OLD MAN!" he shouted, before he slammed the shoji shut in hasty retreat.

"More tea, Miss Tomoe?" Mr. Urahara said pleasantly, as if the interruption had never happened.

"What? Oh, yes," Mami said, and let him pour her another cup.

They sat together in silence for several minutes before Mami said "Did it hurt when you... died?"

"Hmmm." Mr. Urahara settled back on his cushion, watching her with hooded eyes. The dark circles there appeared to be permanent, as did the blond stubble on his chin. Did he ever shave?

"I can't speak from personal experience," he said at last. "I was born into Soul Society."

Wait, what? "Born?" Mami repeated incredulously.

Mr. Urahara shrugged. "It sounds like a contradiction, I know, but most of the shinigami were born into Soul Society and retain no memory or connection to the world of the living. When a formerly living soul--or 'Plus,' as we call them-- arrives in Soul Society, it might retain its personality from its previous life, but it fades over time unless that individual possesses high levels of spiritual power."

"So my parents wouldn't remember me anymore?" Mami said, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "I thought maybe if I died, I would see them again--"

"Probably not," Mr. Urahara agreed.

"Is there a chance"--Mami took a deep breath--"is there a chance my parents could still be here in this world?"

"I suppose so, but it would depend on when they died. Most Pluses pass on to Soul Society immediately after death. Every now and then one might linger on as a ghost, tied to this world by the regrets or things left undone, invisible to all who lack strong spiritual powers."

"Two years ago. Car accident." It was so hard to get the words out. They had died and she had lived--because in her panic, she'd only thought of herself. They died because I didn't save them.

Mr. Urahara sucked in a breath. "It's certainly possible... but you have to understand that it shouldn't be something you hope for. One of the jobs of the shinigami are to locate these stuck souls and perform konso--soul burial--so they can move on to Soul Society. We try to move quickly, because the longer the Plus remains in the Human World, the more likely they are to lose their heart and degrade into a hollow."

"You mentioned hollows before when I first met you. What are they?"

"Have you ever seen a witch with a mask? A white, bony, skull-like covering on its face that shatters when you hit it and destroys the witch?" Mr. Urahara asked.

"I don't think so," Mami said. "Witches take all kinds of different forms. I keep looking for patterns, but there's no obvious rhyme or reason to it."

"Ah, well, perhaps things are different here in Mitakihara. In Karakura, degraded souls transform into cursed beings we call 'hollows' because of the hole in their chest where their heart used to be. Because they have no heart, they are always hungry, hunting both the living and the dead in a vain effort to satisfy their hunger.

"Each hollow has a unique form that reflects the soul that originally gave birth to it, along with a bone mask somewhere on its body. When a shinigami destroys that mask with their zanpakutou, it purifies the hollow, transforming it back into an ordinary spirit and moving on to Soul Society at last."

"They don't have grief seeds?" Mami said.

"No, not as such," Mr. Urahara admitted. "It may be that witches are are a kind of hollow with special abilities that are unique to this area. Perhaps these witches are so good at consuming the souls of the dead that you don't see ghosts or hollows here the way you would elsewhere. Or something else entirely may be responsible. I'm still trying to figure out the basic mechanics."

"My parents wouldn't become monsters," Mami said. "They were good people."

Good people. Kind people. Loving parents who deserved better than to die because their daughter was selfish enough to wish for herself instead of others.

"Like I said, it's highly likely that they quickly passed on to Soul Society if you didn't see their spirits lingering in the vicinity of the crash," Mr. Urahara said. "I don't think you have to worry about them."

"I guess so," Mami said, reluctant to let go of the idea. "I just thought... it would be nice if I could see them again."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Mr. Urahara said. "Perhaps they've even been reborn by now in the human world and are enjoying their new lives. Thus, when you are out saving people from the witches, you are also protecting them as well, even if neither they nor you will ever know it."

Some protector I am, Mami thought bitterly. Yoruichi-san and Akemi did most of the work tonight. I was utterly useless. No wonder Kaname and Miki don't want to work with me anymore.

"And now, Miss Tomoe, may I suggest you get some rest?" Mr. Urahara suggested. "You've had a long day today, and you'll feel better with a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, I can demonstrate some techniques I know that might help you regain your old confidence."

Mami's face burned and she ducked her head. "I don't mean to be a burden," she said quickly.

"No, no, trouble at all. I love training," Mr. Urahara said with gusto. "Tomorrow after school, we'll begin your first lesson! But sleep first! Nighty-night!"

"Spirits are always with you!" Jinta and Ururu shrieked on the other side of the wall along with the man from the television before laughing themselves into another round of hysterics. This time, Mami didn't panic, but the phrase echoed in the back of her mind all the way back to her apartment.

If Mr. Urahara was right, her parents might be at peace, but that didn't mean their daughter was any less haunted.

***

"I don't like this," Yoruichi said, pacing the floor in human form. She had offered her own account--clothed, for once--in the privacy of the bedroom after Mami Tomoe's departure. "I've never seen a hollow that could bend reality like this before. That girl would have died if I hadn't been there to distract it."

"It seems your instincts to shadow Miss Tomoe paid off," Urahara agreed. "Despite her previous experiences, she was clearly unsettled by such a close call tonight."

"And that Homura Akemi girl--I've never seen anyone move so fast," Yoruichi said--high praise from the woman known throughout Soul Society as the Goddess of Flash. "She's either a self-taught shunpo master, or she's using a technique I don't recognize."

"You got footage, I trust?"

Yoruichi fished the tiny spycam out of the pocket of her robe. "Analyze at your leisure."

"Thank you," Urahara said. "It's a poor substitute for being there myself, but it will have to do for now."

"Well, there will definitely be other opportunities. According to Tomoe, witches and their so-called 'familiars' appear in Mitakihara all the time, even though none of the SRDI monitors are detecting them at anything like the rates she's implying."

"Yes, well, hmmmm." Urahara thought for a moment. "Do you think the witches are responsible for the space-time distortions the SRDI did detect, though?"

Yoruichi stopped pacing. "Honestly, Kisuke? My gut says no, or at least not completely. That creature Tomoe and Akemi fought was intelligent, but it only distorted space in its own personal bubble...." Her voice trailed off. "But if that's the case, where do they come from?"

"Miss Tomoe said they were born from human curses," Mr. Urahara said. "So perhaps the hollows in Mitakihara have manifested new abilities? Or some influence in the area is manipulating them into these unusual forms?" He shook his head. "I'll ask Akon if any of the researchers at the SRDI picked up any unusual reiatsu fluctuations tonight. That ought to tell us something."

Yoruichi nodded. "Oh, and one more thing. I met this Kyubey creature she keeps talking about. The video didn't pick it up, obviously, but it uses telepathy to speak in peoples' heads. I don't know what it is, but it's like nothing I've ever seen before."

"Oh? How so?"

"It has no smell, Kisuke. By any rights, it ought to be cold, sterile, and dead. But it's alive, as far as I can tell. It may not even be from this world--or any of the others we know of."

"Intriguing," Urahara said."Anything else I should be aware of?"

"Does the name 'Walpurgisnacht' ring any bells?"

There was absolutely no chance he was getting any sleep tonight. "I'll add it to the list."

***

Mami woke ealy the next morning and went about her routine on autopilot, unable to focus on any of the tasks at hand. She alternated between drifting through her classes like a sleepwalker and jumping at the slightest sound, as if a witch might pop out at her at any moment and eat her alive in the middle of a calculus lesson.

It was utterly ridiculous. She'd faced down death every day for the last two years. Why was she having a breakdown now, of all times, just when she needed to set a strong example?

Maybe it was because for one shining moment, she had thought she wasn't alone anymore, that Kaname, at least, would be with her, fight with her, believe in her, from now on. To have that dream snatched away so quickly--because of her failure with the witch--hurt more than any physical wounds, or even the affront to her dignity.

Unable to stand her classmates' good cheer, Mami retreated to the tower above the school during the noon break. From her aerial perch, she was relieved to spy Kyubey sitting with Kaname and Miki on the rooftop of the main building where the two of them liked to eat lunch, no worse the wear from the scuffle with Yoruichi the night before.

Mami was too far away to catch any words of their conversation, but based on their their hunched shoulders and grim expressions, the two girls were still in shock from last night's events and not receptive to Kyubey's overtures. They shook their heads in unison at him, which seemed to mark the end of the conversation, and hee turned away, waving his tail at them in what was obviously some sort of farewell, before bounding along the fence and leaping the gap up to Mami.

Greetings, Mami! That was a close call last night, wasn't it? he said as he settled beside her.

Mami flushed. She'd hoped he wouldn't mention it. "I'm fine," she assured him. "I was more worried about what had happened to you."

There was an unfortunate altercation with an ostensibly domesticated animal. As both it and Homura Akemi were markedly hostile towards me, I decided the most prudent solution was temporary withdrawal.

Homura Akemi had promised not to murder Kyubey in exchange for her help against the witch--and had kept both ends of the bargain in spite of what Mami had done to her. "I'm sorry," Mami said, not sure whether she was apologizing to Kyubey or Akemi.

Why? You are not responsible for either of their actions.

It was kind of him to say so, but she didn't believe it for a moment. None of this would have happened if she hadn't frozen to a halt at the worst possible moment. Akemi wouldn't have had to step in, and Mami would have been able to stop Yoruichi from harassing Kyubey in the first place--

She wished she could ask Kyubey about Mr. Urahara--but, mindful of her promise to hold off for the time being, steered the conversation to another topic that had been bothering her. "Kyubey, does my soul gem have a name?"

Kyubey paused. I suppose you could call it whatever name you like, he said at last, but it seems to me that 'Mami Tomoe' would be the most accurate label for it.

Mami chuckled, though it wasn't meant as a joke--sometimes Kyubey could be awfully literal about things. She doubted Mr. Urahara would have made such a fuss about it in the first place if it was really that easy--his own sword had a different name, after all--but it seemed this was yet another shinigami thing that Kyubey didn't know about. Oh, well.

"I guess so," she said, and let the matter drop. Playing with the ring on her left hand, she stared out over the city, lost in thought.

On the rooftop below, Kaname and Miki were still huddled together, their lunches abandoned as they clung to each other for support. A part of Mami envied their closeness, even as another part of her wanted to roll her eyes at their reaction. If those two were really so fragile that they couldn't handle the inherent danger of life as a magical girl, then perhaps it was better for everyone if they didn't contract...

But how could they go back to their former lives as if nothing had happened, now that they knew what monsters prowled this city? No matter what choice they made now, their innocence--and their joy--was gone for good.

"I don't think Kaname and Miki are going to become magical girls after all," Mami said aloud, wondering how Kyubey was taking this setback.

Perhaps, perhaps not, Kyubey said, serenely undisturbed by either prospect. Mami envied that unflappable calm right now. Right now, they both say no--but they may yet find something to wish for that's worth risking their lives.

"You think so?"

We'll see, Kyubey said. Well, it's been nice to catch up with you. Later, Mami!

When she looked over in his direction again, he was gone.

***

Mami spent the rest of the afternoon filled with an edgy restlessness, haunted by her own failures and the looming specter of Walpurgisnacht on the horizon. Akemi's interference last night had saved Mami's life at the cost driving away the two magical girl candidates she'd hoped to have fully trained by the witch's arrival. Now she was back in the same predicament as before, with even worse options.

If Walpurgisnacht was as powerful as Kyubey claimed, Mami didn't relish the thought of taking the witch on by herself. But maybe--if she could do Mr. Tsubakishi's fire cannon trick without darkening her soul gem--she wouldn't need help--

Mr. Urahara was all too eager to begin the lesson when she arrived at the shop after school. "Let's start with a visual aid!" He yanked down a whiteboard from the ceiling above the tatami, upon which he began to draw a bewildering number of stick figures with varying degrees of verisimilitude.

"Every spiritual being and every human has a certain quantity of reiryoku, or spiritual energy," he said, sliding smoothly into lecture mode. "If this amount is higher than a certain degree, it grants the person superhuman abilities. Those with such an above-average level of spiritual energy are very rare among living humans."

"Is this what Kyubey calls 'latent talent'?" Mami asked.

"Most likely yes. The most basic ability that humans with a higher level of spiritual energy have is the ability to see ghosts--usually Pluses, but occasionally shinigami or hollows. Shinigami are essentially souls in Soul Society with very high levels of spiritual power who receive special training to utilize their powers and are tasked to preserve the balance between worlds. They also fight hollows and other spirits who prey on weaker souls.

"Full disclosure: the best way to increase one's spiritual prowess is often through carefully structured life-or-death situations," Mr. Urahara added ominously.

"W-what are you talking about?" Mami stammered.

"Like an potential magical girl trainee tagging along on a witch hunt, there is no way to master shinigami magic without the danger of grievous bodily injury," he translated.

"Oh."

"So before we begin, Miss Tomoe, I must know: are you prepared to take the risk?"

Mami hesitated. There was still so much she didn't know about Mr. Urahara and the entire world he represented, so many ways this could all go horribly wrong. But if this was the only way to grow stronger--to make up for her failure yesterday and grow strong enough to take on Walpurgisnach--then she would have to chance it.

It was like that first meeting with Kyubey all over again, poised on the abyss between life and death, where she'd made the choice to survive no matter the cost. Mr. Urahara was offering her a similar choice now: struggle on as she was, or embrace a new kind of life that would utterly transform her existence. But if she chose the latter course, her path was set: there would be no going back, the dangers would be great, and nothing would ever be the same.

Mami nodded soberly, hoping she wouldn't regret this later.

Mr. Urahara smiled and rolled up the white board with a dramatic flourish. "All right, then, Miss Tomoe, that's enough theory for now. Let's go to the study room for the practical."

***

The first step in the process was for Urahara to analyze Miss Tomoe's current abilities in order to determine what techniques would be most appropriate for her--and test his hypotheses about how her powers worked. At his prompting, Miss Tomoe obligingly manifested her soul gem into its jewel form and summoned her costume in a dramatic sequence of light and color.

"Very nice," Urahara commented when the transformation was complete. "Does it always, er, take so long, though?"

"Not always," Miss Tomoe admitted. "I can shift much faster if I have to, but it's fun to let it go on a little if there's no particular rush. I don't usually have an audience, you know, but even so, it's important to look good."

"Fair enough," Urahara agreed, covering his face with his fan to hide his amusement. He'd thought about bringing out the Amazing Headband of Justice, just to see how she would take it, but the joke was on him; magical girls came with their own ready-made equivalent that actually worked, which took all the fun away.

Even though he'd seen the technique last night in the footage Yoruichi had pulled from the Dessert Witch's labyrinth, it was still incredibly startling when Miss Tomoe started pulling firearms seemingly out of thin air. That was an illusion, of course--going frame by frame, Urahara had been spotted the ribbons manifesting in her hand before they coalesced into their final form.

A gun zanpakutou was all but unheard of among shinigami. The only one Urahara could think of off the top of his head belonged to the late and unlamented Sousuke Aizen's most powerful Arrancar, who had sealed his spiritual power in a broken-off chunk of his soul intelligent enough to function as a seemingly separate individual. Given what Urahara suspected soul gems were capable of, the comparison might not be so far off.

"So all of the guns are formed from ribbons?" Urahara said aloud, trying to sound innocent.

Miss Tomoe shot him a surprised look. She clearly hadn't expected him to notice. "All of my powers relate back to ribbons in one form or another. I can use them to imprison or bind an opponent, or knit damaged flesh together to heal wounds. Discovering I could transform the ribbons into other physical objects was a great help."

"Why guns, though?"

"It's easier to fight witches if you don't get too close."

He couldn't argue with that logic. Urahara was skilled with the sword, but he, too, preferred to avoid a direct fight whenever possible--especially with anything so clever and unpredictable like the creature captured on last night's recording.

"And the flintlocks?" he pressed.

Miss Tomoe blushed again. "They're the only firearm I can make with a single ribbon--all of the others have too many moving parts. The larger guns work on the same basic principle, only with more power. I haven't figured out how to make anything more complicated capable of firing multiple shots at a time yet. But maybe someday..."

The implications of that statement were astounding. Miss Tomoe had taught herself the engineering required to create a complicated piece of machinery out of ribbons. On her own. At the tender age of thirteen. Give her a few more years and a slightly more structured education and there was no telling what she might be capable of--

Needless to say, she was also an excellent shot. At his request, she was delighted to demonstrate her signature move, Tiro Finale--the one with the giant cannon--which resulted in a smoking crater several meters deep in the floor at the far end of the study chamber a few seconds later.

"Unlike your magic, I don't need to say the words, I just like it," she admitted sheepishly as the dust subsided.

"Nothing wrong with taking out an opponent in style," Urahara agreed with a wink as they examined her handiwork. "However, there are times when a flashy approach may be the wrong one."

She thought for a moment and shuddered--no doubt recalling the garish cartoon worm from the hospital labyrinth that had bounced back from Tiro Finale unscathed. "I suppose you're right," she said at last.

Urahara peered at the gem on her hairpiece, where a faint but noticeable black smear was encroaching upon the otherwise golden surface. "And this is the darkness you were talking about on your soul gem as a consequence of using your magic? Very wise and prudent of you not to expend any more energy than necessary, then!"

"So can you teach me your kind of magic, then?" Miss Tomoe said. "You can see how not having to rely on grief seeds would be a huge asset for me against the witches--"

"Perhaps," Urahara said thoughtfully. "Your ribbons are similar to many of our kido techniques, but with entirely different constraints--more versatile in some ways, but no doubt with limitations in other areas. But let's experiment, shall we?"

He started off with a demonstration of the one of the simplest bakudo techniques, which generated a rope of spirit particles to immobilize one's opponent. Miss Tomoe's attempts to replicate the spell went poorly, though not for any lack of enthusiasm on her part. Even though it was very similar on the surface to the powers she had already demonstrated, she could only manifest her usual ribbons. Her soul gem darkened further and further--and with it, her temper--as the afternoon progressed.

Finally, Urahara was forced to call a halt. "It seems like the differences between these two kinds of magic are great enough that I don't know how best to advise you just yet. However," he added as her face fell, "we may have more success with a different approach. Why don't we see what happens if you reach out to your soul gem the way a shinigami would communicate with their zanpakutou?"

"How do I do that?"

"Oh, nothing too extreme," he said with a casual wave of his fan. "Quiet meditation and near-death experiences are the traditional methods, but let's start with quiet meditation for now, hmm?"

He gestured for her to take a seat, and did the same on a nearby boulder, laying the cane holding Benihime across his lap. "Like so. Close your eyes, and breathe in and out, concentrating on your soul gem."

Miss Tomoe did as she was bid, and Urahara settled in to watch and observe. If this didn't work, there was always the Tenshintai in the storeroom upstairs, but he didn't think either of them were ready for such drastic measures yet.

***

Mami sat still for as long as she could, trying not to fidget as she focused her attention on the soul gem in her palm. Despite Mr. Urahara's earlier warnings, the lesson so far had been extremely straightforward--this even more so. Meditation might be boring, but it certainly wasn't dangerous.

The idea that her soul gem have a personality of its own still seemed like a ridiculous prank Mr. Urahara had concocted to torment her. Kyubey might not know much about shinigami, but he was an expert on soul gems--surely he would have told her by now if there was some secret power she had yet to unlock, especially after their conversation at lunch earlier in the day. And even if her soul gem was like Mr. Urahara's sword somehow, and she could talk to it, what was she supposed to say?

Still, if there was a chance this would help her be strong enough to face Walpurgisnacht, Mami was willing to try.

Hello? she thought at the glowing yellow stone cradled in her lap, feeling utterly stupid. She'd failed at the kido lesson, and she was probably going to fail at this, too. Is anyone there?

The soul gem flared at the question, bright enough that she registered the flash even with her eyes closed. Startled, she opened her eyes and stared at the gem--now swirling with black in the aftermath of her kido attempts--only to be pulled through the surface into the depths.

The brilliant blue painted sky of the study chamber vanished and everything went gray as she landed in a crumpled heap on--concrete?

Mami stood up, trembling. She was alone on an empty highway, without a single car in sight. Gray skies ominously portending rain hovered above her, mirroring the equally gray expanse of concrete that stretched out in both directions before it was swallowed up by equally gray mist. The only color in the world was the yellow lines marking the lanes, a bright vivid splash of gold all the more shocking against the otherwise endless gray. A fierce gust of wind tugged at her hair before all was still again.

Is this *inside* my soul gem? But how--

Laughter rang in the distance, high-pitched, hysterical, and faint. She cupped a hand over one ear to try and locate the direction of the sound--only to recoil from the distinctive itching, burning aura of a nearby witch.

A witch? What was a witch doing here? Mami couldn't possibly be inside her soul gem--this had to be a labyrinth. But if this wasn't her gem, then where had she ended up and how could she get back to the relative safety of the study chamber?

Mami set her in jaw. In a labyrinth, you wandered until you found the witch and then you killed it. This didn't feel like an ordinary labyrinth, but no doubt the same principles would apply.

She set out up the road towards the presence at a brisk pace; the road bending and curving as she followed it onward. Thanks to the blinding fog, there was no way to see what awaited her, which only deepened her unease.

Something crunched under her boots, and she paused, glancing down at her feet in shock. She stood in a sea of glass shards cracked in a familiar hairline pattern--still connected in places by spidery threads, just like the shattered remnants of a car windshield.

Exactly like a car windshield, in fact.

Oh, no--

Witches loved car accidents. Whether they were born from them or not, they thrived on making more, luring innocent humans to their doom in pile-ups of blood and metal. This wasn't the first highway accident caused by witches that Mami had seen on a highway, and it likely wouldn't be the last. But it was her duty as a magical girl to stop them and keep this witch from hurting anybody else--

She ducked her head and ran, grinding the glass under her heels as she prayed her arrival would be in time to save the victims. Seconds later, the wreck loomed out of the mist: a truck on its side, a smaller silver car crumpled against metal guard marking the edge of the highway--

Unhinged laughter rang in her ears. A single black feather the length of Mami's arm floated lazily down in front of her, before it was caught on another gust of wind. It looped in mid-air around her for a moment before whipping out of sight.

She was too late.

The witch---a giant, many-winged raven with a disturbing number of hooked beaks and sickly yellow eyes scattered liberally across its malformed and shrunken body--cawed harshly with laughter as it launched into the air, easily dodging the bullet Mami fired with the rifle she pulled from her sleeve. Seconds later, it was swallowed up by the gray fog and she was alone again once more.

Mami dropped the useless gun to the pavement, and swore, chanting all of Kyouko's favorite curses in rapid succession--including the ones she would never, ever, repeat in polite company. It got away. I failed, I failed, I failed--

She shook herself and forced herself to focus; there was no use castigating herself now. There might still be survivors who would need her help. As long as they weren't already dead, she ought to be able to heal them with her magic. It's what I would have wanted someone to do for me back then--

She started for the battered car, only to stop short at a familiar silhouette on the barricade nearby. Kyubey's white fur was neatly camouflaged in the grayscale landscape, making him almost impossible to spot when he wasn't moving. He could have been there this whole time and Mami wouldn't have noticed if not for a glimpse of his bright red eyes.

"Kyubey!" Mami called, sagging with relief, but he ignored her, turning back to stare in the direction he'd come. She followed his gaze, drawing back in shock as the mist cleared enough to reveal the dark blur of the raven-witch hovering over the side of the highway, waiting.... for what?

Mami reached for another gun and prepared to fire--only to pause in utter astonishment as the witch flapped its wings and whined greedily. It pranced up and down before Kyubey, more like a dog begging its owner for a treat than an untamed monstrosity.

The red ring on Kyubey's back popped open, and a grief seed emerged, hovering in the air above him. Kyubey nodded and the seed swept forward; the raven immediately snatched it out of the air with the nearest beak.

The bird-witch swallowed the seed whole and bugled with satisfaction, swelling and gleaming with the influx of darkness. It made the same whine, as if begging for another piece, this time with no success. With a flick of his paw, Kyubey dismissed it and the witch zoomed away into the mist with an angry squawk, leaving only a single dark feather floating in its wake.

"Kyubey?" Mami said slowly, unable to believe her eyes. She had watched Kyubey 'consume' grief seeds on a regular basis--but never pull one out before--let alone feed it to a witch! What was going on here?

The flintlock slipped from her fingertips and clattered to the ground. Mami winced, expecting Kyubey would turn any moment and ask her what she was doing, but once again, he ignored her. He leapt off the barricade and raced past her--no, through her--towards the wreckage of the silver car. There was a soft cry from inside, and Mami turned just in time to catch a glimpse of blonde curls in the backseat through the shattered sunroof--a grasping hand reaching for the light--

She froze as Kyubey settled on the edge of the sunroof and realization kicked in.

She'd been wrong about everything from the beginning. That wasn't just any wreck--this was hers--

NO!

Mami jerked backwards and collapsed in a heap on the dusty ground of the study room, her soul gem clenched in her fists. The sudden shift back to color was jarring after so much gray and she lay on her back, panting, as her eyes adjusted, unable to process what had just happened.

Her view of the bright blue 'sky' was broken by Mr. Urahara's shadow looming over her. "Are you all right, Miss Tomoe?"

"Yes," Mami lied. She shrunk the soul gem back to its ring form and scrabbled hastily to her feet, awkward and embarrassed to be caught out like this. "I just--that was unexpected, that's all."

"Tell me about it."

She did her best, skipping over the part where Kyubey appeared to be rewarding with the witch, which didn't make any sense at all. Mami hoped Mr. Urahara would be able to make sense of it all, but he seemed as puzzled by the vision as she was.

"I don't understand what this means," she said when she'd finished the tale. "Is that inside my Soul Gem? Why would it show me that?"

"Very curious," Mr. Urahara agreed with a nod. "Perhaps it's trying to tell you something."

Mami's breath caught in her throat. Had a witch really caused the accident that had transformed her entire existence? Had a witch had killed her parents, and escaped? Was it still out there, repeating the cycle of wrecking cars--and with them, other girls' lives--ad infinitum?

"You think a witch really did kill my parents, then," she said slowly, hating herself more with every word.

"Witches cause accidents," she'd blithely reported to Kaname and Miki earlier this week. Why had it never occurred to her to put two and two together before?

"It seems eminently plausible," Mr. Urahara said. He patted her shoulder in sympathy. "I think that's a good place to end the lesson for the day. We can try again tomorrow once you've had a chance to rest and recover."

She nodded and followed him upstairs, still roiled by the horrible vision, especially that bit at the end. She'd never asked Kyubey how he'd found her that day. Had he been drawn there by the witch? Had he--no, she couldn't even finish the thought, it was too horrible to contemplate.

Kyubey's always been my friend. He saved my life! Sometimes, he acts a little strange, but he's never lied to me. He's dedicated his life to fighting witches--he would never *help* them--

It was just a hallucination, she told herself firmly. It doesn't mean anything. How could I have possibly witnessed something like that at the accident? I would have *remembered* it if it had really happened like that--

Now that she thought about it, she was getting a little low on magic. Maybe she should try again, once she'd had a chance to properly clean her soul gem. Perhaps all the impurities were responsible for the unsettling vision. It was a good theory, and she was proud of it.

The trouble was, she couldn't quite make herself believe it.

***

It was another typical day in Mitakihara for Kisuke Urahara--which was to say, another day with more questions than answers. Fortunately, Miss Tomoe appeared to have kept her promise and her 'friend' Kyubey was unaware of any current shinigami presence in the city, giving them much-needed breathing room to determine what the creature's game actually was.

It was also puzzling that a magical prodigy like Miss Tomoe would have trouble with even the simplest kido--not to mention her highly unusual encounter inside her soul gem. Urahara was wracking his brains in search of a theory that would explain it all, but so far any breakthroughs eluded him.

He called Akon to check in, but the third-seat didn't pick up, which was just as well, because Urahara had nothing definitive on his end to report. He left an obnoxiously cheerful voice mail requesting a detailed personnel list from the division(s) that had historically been responsible for patrolling the greater Mitakihara metropolitan area over the last hundred years, give or take a few decades in either direction. That ought to go a long way towards sorting out who in Soul Society was responsible for letting this situation unfold in the first place.

Urahara's plan was to spend the rest of the evening reviewing the footage of the training session with Miss Tomoe and writing up his copious notes. He had not factored on Tessai bursting into the lab after Miss Tomoe's departure and strong-arming him into dinner with the rest of the family, no excuses accepted.

Yoruichi Shihouin, born a princess of the House of Godly Gears and the twenty-second hereditary head of the Shihouin Clan, was in human form when when Urahara walked into the living room, wrapped in one of his old robes and absorbed in a no-holds-barred belching contest with Jinta while they waited for dinner to be served. She paused long enough to raise her eyes and grunt an acknowledgment at Urahara before diving back into the competition with gusto, which went on until Tessai set a platter loaded with five steaming bowls of his homemade ramen in front of her. Then she announced the game called 'on account of noodles' and set about devouring her meal with table manners that would make her childhood etiquette tutor cover his eyes with shame.

Urahara smiled and shook his head, settling in beside Ururu to eat his own meal at a more sedate pace. Over a century had passed since Yoruichi had chosen to abandon those titles and responsibilities and join him and Tessai on the run, and he still couldn't believe she was really here with him.

And it had been a deliberate choice on her part. She could have spirited them out of prison and remaining behind in Soul Society, with no one ever the wiser. As a scion of one of the Four Great Noble Families, she was all but immune to legal prosecution short of outright treason, and even a mastermind like Sousuke Aizen would have had trouble framing the head of the Omnitsukido secret police once she was on her guard against him. Instead she'd come with him and Tessai and they'd built a new life in the living world together, one far beyond his wildest dreams.

Born a few hours apart, Urahara and Yoruichi's lives had paralleled each other from the beginning. From their very first meeting as children--he as a lower-caste ward and apprentice of the Shihouin, she as their firstborn pampered princess--Yoruichi had leapt across the gap of class and custom separating them with such charisma that even then no one had dared to stop her.

As they grew older, her rebellion took a different form: escaping every day to the hidden cavern Urahara carved beneath the Soukyoku hill in the heart of the Seireitei. Here, Yoruichi could be free from the endless scrutiny and demands of her position--and the clan elders who sought to control her--sparring with Urahara as they tested their martial skills along with each other's patience.

Ultimately, the weighty honors and duties that had defined her entire life up to that point had been nothing more than a burden for her. Urahara and Tessai's banishment from Soul Society had liberated her as well--and Yoruichi had never once looked back or regretted her abrupt departure.

There was no one else that Urahara trusted as much as Yoruichi, no one who understood him as well as she did. Even as their childhood friendship evolved over the decades--first as captain and direct subordinate, then to fellow captains and from there to lovers--the relationship remained the same at its core, their deep, abiding connection unchanged.

It wasn't always easy. Yoruichi was a restless wanderer, prone to dropping into cat form and vanishing for years at a time on excursions of her own, asking neither permission nor forgiveness. Urahara was a homebody at heart, a crafty spider nestled in an intricate web of his own design, devoted to his research and experiments. Over the years, a compromise of sorts had evolved, allowing them to cherish their time together, while recognizing that each possessed a life of their own that did not depend on the other.

Despite Yoruichi's long absences, their rapport had only grown stronger over the years. They anticipated each other's movements in battle like a well-ordered dance, fighting like two halves of the same soul. They could finish each other's sentences and (often) each other's jokes. Even so, they were still more than capable of surprising each other after all these years, to the point where it had become a private game between them. Currently, Urahara was winning, which annoyed Yoruichi to no end.

"Two kids, Kisuke?" she'd said to him privately when she'd returned to Karakura after more than a year away to find Jinta and Ururu living in the spare bedrooms. "One, I could understand. Maybe. But two? Two? Really?"

"Yoruichi-san, I can explain--"

He could, too. Jinta had been relatively straightforward--he'd been living in the back alley behind the shop and would probably still be out there if Urahara had intervened. Ururu's case had been far more complicated, but...

Yoruichi threw up her hands in the air. "Fine. Whatever. We all need hobbies, I get it. But they're your responsibility, Kisuke. Not mine."

Despite this inauspicious beginning, she'd eventually come around after shepherding Kurosaki through Soul Society, though her relationship with both Jinta and Ururu hovered more around 'fun aunt' than anything approaching conventional motherhood.

She also made abundantly clear that she drew the line at two: "The only way we are getting another kid is if I adopt one myself, got it?"

Urahara made his best puppy dog eyes at her, playing it up for laughs. "Awww, Yoruichi-san~~~! You're so cruel to me!"

"I mean it, Kisuke! Two is more than enough!"

Tessai had no problem with Jinta and Ururu stumbling into their otherwise quiet lives--he had been their staunchest advocate from the beginning. Perhaps it was because he, like Urahara, had grown up as a ward of the Shihouin Clan, and saw traces of himself in those abandoned children.

In Soul Society, the older man had always kept himself at remove, never completely shedding the formal manners necessary for survival in the intensely status-conscious clan dramas even as all three of them grew close. Tessai, too, had made the best of his exile and domestic life at the shop agreed with him. Whether it was cooking up a storm in the kitchen or managing the day-to-day needs of the store and the children when Urahara was busy or incapacitated, Tessai was a rock, an anchor, and a force to be reckoned with, all wrapped in an exceedingly muscular package. Urahara couldn't have picked a better business partner--or co-parent--if he'd tried.

If nothing else, the Mitakihara situation was a chance for all three of them to work together, just like the old days. It had been such a bother to doppelganger the shop, but it was more than worth it; as far as Urahara was concerned, there really was no place like home.

After dinner, Tessai pulled Jinta and Ururu on dishwashing duty before Cazh Soul began, and Urahara started off for the lab--only to be cornered by Yoruichi, who had drastically different ideas about how the evening should go. Urahara played at making a fuss, but it was pretense and they both knew it; once in private, he was all too happy to oblige.

"I have a feeling we're going to have to keep a close eye on Miss Tomoe," he muttered sleepily several enjoyable hours later, his head pillowed against her shoulder.

Yoruichi chuckled. "Leave that to me."

Chapter Text

The last time Mami went to the Urahara Candy Store, Miki and Kaname got up to trouble in her absence, and the same was true tonight. There were seven texts waiting for her on her phone when she left the shop--six from Kaname and a more recent one from Miki at the top of her inbox.

Uncertain of what she would find inside, she opened the one from Miki first. It was short and to the point: DON'T WORRY ABOUT MADOKA, I TOOK CARE OF EVERYTHING!!!, followed by a bewildering stream of thumb's up, smiley face, and sword (?) emoji.

Well, that was... unexpected. Maybe Kaname would explain more?

It took several dozen more texts of varying degrees of coherency for Mami to gradually piece together the story. While she was out of cell service in the underground study room, Kaname had spotted a classmate marked with a witch's kiss walking into an abandoned warehouse along with a host of other victims, and was caught in the labyrinth herself when she attempted to intervene. She was rescued--by Miki, of all people!--who had just made a contract with Kyubey earlier that evening to heal her 'friend' in the hospital.

Miki was tremendously proud of herself for saving so many people in her very first fight--as well she should be--but Mami regretted not being there to stop the witch herself. Her guilt was amplified by her own near-brush with death the day before, along with barely-suppressed relief at not having to risk her own life again quite so soon.

But it was strange that someone as latently powerful as Kaname had gone her entire life without any close calls, only to stumble across three witches in less than a week. That was odd, to say the least, and Mami didn't like it. Were the witches unconsciously drawn to Kaname now that she was aware of their existence? Had Mami's presence in Kaname's life somehow done more harm than good?

Under other circumstances, Homura Akemi would have been Mami's first suspect, but Akemi didn't seem the type to put civilians--let alone Kaname--in harm's way. The last Akemi wanted was Kaname in danger, lest she contract with Kyubey in self-defense.

And while Kyubey certainly hadn't been shy about his desire to make a contract with Kaname, Mami couldn't imagine him ever doing something so untoward and underhanded. If it hadn't been for her strange vision in the study chamber, she would never even have suspected him--and yet, having witnessed that mysterious encounter in her soul gem, it was hard not to wonder if he might be responsible for this.

But Kyubey had been with Miki at the hospital that evening for her contract. Unless he could be in two places at once, there was no way he could have managed to maneuver a witch to trap Kaname and her classmate. It had to be a coincidence.

It was utterly absurd to suspect Kyubey of allying with witches, anyway--they were his enemy, too. Why else would he spend so much time in search of girls to fight them? Why would he even be here in Mitakihara in the first place?

For Miki's sake, Mami hoped this decision would turn out well for her in the end, but Miki seemed happy enough for now with her wish to heal her crush in the hospital. Her only regret thus far was not contracting sooner to fight the Dessert Witch the day before. Mami winced at the less-than-tactful reminder of her failure, but let it go without further comment.

As much as she would have preferred Kaname as an apprentice, Mami was determined to make the best of the situation. Miki was nowhere near as powerful as Kaname--and headstrong and impulsive to boot--but she was a quick study with a valiant heart, both of which would help. Still, Mami was going to have her hands full until Miki settled down.

By the time Mami had gotten the night's events sorted out, it was late enough that she went back to the apartment instead of patrolling, tackling the growing mountain of homework on her desk instead of witches and familiars. There was no point in letting her grades slip, even if English vocabulary and quadratic equations had little relevance to the rest of her life these days.

***

Now that Miki was officially a magical girl, Mami had no free time anymore to visit the Urahara Candy Shop--training her new apprentice was more important than anything else. Mami wasn't complaining, but she felt vaguely guilty for not having explained the situation to Mr. Urahara first. But there was no help for it--the store had no listed phone number, and Mami had no other way to contact him or anyone else there outside of a visit. She kept an eye out for Yoruichi, in case he could pass on the message, but there was no sign of the black cat anywhere.

Even when the weekend finally rolled around, Mami spent the entire time out on patrol with Miki and Kyubey, scouring the city for witches and familiars. Kaname tagged along more often than not--even though she had rejected Kyubey's offer, she couldn't seem to stay away and Mami hadn't the heart to turn her away. It was hard for Mami to be around the younger girl after letting her carefully maintained mask slip so badly, but she did her best to be a good sport about it. Kyubey, of course, was as welcoming as ever, and Miki was blissfully unaware of any awkwardness, which made it easier to bear.

Mami's one consolation was that the discomfort was mutual--Kaname still couldn't look her in the face after not following through on her promise. Every now and then, she made as if to bring the subject up again--and each time Mami made a point of graciously shutting down the conversation until Kaname took the hint and gave up.

Despite this, Mami secretly hoped that the pink-haired girl would join their little group after all. Even if she didn't, her presence was a subtle rebuke to Homura Akemi if she ever turned up again. However, Akemi had all but disappeared since that night at the hospital, which suited Mami just fine.

What Kaname needed, Mami thought, was to make up her mind once and for all to either commit to a contract or let it go. Instead, she waffled back and forth, her earnest compassion and good intentions struggling against her sense of self-preservation. Maybe Akemi had been right after all, and some girls just weren't cut out for life as a magical girl, no matter how much latent talent they possessed.

Mami was more cautious and careful than usual on their patrols, chastened by her brush with death in the battle with the Dessert Witch. To her constant chagrin, Miki had learned exactly the wrong lesson from that debacle, and charged in swinging every time. She'll do fine once she's mastered the basics--if we both survive! Mami thought in exasperation more than once over the course of the weekend.

When she wasn't hacking up familiars with her passel of magic swords, Miki was flush with triumph over the success of her wish, gushing with updates about her 'friend'. She breathlessly reported to Mami, Kyubey, and anyone within earshot that Kamijou-kun had just been discharged from the hospital on Saturday in the aftermath of his miraculous cure, and would be returning to school the following week.

Mami smiled and nodded as best she could during these monologues, hiding her increasing worry that this would somehow end badly for everyone. Even if she was right, there was nothing to be done about it now. All she could do was be there for Miki if and when disaster struck--and hope it would go better for her than it had with Kyouko.

Kyubey spent most of his time with Miki these days, which was just as well; he could keep an eye on her and answer her constant stream of questions just as well as Mami could. When Kaname was around, he was especially solicitous, though he rarely broached the subject of contracting directly.

Mami kept meaning to privately ask Kyubey about the unsettling vision she'd witnessed in her soul gem, but it was so much easier to dismiss the whole thing as a bizarre dream and throw herself into her work with Miki instead. She fully intended to repeat the experiment with a freshly purified soul gem, but kept putting it off, afraid that the results would indeed be different--and more afraid that they wouldn't.

Illusion or not, that barren wreck on the highway and the echo of the witch's laughter were still all too vivid in her mind, and she had no desire to dig any deeper right now.

***

By the time Monday rolled around, Mami's patience was stretched to the breaking point. When she met up with Miki after school, she bluntly informed the other girl it was time to practice patrolling on her own.

"Normally, of course, I would go with you, but I have some personal business of my own to attend to today," Mami explained. "Now that you're here, I can go without fear knowing that Mitakihara is in good hands of a trustworthy magical girl ally! And Kyubey will be there with you, of course." And Kaname, too, much good that will do you.

"Of course!" Miki said, tossing her mentor a jaunty salute. "This defender of justice is ready for duty!"

Kyubey curled around her feet, his tail twitching. If you don't mind me asking, where are you going today, Mami?

"I'm going to my parents' grave to pay my respects," Mami said crisply.

Ah, said Kyubey.

Miki's face fell, and she shifted from foot to foot in discomfort. "Oh. Sorry about that."

Mami flashed her junior a practiced smile. "Don't worry, how could you have known? All right, hero of justice--go forth, good luck, and don't hesitate to call me if you need anything!"

A flicker of guilt for not explaining the full extent of her plans welled up as they parted ways, but she quickly stuffed it down. She needed to check in with Mr. Urahara and explain the situation to him --and she'd pass on any new skills she learned today once she'd mastered them. Surely, it wasn't wrong to want some time to herself for that!

But her cover story wasn't a lie, either. The cemetery was only a few blocks from her apartment, next door to the local Buddhist temple, and she went there after purchasing the necessary supplies. Setting a bouquet of fresh flowers at the foot of the stone pillar marking the Tomoe family tomb, Mami withdrew three sticks of incense from a box in her schoolbag. Lighting them one by one, she held each one briefly to her forehead before placing them deliberately in the designated receptacle.

"Mom, Dad," she began. "I miss you so much. I hope you'd be proud of me. My grades are good. I nearly died fighting a witch at the hospital, but my friends"--her voice caught in her throat at the unfamiliar phrase--"saved me in time.

"I'm doing well, and I hope you are too, wherever you are. Mr. Urahara says you're probably in Soul Society by now. I don't know much about it, but I hope it's a nice place, even if the shinigami who run the afterlife don't like magical girls like me fighting witches for them. Maybe Mr. Urahara's right and you're here in this world, reborn into different lives, and I just don't know it... Either way, I'm sure you're fine.

"I hope you're not too worried about me," she went on. "Miki is very spirited and is doing her best, and Mr. Urahara and Mr. Tsubakishi and Yoruichi-san have been very kind in teaching me their magic, even if I'm not very good at it yet.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," she whispered. "I wish..."

That terrible phrase, never innocent again.

That day she would never, ever forget.

It all happened so fast. A sudden fog on the highway, a blaring truck horn, a squeal of tires, breaking glass, and crumpled metal--all culminating in eerie silence. Pinned in the crumpled backseat, Mami groggily came to amidst a sea of shattered glass, numb below the waist. The sky through the shattered window above her was a cold, impenetrable gray. She closed her eyes as she drifted in the void, praying it was all a dream and acutely aware it was not.

Greetings, Mami Tomoe! a cheerful voice exclaimed in her head. My name is Kyubey. Make a contract with me to become a magical girl and fight witches, and in exchange I will grant you one wish for whatever you desire.

She opened her eyes. Silhouetted against the gray haze in the remnants of the backseat window was an odd little creature roughly the size and shape of the cat, with glowing red eyes and long ear tufts ringed with hovering circlets of gold. Mami instinctively reached out to it, lest it vanish and abandon her to this nightmare.

"Help me!" she gasped. "Please..."

I can certainly do that, it said, its tail twitching back and forth in graceful, fluid motions. Are you sure that's what you want?

"Yes," she whispered, too dazed to process the enormity of the bargain. "Please. I want to live--"

Mami was never entirely certain what happened next. Kyubey's red eyes gleamed, sucking her down into their depths and pain exploded in her chest as if her heart was being torn from her body. She buckled forward with a scream as every nerve--even the ones she hadn't been able to feel moments earlier--ignited at once, and golden light streamed everywhere.

The sensation tapered off as abruptly as it had started, leaving her gasping and panting amidst the wreckage, a warm glow suffusing both her and the gold-wrapped amber jewel she held in her hands. Even as she watched in astonishment, the jewel shrank to a gleaming ring on her left hand, and Kyubey jumped down from the window and out of sight.

With the feeling restored to her legs, Mami kicked herself and scrabbled up through the broken window after Kyubey. Once out in the open, she staggered forward across the highway, desperate to get as far away from the car as possible.

It was only then that she realized her parents were still trapped inside.

"Mom!" she screamed, turning back and charging the vehicle. She tugged at the crumpled front side door, slamming it over and over again with her body when it refused to budge. Through the white distended mass of the airbags, she could make out their still forms pinned between the front seat and the dashboard. "Mom! Dad! Wake up! Wake up!"

What's wrong, Mami Tomoe? Kyubey said, jumping up on the hood of the car beside her.

She turned to her savior in desperation. "Help them, please! You helped me--help them!"

The little creature didn't flinch at her plea--didn't even blink. I can't. I can only grant a single wish to each person, and you wished only for yourself.

The enormity of her mistake hit Mami like a blow and she fell to her knees with a sob. By the time the ambulance arrived with the tools to wrench open the wreck and cut her parents' limp bodies free a few minutes later, it was clear there was no hope of resuscitation, and her heart broke open anew.

"A miracle," the ambulance crew muttered to themselves over and over again as they wrapped blankets over her shoulders and shuffled her inside the screaming vehicle for the trip to the hospital--and then again when they determined that she had suffered no injuries. "A miracle."

Mami nodded, each time more lost and forlorn. She hadn't the heart to tell them that it was indeed a miracle--the wrong one.

She forgave Kyubey, of course. It wasn't his fault she hadn't understood the consequences of her actions, or the limitations of his abilities. Anyone would have done the same thing in her shoes, with no time to think it over and reflect.

But it still didn't change the fact that she could have wished for anything. Anything. She could have easily wished for her parents' lives along with her own. Did her parents' spirits know what she had done? Would they ever forgive her for her selfishness if they did?

And if the unsettling vision in her soul gem was right, if a witch had caused the accident in the first place, only to be chased away by Kyubey--that only made her failure worse.

If only I had known back then, I could have done something. I could have fought the witch, so it wouldn't hurt anybody else the way it hurt us... I could have stopped it...

She would never, ever make that mistake again.

I will continue to protect the people of this city so that no one else loses their family to 'accidents' caused by witches, she vowed silently. I will train with Mr. Urahara and become stronger so I won't fail the people who are counting on me. I will become stronger, so no one else has to cry alone, as I did.

Steeling herself for whatever trials lay ahead, Mami set off for the Urahara Candy Store.

***

Urahara was disappointed that Miss Tomoe had been so busy with her new apprentice these last few days to return for more training, but it did mean he had more time in the lab to analyze the footage from the battles Yoruichi was capturing on the sly. Even so, he kept returning to that first battle against the Dessert Witch, replaying the last few minutes over and over again.

Everything about the witch was highly disturbing, from the pocket universe that was one part hospital and three parts candy store on steroids, to its surprising prowess in battle. Then, of course, there was Kyubey, who resembled nothing on Earth and very little in the spiritual realms--not to mention Homura Akemi and her mysterious flash step. So many mysteries, all captured in a single take.

But oh, was Miss Tomoe a joy to watch when she fought. Aside from the unfortunate near-fatal freeze-up at the end, her performance had been absolutely masterful. Despite the fact that he still didn't quite understand how magical girls' powers worked, Miss Tomoe's abilities appeared to be remarkably similar to his own, at least on a superficial level. Perhaps that was why he was drawn to her, beyond the compelling scientific mystery she represented.

Or you're a sucker for waifs and strays, Benihime interrupted.

That's right, Urahara agreed absently. There was no point in arguing with his zanpakutou, especially given his previous track record. He was a softie inside, even if Yoruichi was the only only other person who dared to call him out on it.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the SRDI still wasn't picking up on anything out of the ordinary within the Mitakihara city limits, so Urahara had taken advantage of the lull to set up a network of his own sensors at various points around the city. With Yoruichi's help, he'd gotten some excellent baseline readings, and was beginning to get a more accurate picture of the local witch activity. None of their field data had been replicated by any of the official SRDI feeds overseen by a nervous and twitchy Akon, who was becoming increasingly paranoid as the disparities continued to mount.

So far, none of the energetic surges from manifested labyrinths matched the fluctuations in space-time that both sets of equipment were still picking up at regular intervals--the one instance where the SRDI sensors were reliably accurate. Thus, Yoruichi was right, and the witches were not the ones directly distorting space-time, which was useful information. Though Urahara had yet to confirm who was responsible, he had a few ideas that would be worth testing--

Ururu poked her head in the doorway of the lab, interrupting Urahara's train of thought. "Um, Mr. Kisuke? Miss Tomoe is waiting for you now in the foyer."

"Ah! Excellent! I'll be right there!" He glanced at the computer monitor, paused right at the moment Miss Tomoe faced down the Dessert Witch, then back as an idea occurred to him. "Actually, Ururu, why don't you join us today?"

***

Mami was half-expecting (and dreading) another round of meditation with her soul gem, but Mr. Urahara had a different plan for her: sparring. Any relief was short-lived once he introduced her unlikely opponent--a sheepish and shy Ururu. With her downcast eyes, long bangs, and adorable pink polka-dotted skirt, Ururu hardly seemed like the martial sort, and the spotted boxing gloves and mushroom-like helmet she wore didn't look like they would provide much protection in a real fight.

"Aren't you worried I'll hurt her?" Mami whispered to Mr. Urahara. She'd been forced to fight much younger girls when the newcomers refused to play by the rules and respect her territory, but it was never a prospect she enjoyed.

"It's kind of you to be concerned, Miss Tomoe, but it's far more likely she'll hurt you," he said, flapping his fan over his face and chuckling in a way Mami didn't like.

His meaning became apparent soon enough. Mami thought she'd start out slow and go easy on the girl--but to her utter astonishment, Ururu moved with a speed that rivaled her own. Worse, she was a much better hand-to-hand fighter, blocking every one of Mami's attacks and launching her own with tremendous force.

I can't use my guns on her! She's a *child*! Mami thought in disbelief, as she dodged yet another powerful kick that sent up a massive dust cloud in its wake.

Ururu, however, had no such scruples. When the dust cleared, she sported a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher that was bigger than she was, aimed straight at Mami's face. Mami dodged the hail of bullets in time, but it was a near thing.

Mr. Urahara waved his fan to get her attention and Mami risked a quick glance in his direction. "Try the binding spell I showed you again!" he called.

"What?"

"I told you the best way to increase one's spiritual prowess is often through carefully structured life-or-death situations! Looks like you're in a lot of danger at the moment, hmm~~~--"

Any possible retort Mami could have summoned was lost as Ururu unleashed another round of fire. She was an extremely good shot; Mami was forced to throw up several protective barriers to avoid injury. So this was the deadly kind of training Mr. Urahara had warned her about! But what choice did she have but to play along if she was serious about this whole kido business?

She reached out as Mr. Urahara had taught her, imagining the glowing golden coils of energy forming in her hands. She thrust it at her pursuer, praying that he was right and the added pressure would make it work this time.

No luck. The binding that formed was her usual ribbon, which snaked forward and wrapped around Ururu, pinning her in place. Mami's victory was short-lived: the girl tilted her gun down and aimed at the taut ribbons tying to a nearby boulder, quickly freeing herself.

"Oopsie," Mr. Urahara called as Ururu resumed fire. "Don't worry, try again!"

Ten excruciating minutes later, when it was clear that Mami wasn't making any progress, Mr. Urahara called a halt. As if he'd flipped a switch, Ururu reverted from single-minded pursuit to her previous bashfulness and obediently set her gun down, while Mami did her best to catch her breath.

She sneaked a glance at her soul gem tucked away in her hairpiece and sighed--it was significantly darker now than it had been earlier this afternoon. Mr. Urahara's little stunt had pushed her harder than she'd anticipated; she would definitely need another grief seed before the evening was out.

"What are you?" Mami said to Ururu without thinking.

Ururu winced and looked down at the ground, her shoulders hunched as if she expected Mami to strike her at any moment. The juxtaposition between the cringing girl at her feet and the martial prowess she'd just displayed was jarring.

"She's a person, just like you," Mr. Urahara said firmly, coming up behind Ururu and patting her shoulder with affection. "Well, Ururu, thank you very much for your help; that was a very enlightening experience for all of us. Miss Tomoe, now that you're all warmed-up, shall we try that binding spell again with a few less distractions?"

But even without the specter of imminent death hanging over her head, Mami still couldn't do it. She had no trouble summoning her ribbons, of course--but the kido version remained stubbornly elusive.

"All right, let's set that aside for now," Mr. Urahara said at last, sensing her mounting frustration. "Since you and I've got ribbons on the brain, let's try spirit ribbons, hmmm?"

"Spirit ribbons?" Mami said wearily. "What are those?"

"Spirit ribbons are a way of perceiving the spiritual energy of the beings around you by compressing what is normally a fairly diffuse aura into ribbon-like entities that can be manipulated at will. Unlike the bakudo we've been working on, this is a relatively passive technique focused on changing your perceptions, ratherthan the world around you; even those who have difficulty with more active spells can do it. Shall we give it a shot?"

Given her recent track record, Mami was skeptical, especially when said 'technique' was squinting cross-eyed in concentration. But to her astonishment, bright yellow ribbons popped into existence around her a few minutes into the exercise.

"I did it! I did it!" she gasped, twirling in delight as the ribbons shifted with her.

"Interesting," Mr. Urahara commented dryly. "This is a fairly high-level technique, and not usually taught to be beginners. You've never seen these before?"

"No, never." Mr. Urahara's tassels were similar in size and shape to her own, only more numerous--and bright red. "Do the colors mean anything?"

"Broadly, yes. Humans are white, and shinigami are red, though of course there are always exceptions. Yours, I see, are yellow, which makes sense given the color of your soul gem."

A yelp in the distance made them both look up--while Mami had been preoccupied with her lesson, Jinta had descended into the study chamber to poke Ururu with a stick. He was now paying the price for his poor life choices, racing for his life as she chased after him with a single pink sandal in hand.

Mami drew in a breath, distracted by the wave of ribbons emanating from the two children. As expected, Jinta's were pure white, but Ururu's were a dull matte grey with a texture that reminded Mami of pongee silk--except these were even more coarsely woven, with thicker sections visible even at a distance, as if they'd been stitched together by hand.

"Ururu isn't human?" Mami said slowly, the details falling into place all at once.

"Like I said before, she's a person," Mr. Urahara corrected. "An artificial construct with an artificial soul, yes, but a person nonetheless."

"But... how...?"

"My successor at the Shinigami Research and Development Institute has a bit of--an obsession, shall we say, with creating artificial life. Ururu was an offshoot of one of his many projects on that front--this one aimed at creating a living weapon to use against the hollows. The experiment was ultimately deemed a failure, but I was able to, ah, intervene her before her destruction."

"They were going to kill her?"

Mr. Urahara nodded. "From Soul Society's perspective, anything they can't control must be destroyed. To be brutally honest, in their eyes, there is little difference between magical girls like you and constructs like Ururu. I will do what I can to shield you, but it's best not to draw their attention in the first place."

Mami stared at him in disbelief, too stunned to speak. Ironically, this was one thing--perhaps the only thing--that both Kyubey and Mr. Urahara seemed to agree on.

***

There was no cell phone service underground, so Mami wasn't surprised to find messages waiting for her when she finally left the shop. What was surprising was that none of the flurry of texts or missed calls were from Miki--they were all from Madoka Kaname.

With a sinking sense of apprehension, Mami opened the most recent text, sent a few minutes earlier. It was a map of Mitakihara City with a blinking red dot at the center, accompanied by an equally jarring caption.

angry red-haired magical girl fighting with sayaka-chan on the highway overpass by kazaimino!!! sayaka badly injured but won't stop. please come quickly!!!

Mami stared at the screen in disbelief. Must something terrible happen *every* time I leave those two alone?

There was only one magical girl in the area who fit that description--and only one with sufficient daring and attitude to attack someone on Mami's turf like that.

Kyouko Sakura.

Hang on, Mami typed, even as she broke into a run, I'm coming.

***

A year before Sayaka Miki made her contract with Kyubey and became Mami's apprentice, a girl named Kyouko Sakura from Kazaimino City had done the same thing. Her father was the head of a Christian splinter sect whose only permanent members were his family and half a dozen diehard devotees. As a result, money was tight in the Sakura household and they struggled even with basic necessities. Kyouko's wish--that people would listen to her father's preaching and take him seriously--was both simple and sincere, making her father ecstatic with joy at a full church every Sunday and the family coffers swell with offerings from grateful parishioners.

Even though Kyouko did her best to pretend her family's unstable past didn't bother her, there was pain in her eyes in unguarded moments that mirrored Mami's own. Kyouko might be headstrong and standoffish, but she was also vivacious and good-hearted, someone who never said no to tea and sweets or invitations to dinner. Awed by Mami's prowess and structured approach to dealing with witches, Kyouko appointed herself Mami's 'disciple' and the two of them grew close as they fought side by side and visited each other at home. Those three months together been the happiest time in Mami's life since becoming a magical girl.

But it didn't last. Kyouko's father discovered that his swelling congregation was his daughter's doing, not his own or his god's. He lashed out in rage and desperation, burning his church and hanging himself in shame after ensuring his wife and remaining children did the same.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Kyouko's altruism evaporated overnight. She lashed out at Mami, claiming she was in this business solely for the perks, and she wasn't going to waste her time on familiars who didn't even have grief seeds to plunder. Much to Mami's regret, the conflict had eventually come to blows and they'd parted ways, with Kyouko roiling with anger and recriminations all the way back to Kazaimino.

Kyouko had wasted no time establishing the new regime, quickly establishing herself at the top of the food chain. She was fierce and efficient, and any magical girl who wandered onto her turf quickly learned the hard way not to cross her. Even so, Kyouko had always left Mami alone--out of respect for their old bond, if nothing else.

But the highway marked the border between their territories, and Mami had forgotten to mention that critical fact----or why it was so important--to Miki before sending her out to patrol on her own. Somehow, Kyouko had stumbled across Miki, neither knowing nor caring that she was too new to this life to be familiar with the rules of engagement--

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Mami castigated herself all the way there. Some mentor I turn out to be. First I botched everything with Kyouko and then I left Miki unsupervised so I could visit Mr. Urahara without her-- Mami been lax in her responsibilities as a mentor, and now Miki was going to pay for her mistake in the worst way possible--

She arrived at the overpass to find a dramatic tableau already laid out: Madoka Kaname, weeping over Miki's motionless body, still dressed in her school uniforms. A costumed Kyouko Sakura stared on in horror, the ubiquitous box of Pocky and her spear both momentarily forgotten. Meanwhile, Kyubey calmly sat off to one side on the railing as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Mami!" Kaname sobbed in relief at Mami's approach. "Thank goodness you're here! We need your help! Sayaka is--"

"What did you do to her?" Mami demanded to Kyouko, ignoring Kaname entirely. "I don't care what she did, Miki is my apprentice and you'll keep your hands off her if you don't want to answer to me--"

"Hey, this isn't my fault," the red-haired girl said, crumbs spraying everywhere as she resumed gnawing on her Pocky. "I was just trying to talk some sense into the rookie a bit, when Pinkie here grabbed her soul gem and tossed it over the edge"--she gestured towards the highway below with her spear--"and she just... collapsed. Like she's dead."

Mami's knees wobbled. No. It couldn't be. "Her soul gem was hit by a car and shattered?"

No, it is still intact, Kyubey reported. However, the furthest you magical girls can control your bodies is approximately a one hundred meter radius. When you carry your soul gem with you at all times, this kind of accident rarely occurs.

"No," Mami whispered. "That's not right. That can't possibly be right." She knelt besides Kaname and pressed her fingers to Miki's neck in search of a pulse, of some injury within her power to heal.

But just as Kyouko promised, Miki was cold and stiff to the touch, her eyes frozen open, unblinking. On impulse, Mami scanned for any sign of spirit ribbons, but there was nothing there either.

Mami was no stranger to death and dead bodies. The first had been her parents' corpses sprawled out on the highway once the emergency responders had cut them free--followed in grim succession by dozens of witch-kissed victims, the murder-suicides and crimes of passion she'd arrived too late to prevent. She'd even witnessed the death of more than a few magical girls in battle. But not like this. Nothing ever like this.

Mami shuddered and pulled her hand away. Nothing outside of a miracle could bring Miki back to life now...

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Kyubey's spirit ribbons: a deep black which absorbed all light and reflected nothing back. Mami blinked, and the unsettling vision vanished.

This body isn't Sayaka, it's just an empty shell, Kyubey said, as if Mami hadn't spoken. Sayaka is what Madoka threw away moments ago.

Mami jerked backwards from the corpse, gasping for breath as she stared at her own arms and legs in horror. Clutching her soul gem, Kyouko did the same.

Did you really think you could fight witches with the same fragile bodies that humans possess? Kyubey went on blithely. It's completely unthinkable. For magical girls, those 'bodies' you possess are really just exterior hardware. Your real bodies are your souls, and to make them able to use magic more efficiently, we put them in these compact, easy-to-protect forms instead. To complete the contract to become a magical girl, what I do is rip your souls out of your body and turn them into soul gems.

"You bastard," Kyouko whispered, striding forward towards him. "What have you done--?!" She yanked Kyubey by the scruff of his neck and dangled him high in the air. "So you've made us into zombies or something?!"

But isn't it handy this way? Kyubey said, utterly unresponsive to Kyouko's threat. Even if your body's heart gets crushed, or you bleed out your very last drop of blood, you can just heal your body with magic and get right back up!

Mami thought of her healing magic--how she wrapped any wounds with the same ribbons she used to make weapons and barriers. I'm not any different than my guns. Remove the magic and I'll disappear--

I wished to stay alive, she thought bitterly. I thought it meant I would remain connected to life... I knew there would be a cost, but I didn't think it would be like *this*--

So long as your soul gem remains unharmed, you're basically invincible! Isn't that a lot better for battle than your breakable human bodies? Kyubey finished triumphantly.

If he was expecting applause, he'd misjudged his audience. Kyouko was twitching back and forth as if she wasn't sure whether to strangle him or hurl him into traffic. Mami was paralyzed with shock. Miki, of course, was still dead.

Kaname burst into tears. "That's--that's horrible!" she gasped in between sobs.

Be careful what you wish for, Mami thought in a daze.

"All this time," she whispered. It was hard to breathe, hard to think, hard to do anything over the rushing, roaring river of pain threatening to drown her in a flood of feeling. "All this time, I thought I was alive, and I was really just a walking corpse who didn't even know it... I wished for life and this is the life you gave me?"

You humans always react this way, Kyubey said. Whenever I try to tell you the simple facts, you have the same reaction. I just don't get it. Why are humans so touchy about the placement of their souls? Even you, Mami Tomoe, never noticed the difference--I told you the only possible name for your soul gem was 'Mami Tomoe' and even then you didn't understand me--

His words hit her like a blow, and she fell back with a gasp. The worst part was that it was true. She hadn't known. She had never even imagined of such a betrayal. She had thought he'd misunderstood her question with his usual literal-mindedness, never dreaming it might actually be true.

All this time and he never told me, he never told any of us what he was doing, or why. All this time I thought I was human, when actually I was always a monster--

Then Homura Akemi flashed onto the bridge, high heels tap-tapping against the tile as she approached. A look of--concern, perhaps?--crossed her face as she glanced at Mami, still crouched on the pavement a few meters away from Miki's prone form.

Squaring her shoulders, Akemi pushed past Kaname and knelt on Miki's other side long enough to set the away long enough to delicately set something blue and gleaming in the dead girl's palm.

Miki's soul gem.

Her errand completed, Akemi tossed her long hair back with her hands in a casual gesture of satisfaction as she stepped away. For a long moment, her celebration appeared premature--nothing happened. Then Miki gasped, her eyelids fluttering open as she struggled for breath, and she sat up, blinking in confusion, as if the last few minutes had never happened.

"Hey, guys... what's up?" she said, taking in the concerned knot of people pressed around her. "Did something bad happen--?"

Mami screamed as the horror hit home. It's true. It's true. It's trueit'strueit'strue--

Despair washed over her as a dam she hadn't even realized was there burst in her mind. The soul gem ring on her finger, already tainted from her battle with Ururu in the underground study chamber--the ring that was her entire existence now, mind, body, and soul--was now completely black.

Dark ribbons burst forth from the depths of the corrupted gem, wrapping her in their all-encompassing embrace. She screamed and screamed and couldn't stop, her consciousness zinging in every direction as the ribbons burst forth to devour this cruel, terrible world and put her and everyone else out of their misery once and for all--

And everything happened at once.

Chapter Text

Urahara's first clue that something was wrong was the explosion of a quasi-familiar aura that swept across the city like an earthquake. The second was the faint but unmistakable screech from Yoruichi through the hidden microphone she carried: "Kisuke--! Get your ass over here now!" The third was every pre-programmed alert on his soul phone going off at once, plus a call from a furious Akon.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but whatever it is is off the charts," he snapped when Urahara hastily picked up. "All of our sensors are going haywire with this huge spike of Vasto Lorde-class reiatsu coming out of nowhere in an otherwise spiritually unremarkable area--"

"Wait, you're picking up readings now?" Alarms hooted in the background; Akon must be in right in the middle of the equipment for them to be so loud.

"Isn't that what I just said? I went digging through the hardware to see if I could find the source of our sensor problem, and they all just started going off at once--"

Urahara looked down at the phone screen, his real-time map of the city blinking with a flashing red dot that dominated the screen. "Centered at the highway overpass connecting Mitakihara and Kazaimino, right?" He glanced up in the sky, taking in the cloud of black smoke streaming up to the heavens from that direction. "I'm not on site at the moment, but it's visible from the shop."

"Whatever this is, it's not a hollow. Do you know what it is?"

"I have my suspicions," Urahara admitted. "Can you turn off the alarms?" The last thing he needed was a battalion of shinigami barging in to make everything worse.

"Of course I can! What kind of question is that? But if you don't hurry up and fix whatever-the-hell-this-is and Captain Kurotsuchi finds out I covered it up, we will both officially be in big trouble--"

"Turn off the alarms, and let me worry about the rest of it," Urahara said and hung up.

***

As the black wall of ribbons that had taken over Mami exploded outward, Madoka shrieked and threw her hands in front of her face to shield herself. But the roaring wind from the blast hit her first, tossing her backwards through the air. She would have gone over the railing of the bridge if Homura Akemi hadn't caught her at the last possible second, flipping down to the highway below with unearthly grace as Madoka clutched her shoulders.

Even so, it was a rough landing. Homura hit the highway with a bone-wrenching thud, curling up protectively around Madoka as the two of them rolled for several meters before grinding to a halt against the asphalt. Cars and trucks skidded and swerved around them, slamming into each other in a hail of horns and screeching tires. Madoka yelped in terror as Homura grabbed her and ran for the median, cradling her burden as if the additional weight meant absolutely nothing.

Homura deposited Madoka gingerly on the concrete barrier separating the lanes of traffic--an island of calm in an otherwise chaotic sea. "Are you all right?"

"Mmmmfh," Madoka managed as she gasped for breath, clutching at Homura for support. "Homura, w-what happened to Mami? Is she okay? She--"

Both of them looked up at the bridge behind them. It was still physically intact, but engulfed by a spherical black distortion that rippled and shimmered like a gate to the underworld. Homura's long hair dark hair streamed backwards in the fierce wind, and her usual grim expression deepened.

"She has fallen into despair and become a witch," she said coldly, turning away to look Madoka straight in the eye. "That is the eventual fate of all magical girls."

"The hell it is," the red-haired girl snarled as she landed beside them, shoving a flailing Sayaka to the ground with far less gentleness than Homura had shown Madoka. "You can't possibly mean that's Mami over there--"

Of course it is.

Kyubey perched on the concrete barrier next to Madoka, his unblinking red eyes gleaming in the reflected light with an eerie, alien glow. Mami Tomoe was such a careful and experienced fighter, I didn't think she would ever succumb to despair. But all the faith and hope she channeled as a magical girl has shifted to curses, completing her transformation into a powerful witch.

A stunned silence fell across the group. On one side of the median, the cars rushed on, heedless of the disaster; on the other side, the highway was littered with wreckage, devoid of movement except for the flames licking at the side of one of the collapsed trucks. All four girls stared at the little creature: Homura, stoic and grim; Sayaka and the redhead vibrating with righteous fury, their earlier animosity forgotten in light of these new revelations; and Madoka, her eyes blurring with barely suppressed tears.

"That is the final secret of soul gems," Homura said, thrusting out her own as if to demonstrate. "When these gems grow tainted and turn completely black, they change into grief seeds and we are reborn as witches. Isn't that right, Kyubey? Or should I say, Incubator?"

True enough that I can't deny it, Kyubey said placidly.

"Incubator?" the redhead repeated, stumbling over the English word. "You mean like--"

"That can't be!" Sayaka burst out. "Mami always wanted to protect people from witches! She fought so hard to help people. There's no way she would become one herself!"

I don't know why you humans are so surprised when you make a wish that goes against the natural order of things, Kyubey said. It's only logical that it would inevitably lead to disaster later on. You have only yourselves to blame.

"You--" the redhead snarled.

"You tricked us, didn't you? All of us?" Sayaka demanded.

I told you what I wanted from the very beginning: for you to become magical girls, Kyubey said. I didn't explain *why*.

The redhead lunged for him, only for Sayaka, of all people, to catch her shoulder. "Never mind this rat, we have to save Mami! There's got to be a way to bring her back... right?"

If Madoka were to wish for it, then-- Kyubey started.

Fifteen bullets slammed into his body before he could finish the sentence. The ragged corpse was blown off the median by the force of the impacts, and collapsed onto the far side of the highway in a puddle of blood and fur, where it was immediately ground to paste by a passing car.

"H-H-Homura," Madoka whispered. "You k-killed him--"

Homura calmly slid her pistol back into her shield and wiped her hands on her skirt. "Unfortunately, the Incubator is not so easily eliminated. He'll be back soon enough in another body."

Madoka opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Sayaka, too, was gaping like a fish.

"You knew," the redhead hissed, the rage previously directed at Kyubey now aimed straight at Homura. "You knew this whole time and you didn't tell us--"

Homura didn't flinch from the girl's fury. "Would you have believed me if you hadn't seen it for yourself?"

The other magical girl paused, genuinely thinking it over. "Nah, I guess not," she said at last, flipping from anger to a pragmatic kind of acceptance in an instant. "Got to hand it to him for being so clever about it, though. All this time, I thought magical girls were at the top of the food chain. Turns out we've been Kyubey's livestock the whole time."

"That's horrible!" Madoka slid to her knees, unable to suppress her sobs any longer. "Mami trusted Kyubey, and he betrayed her, and now she's a witch--"

"What are we going to do about her?" the redhead said. "Mami, I mean."

"You know very well there's only one thing to do to a witch," Homura said.

"We can't kill Mami!" Sayaka protested. "Surely there must be some way to bring her back!"

"Might I interrupt for a moment?"

A strange man in olive-green jinbei stood on the concrete barrier a few meters away, his matching haori billowing in the wind as he balanced on old-fashioned wooden geta. A striped bucket hat and shaggy blond bangs obscured his face, and he carried a wooden cane tucked under one arm. Beside him was a familiar black cat with golden eyes--

"Yoruichi!" Madoka exclaimed in delight before she could stop herself. She threw a hand over her mouth, turning bright red as everyone stared at her. "Uhhhh, sorry about that--"

Yoruichi hopped down from the barrier and rubbed up against Madoka's legs in greeting. He kept purring even as she knelt and pulled him into her lap, burying her face into his soft fur.

"Who are you?" Homura said to the stranger.

"Yeah, who are you?" the redhead echoed.

"I'm friend of Miss Tomoe's, just like you." The man turned to study the swirling vortex on the bridge, which was noticeably larger now. "Pardon me, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation earlier about her... current state. I believe that with access to her grief seed, I might be able to restore her to her previous form."

"That's impossible," Homura said flatly before any of the others could respond.

Yoruichi growled low in his throat. Madoka jumped as if she'd been slapped. "Homura! How can you say that?"

"Correction: I have never known it to be possible," Homura amended, though it was clear this was only a technicality in her mind.

"Can you really bring Mami back?" Sayaka said.

"Yeah, why should we trust you?" the redhead said.

"It doesn't seem like you have much to lose at this point," the strange man said, glancing pointedly at Homura. "As you say, it's never been done before. But do you have a more productive suggestion?"

"I could wish for--" Madoka started.

"No," Homura hissed through gritted teeth. "No, you will not."

Madoka blinked. There was real emotion, raw and desperate, that she had never heard in Homura's voice before. "Homura?" she whispered.

The redhead, always quick to judge, made up her mind. "I don't know where you came from, Hat-and-Clogs, but if you're a friend of Mami's, you can't be all that bad. Tell you what: I'll bring you back that grief seed, and you can show us you're not all talk."

"Me, too," Sayaka said, without missing a beat.

It was jarring how quickly the two had had gone from deadly enemies to willing allies in the space of a few minutes. They really are a lot alike, Madoka thought with a shaky laugh. It was ironic how their shared concern over Mami had brought them together, after all.

"All right," Homura said, bowing to the inevitable. She hopped over the barrier and began to cross the empty side highway back towards the bridge without a backwards glance. After a moment's pause, Sayaka and the redhead followed at her heels, grim and determined as they marched through the wreckage. Madoka was alone with the stranger, Yoruichi still cradled in her lap.

"Well," the strange man said, extracted a handkerchief from his sleeve and handing it to her. "Shall we retrieve Miss Tomoe's grief seed, then?"

Slowly, haltingly, Madoka nodded and blew her nose, stammering her thanks for the kind gesture. Yoruichi dropped lightly to the ground, and all three of them started after the others.

***

Urahara had braced himself for disaster based on the scale of the energy signature, but what awaited him at the highway was far worse than he had imagined. Tractor-trailors lay tumbled end over end around a quarter-kilometer before the overpass itself, with flames rising more than one multi-car pileup. The bridge itself was still intact and stable, but it had been partially replaced on the spiritual level by a shifting black void that marked a self-contained pocket universe to anyone with the slightest hint of spiritual awareness and would need to be quickly contained lest it spread any further.

"Over here, Kisuke," Yoruichi called from off to one side. She was in cat form guarding Miss Tomoe's body, several hundred meters away from ground zero.

The girl herself lay face up on the asphalt, empty and lifeless, her eyes wide and staring as if in shock. Aside from a few cuts and scrapes, she appeared to have escaped major injury, but there was no sign of her soul gem anywhere, and no response when he attempted to awaken her.

Urahara sighed and dragged the body to the side of the road, erecting a hasty barrier around the body to protect it from any disturbance--well-intentioned or otherwise--before he texted the location to Tessai for immediate retrieval and preservation. Constructing a custom gigai from scratch was well within Urahara's capacity, but he suspected Miss Tomoe would prefer the original if it was even remotely salvageable.

From there it was a few flash steps to the cluster of girls with exceptionally high levels of spiritual energy on the highway median, whose conversation confirmed his worst suspicions. Now their little group stood together on the overpass, confronting the swirling black vortex at its center. Ambulance sirens roared in the distance, cutting over the noise of the speeding traffic on the undisturbed side of the highway as they raced to to the scene.

"I've got this," the red-haired girl said, as she set her glowing ruby soul gem out on her palm. She must be new; Miss Tomoe had never mentioned her before and she wasn't in any of Yoruichi's footage. She caught Urahara staring at her, and frowned. "What, you've never seen this before, Hat-and-Clogs?"

"That's right!" Urahara agreed cheerfully, playing the fool.

"Man, you don't know anything," she said with disdain. "What makes you think you can bring Mami back if you haven't got a clue?"

"Maybe because I don't have any preconceptions as to what is possible," Urahara said without missing a beat. "Or maybe I'm so used to pushing the boundaries, I don't know where to stop."

Guided by a sudden impulse, he fished a package of candy out of his sleeve and handed it to her.

"What the heck is this?" she said, eyeing him suspiciously as she accepted the offering. "Some sort of candy?"

"Correct!" he said, pulling out additional packets for her companions. The grim-faced girl who could pass for a Kuchiki shook her head, but both of the other two accepted.

"Doesn't look like any kind of candy I've ever seen before," the red-haired girl said, holding the packaging up to the light.

"I run a store specializing in unusual brands," he explained with a straight face. "Some I've even invented myself!"

Now he had her full attention. "Seriously?" She tore open the package and poured its contents into her open mouth, her expression rapidly shifting from puzzled to pleased. "Hey, this is pretty good! You got a name, Mr. Hat-and-Clogs?"

"Kisuke Urahara."

She fished a package of creamed biscuit sandwiches out from her boot and handed it to him by way of exchange. "Kyouko Sakura. Nice to meet ya."

"Likewise," Urahara said. He unwrapped the offering and made a show of savoring every bite, even though Brown Rice Bran Sweet Potato wasn't his favorite flavor. He'd done the same dance with Jinta when he'd first encountered him on the street in Karakura, luring him in with food until the boy had come around.

Waifs and strays indeed, Benihime said in the back of his mind, her voice rippling with amusement.

The dark-haired girl--Homura Akemi, wasn't it?--muttered something under her breath about taking candy from strangers.

"Hey, we're not strangers anymore, are we, Hat-and-Clogs?" Miss Sakura said with a conspiratorial smirk.

Urahara grinned. "Nope!"

"It is very tasty," Miss Kaname agreed through her own mouthful.

"Hey, sometimes strangers have the best candy," her companion chirped. "Whatever this is, I like it." She bowed deeply in his direction. "Sayaka Miki, magical girl protector of Mitakihara, at your service!"

"Oh, my, I'm honored," Urahara said. He pulled his fan from his sleeve and snapped it open, hiding his face behind it with exaggerated shyness. "Kisuke Urahara, owner, founder, and proprietor of the Urahara Candy Store. All you are welcome to come to my store for a free sample whenever you like!"

"Yeah!" Miss Miki and Miss Sakura shouted in unison, pumping their fists.

Miss Akemi rolled her eyes, not as immune to his act as she pretended. Good.

Her spirit ribbons were the same violet shade as her soul gem, but they were knotted together in a jumbled, chaotic mess unlike anything Urahara had ever seen before--which instantly confirmed his suspicions. It was too early to say if she was the cause of the temporal anomalies he'd been searching for--but she was definitely involved in something unusual to get her spirit ribbons into such a state.

Then Urahara's attention was diverted to more immediate as Miss Sakura used her soul gem to open a passageway into the labyrinth, and he stepped through the doorway into another world.

***

They stood on an eight-lane highway, very much like the one they had so recently vacated, minus the wreckage, rubble, and flames. Heedless of the the little group clustered in their midst, boxy cars streamed past in both directions with only the faint silhouettes of the drivers outlined against the tinted windows. Everything--the cars, the road, the sky--was devoid of any color but grey, with the distinctive granularity and texture of a woodblock print. The only exceptions were the signs lining the highway, which were bright yellow the same shade as Miss Tomoe's hair etched with blocky black runes in a script Urahara didn't recognize.

The landscape beyond the road was fuzzy and dim, shimmering like a mirage where rippling patchwork fields gradually shifted into flocks of birds--or was it the other way around?--as they stretched the horizon. Figure and ground merged together and then split back apart, and it was impossible to say for certain where one ended and the other began. The only constant was the road itself, extending outward before them as far as the eye could see, though there was no way to know from here whether it looped and curved or extended onward into infinity--or both.

As Urahara had suspected from his study of the Dessert Witch, a witch's labyrinth was a reflection of the inner world of the being who created it. Even so, nothing in the video prepared him for the shock of experiencing one for himself, let alone the labyrinth of someone he knew. This paradoxical landscape was eerily reminiscent of Miss Tomoe's attempt to communicate with her soul gem a few days earlier, even if some of the details were a bit...off.

In Urahara's haste to ensure Miss Tomoe's body was safe, he'd missed all but the tail end of that last conversation with the Incubator, which was unfortunate; he'd have to ask one of the girls to catch him up. But the fact that its true name was 'Incubator'--and it was deliberating cultivating witches--was damning enough.

How many girls had made contracts with this creature? Too many. There was no way the system was sustainable without a constant influx of new recruits. So many innocent lives had been cut short to become monsters, and the shinigami had never noticed a thing. Urahara wasn't sure if it was the audacity or the scale of the scheme that was more galling.

Miss Miki and Miss Sakura led the way, with Miss Akemi by herself in the middle, and Urahara, Miss Kaname, and Yoruichi at the rear. Urahara did not mind letting the others go first; his job now was to gather as much information as possible that might help restore Miss Tomoe to her original form. Yoruichi had the cameras, of course, but with so many unknowns, there was no substitute for personal observation.

"Hi," the pink-haired girl beside him said shyly, looking up at him with wide eyes. "I guess I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Madoka Kaname. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Kaname," Urahara said, pretending he didn't already know about her from Yoruichi's reports.

As expected, Miss Kaname's spirit ribbons were white like an ordinary human's, but with a faint pinkish cast that he wasn't sure how to interpret. What was impressive was that they were even more tangled than Miss Akemi's, jumbled into a massive, impenetrable thicket that took Urahara's breath away.

There was no way this could be a coincidence. Even if Homura Akemi was responsible for the temporal anomalies, Miss Kaname was somehow involved. Unlike Miss Akemi, however, Miss Kaname appeared to be entirely oblivious to the psychic weight she carried.

"It's lucky that you found us," Miss Kaname continued, interrupting his train of thought. "Were you looking for Mami?"

For once, the truth would suffice. "Yoruichi-san led me right to you."

Miss Kaname had no difficulty accepting that. "Yoruichi is so smart," she agreed, with obvious affection. "Is he magical?"

"I've always thought so," Urahara said, trying and failing to hide his amusement.

"So Yoruichi is your cat, then?"

"Yoruichi-san belongs to no one but herself," Urahara said with a grin. "But I did ask her to look after Miss Tomoe the other day because I was concerned about her."

"Oh." Miss Kaname considered his words gravely. "Mami is lucky to have a friend like you."

"And you, too, of course," Urahara said without thinking.

Miss Kaname turned bright red and shook her head fervently. "Oh, no, I don't think so. I'm not a very good friend at all."

"Why not?"

"Because I promised her I was going to become a magical girl, before I knew what witches were really like and h-how dangerous they were, even though I couldn't think of anything I wanted to wish for. And then Mami would have died if Yoruichi and Homura hadn't saved her, and I was s-so scared, all I could do was stand by and watch--" Her voice broke. "And now Mami's a witch, and Sayaka and Homura and Kyouko are all in danger of becoming witches, too, and I--"

"Hey, now, don't be so hard on yourself," Urahara interrupted. "The Incubator is an experienced predator who preys on girls like you, and you didn't fall for its trap. Standing up for what you believe is right requires its own special kind of bravery, especially when everyone else around you wants you to make a different choice. I'm sure Miss Tomoe understood your reasoning and didn't take your refusal personally. "

(That last claim was a shot in the dark, but Miss Tomoe was in no state to contradict him at the moment if she disagreed with him on that.)

Miss Kaname blinked, fighting back tears. "You--you think so?"

"I do. Protecting people from witches was the most important thing for Miss Tomoe and she took her duties very seriously. The last thing she would want is for you to put yourself in harm's way of witches by becoming a magical girl now that you are aware of the danger. Right?"

"R-right. But Mami didn't know that magical girls become witches, or else--"

"Or else she would consider it her duty to kill all magical girls before they could become witches and then commit suicide herself," Miss Akemi said from Urahara's other side. How had she moved so quickly? He hadn't even registered her approach.

"You think so?" Urahara said.

"It has happened before," Miss Akemi said.

"You've told magical girls about becoming witches, and they've killed each other?" Miss Kaname said. "That's awful!"

"Eh, well, I'm glad you shot Kyubey, even if that didn't actually kill 'em for good," Miss Sakura called back loudly over her shoulder. "That little rat had it coming after what he did to us."

That was disturbing, and just what Yoruichi had suspected from the beginning--the Incubator was no ordinary living creature but a spiritual entity not limited to the use of a single 'body'. Urahara filed that away for future reference.

"Ehhh? Sayaka, why are you upside down?" Miss Kaname called, craning her neck upward.

Excellent question. A few steps ahead of them, the roadway curved straight up and looped back overhead in defiance of the usual laws of physics. Miss Miki and Miss Sakura were now directly above them, their feet firmly planted to the upside-down road, as the traffic flowed freely past them in total indifference to the transition.

"You're the one who's upside down, Madoka!" Miss Miki called, before the implication of her words registered. "Wait--so it's just--like this?"

"A Moebius strip," Miss Akemi said, as she stepped onto the impossibly steep curve jutting above them--and flipped from right-side-up next to Miss Kaname to upside-down next to Miss Sakura without missing a beat. "A surface with only one side and only one boundary curve. If we were to walk its full length, we would return to its starting point having traversed both sides without ever crossing an edge."

Urahara raised an eyebrow, impressed in spite of himself. That wasn't part of any middle-school curriculum he was familiar with, but she was absolutely right.

"Why is Mami's labyrinth this Mo-Moebius thingy?" Miss Miki said.

Homura shrugged. "Who knows?"

Urahara knew, or suspected he did. There was Miss Tomoe's affinity for ribbons coupled with the disturbing vision in the study chamber of the car accident she kept returning to, unable to escape. The labyrinth had taken both of those motifs and recreated them on a massive scale, twisting them into a maze to lure others to their doom as well.

Miss Kaname hesitated, still nervous about the way forward, and Urahara smiled encouragingly at her. "Coming?"

"Oh--yes." She stepped through with him, and they joined the others on the other side of the loop--right-side up from their own perspective, even though it was the complete opposite of their positions seconds earlier. It was odd at first to look down and see the cars zipping away upside-down below them, but they all got used to it surprisingly quickly.

True to Miss Akemi's predictions, there were several more of these impossible curves; though it wasn't obvious at first glance, the highway sprawled like a figure-eight laid out on its side. However, instead of returning to their starting point, the last flip catapulted them into a completely different level of the labyrinth.

As with the first layer, the only unifying thread was the highway stretched out before them, guiding them ever onwards. Now, however, that road split into three parts, each one looping and merging with the others in the distance before branching off again on its own again. Each possible route was accompanied by a bevy of signage in that same unintelligible language, illustrated with a pair of looping ribbons in the same shade and style as Miss Tomoe's distinctive pigtails--still the only color in the landscape.

"Which way do we go?" Miss Kaname asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

Urahara looked at Miss Akemi, who shrugged. "This way," she said after a moment, taking the center road.

There was much more traffic now, though the cars continued to speed up and shift lanes rather than confront the interlopers. Closer inspection revealed them to be teacups with saucers for wheels, metamorphosing to cars and back as they zipped along. The highways themselves were suspended in a pitch black void, broken only by hundreds of small stellated dodecahedrons which lit the otherworldly tableau with a pale, eerie glow.

They were also forced to share the road with six-legged creatures that  emerged without warning from the ground at random intervals, only to fade back into the concrete after a few minutes on the surface. The curl-ups, as Urahara thought of them, had elongated, many-segmented bodies that they folded into balls, allowing them to roll past at great speeds even on seemingly 'level' patches of ground. Less adventurous individuals crawled by on foot, their bare human-like feet in stark contrast to the curved beaks and dark, curious eyes on stalks above either side of their heads. Fully occupied with their own business, they chittered to themselves as they went along, their keratinized segments clicking in counterpoint.

As with the teacup cars, the curl-ups paid no mind to the interlopers, shying away as if stung by an invisible force field whenever they drew close. The one exception was when a curl-up made the mistake of popping up right in front of Miss Sakura, with no time for either party to dodge. The unlucky creature was rewarded with a swift blow to the head with her spear and careened away from them with an offended squeal.

The highway beneath their feet shuddered, as if Miss Sakura's attack had grievously wounded it. All traffic ground to a halt with squeals of brakes, and the other curl-ups rocked in spasms that could have been anger, terror, or both at once.

Everyone in Urahara's party froze, weapons raised for an attack that never came. After several minutes, the shaking petered out and both the cars and the curl-ups resumed their normal behavior.

"Keep that up and we'll have an entire army of familiars after us in no time," Miss Akemi said when she judged it safe to start moving again.

"Tsch. Bring 'em on. I can handle 'em," Miss Sakura said with a snort, undeterred by the criticism.

Urahara decided to intervene. "I'm sure you can, Miss Sakura, but our objective is to retrieve Miss Tomoe, is it not? In that case, why not save your strength?"

"I suppose that makes sense," she agreed grudgingly, starting in on yet another round of snacks. "But they'd better not try to jump me again like that!"

Fortunately for everyone, the curl-ups appeared to have learned their lesson and there were no further close calls. They continued on through rest of the level in silence, following Miss Akemi's lead as she led them through the tangle towards the center.

This entire pocket dimension was a psychic nightmare uncoupled from the laws of physics--and yet there was method to this madness, a deep intelligence at the core of this place that was deliberately orchestrating it all. The looming presence grew stronger and stronger as they wended their way deeper into the labyrinth and Urahara's skin prickled in recognition at the hint of familiar reiatsu.

Yes, the creature that had once been Miss Tomoe was here, all right. And she was hungry.

***

For all their meandering, the interconnected highways formed a single Moebius loop, which transitioned to a new level of the labyrinth in lieu of returning to their original starting point. As before, the highway was still there to lead them onward, though the rest of the world had changed dramatically around it.

Coils of ribbons floated in the sky in a sea of round balls, all suspended in place beneath a pockmarked ruined moon. Their outer surface resembled sections of otherwise ordinary human faces, with blinking eyes and chunks of ear and hair visible on each narrow strip, but the inner surface of the ribbon was fabric and not flesh. They rumbled ominously above them, oscillating in and out like jellyfish as the intruders approached, but did not attack. Given that the context--an older man and a woman formed from a single contiguous ribbon--Urahara thought it safe to assume they were modeled after Miss Tomoe's deceased parents.

Similar figures hovered in this distance, too far away to make out many details. Like everything else in the labyrinth, there was no color to them, but from the bold stripes and distinctive hairstyles, they were caricatures of Miss Kaname, Miss Miki, Miss Sakura, and Urahara himself. Even Yoruichi was represented with surprising realism. The only one missing was Miss Akemi, with whom Miss Tomoe had a complicated, if not outright antagonistic, relationship.

"How long do we have to keep walking?" Miss Miki asked, eyeing the floating figures as they drifted closer. Even her ebullient spirits faltered under the weight of their penetrating stares. "This place is super creepy."

"A true Moebius strip would loop us right back where we began," Urahara said. "But normal rules don't apply here, do they?"

Miss Sakura shrugged. "We walk until we find the witch--uh, Mami, I mean," she said. "No one ever said it was gonna be easy."

"Where is she?" Miss Kaname said. "It feels like we've been walking for hours."

"There!" Miss Akemi said, pointing up ahead of them.

They came to a crest in the highway as the road curved steeply downhill, where a vast panorama lay before them. Unlike the earlier levels, the lemniscate shape of the highway was easily visible from this perspective. This time, it was joined by two other identicals loops hanging in space. All three met at a single point at their mutual centers to form a flower reminiscent of Miss Tomoe's signature motif.

The interchange where all the roads met and merged was dominated by a massive pile-up of teacup cars in various stages of transition, a vast mountain of twisted metal and broken crockery. Perched on the top of this impromptu junkyard in a tattered car seat throne, was the witch herself, master of all she surveyed.

Urahara was no stranger to blood and gore, or even the sight of good friends transformed into monsters. The memory of his former lieutenant Hiyori Saguraki and her colleagues corrupted by Aizen's hollowfication infection, vomiting up reishi that solidified as hollow masks across their faces, still haunted him even after more than a century. But even so, the sight of what Mami Tomoe had become took his breath away.

Unlike the floating ribbon-heads above them, there was no hint of the witch's human origins. There was no bone-white hollow mask, nor even a recognizable face. Anchored to the ground by a bulbous basal foot, her body was an elongate gray stalk split into thirds, each 'head' crowned by a shifting halo of dozens of ribbon-like limbs. These 'limbs' were thick and muscular, sporting layers of slat-like membranes at the tip that implied they were used for suction and grasping rather than chewing. The creature's actual mouths were at the center each whorl of limbs, gaping holes lined with far too many sharp-edged teeth.

Both Miss Miki and Miss Sakura swore. Miss Kaname wobbled on her feet. Yoruichi hissed. Urahara drew in a shaky breath. Only Miss Akemi remained impassive, as if she'd witnessed it before--and no doubt she had.

"This is what Mami Tomoe has become," she said, tossing her hair back with her hand with a dramatic flourish. "The Crossroads Witch."

"Do you have a plan?" Urahara said, addressing no one in particular.

"We're gonna get Mami's grief seed and bring her back!" Miss Miki said, pumping her fists in the air as she summoned her sword.

"Yeah, what she said," Miss Sakura agreed with a dismissive wave.

Miss Akemi said nothing, but she glanced back at Miss Kaname as if to gauge her reaction to this madness.

"Yoruichi and I will stay back with Miss Kaname," Urahara said in response to her unspoken question. "We'll be no trouble at all."

Miss Akemi favored him with the faintest trace of a smile. "I'm sure of it."

As if on cue, the creature hissed and lunged--straight for Miss Kaname, Urahara couldn't help but note. The rippling gray coils hurtled towards them with remarkable speed as they extended in length, poised to grab the hapless girl and pull her into the maw.

Miss Kaname screamed even Urahara threw up a bright red barrier to block the impact. The witch bounced back, recoiling from the unexpected shock and shrieked with rage. She quickly regrouped and launched into another attack--this time aimed at Miss Sakura, who easily blocked it.

"Not bad, Hat-and-Clogs!" she called over her shoulder, severing tendril after tendril with her spear.

Any illusions that the witch would be so easily defeated were quickly proven mistaken: every time Miss Sakura sliced through one arm , the severed limb regenerated rapidly, with three new ones replacing the original. That didn't stop Miss Miki from charging down into the valley to confront the witch on  her mountain of piled junk, shouting Miss Tomoe's name as her battle cry. Not to be outdone, Miss Sakura joined in, hot on her heels.

They didn't get very far. Even as the witch yanked half a dozen cars out of the pile and launched them in their direction, a horde of curl-ups popped out of the ground to block their path. Despite their hapless appearance, they proved to be a formidable menace when gathered en masse, capable of mowing down a lone fighter through their superior numbers alone. More than once, Miss Miki and Miss Sakura came close to going down under the combined onslaught and were eventually forced to fight back-to-back in order to keep from being overwhelming in the melee.

"Are you going to step in?" Urahara said to Miss Akemi, who was watching her comrades' battle with cold, calculating eyes. "It seems like you have something up your sleeve--or shield, is it?"

That got to her. Her eyes widened and she took a step back, startled by his knowledge of the secret she took such pains to keep hidden. "How did you--" she started, before she realized her mistake and stopped short.

He winked at her, mindful that Miss Kaname was watching their exchange with open curiosity. "We all have our little secrets, Miss Akemi. You keep yours and I'll keep mine--"

She moved.

As with the labyrinth itself, it was one thing to observe it on video--and a dramatically different experience in situ. Fortunately, thanks to the tiny, almost invisible blood red tendril of energy from Benihime wrapped around her ankle, Urahara could see exactly what it was she was doing this time.

True to his suspicions, she wasn't flash-stepping at all. Nor was she increasing her speed, or even teleporting. Instead, the world paused around her as time itself bent to her whim. Here was definitive proof that Miss Akemi was indeed source of all those strange distortions in the space-time continuum he'd been looking for, and this little jaunt to Mitakihara was getting more and more interesting by the minute.

Even with Miss Akemi joining the fray, shooting machine guns and dropping homemade pipe bombs she pulled from the seemingly infinite confines of her shield, it was a long, grinding battle. The Crossroad Witch's regenerative capacities, coupled with the improbable physics of the labyrinth, made her a formidable opponent, and the three magical girls were hard-pressed to keep up with her. None of them were used to working together and it showed in their tactics, dragging out the battle even further as they fought to avoid friendly fire as much as their enemy's attacks.

Inch by inch, the unlikely trio of fighters ground their way closer to the Crossroads Witch, dodging the cars and teacups she hurtled in vain at her tormentors. Miss Kaname squeaked every time one slammed against Urahara's barrier or came close to hitting one of her friends. Otherwise, she remained quiet and still by his side, clutching Yoruichi for support.

By this point, the witch had lost and regrown so many limbs, she resembled a gnarled, massive tree waving in the wind--if such a tree was capable of ripping its roots from the ground, and suctioning its branches in place while it hopped to a new location. No matter how much Miss Miki and Miss Sakura hacked at her with their weapons, or Miss Akemi shot at her with her definitely-not-magical guns, the witch refused to give up, squealing at each new wound even as a trio of replacements sprouted in its wake.

Urahara was beginning to wonder if he should step in when an impressive amount of Miss Akemi's arsenal went off all at once. With a final scream, the witch shattered into too many pieces to regenerate at last and the bizarre gray landscape that housed her shriveled and popped like a soap bubble. Once again, they stood on the empty bridge to Kazaimino City where they had begun their journey.

The road had been cleared of the debris from the earlier accidents, and the highway below was desolate and empty. This late at night, there was no one around to notice their little group and demand explanations, which was just as well.  There was no sign of any shinigami, either, which meant that Akon had succeeded in dismantling the alarms before anyone had noticed.

A small black jewel etched with silver rolled across the ground with a clatter, drawing Urahara's attention as it balanced upright on the long, needle-like point running through its central axis. Miss Akemi bent and picked it up, where it wobbled, then stood perfectly on her open hand, as if guided by its own internal gravity. Viewed up close, the resemblance to a soul gem was so intense, Urahara was astounded none of the girls had made the connection earlier.

"Hey," Miss Sakura said, jerking her head to indicate Miss Miki. "Rookie here needs some help. Her soul gem's pretty dark."

"I'm fine--" Miss Miki started to say, but Miss Sakura cut her off.

"No you're not, you're almost out of magic, are you stupid? You want to turn into a witch, too? You think that's what Mami would want?"

"N-no," Miss Miki stammered, abashed.

"Good. Ya have that much common sense at least," Miss Sakura said. She snatched the grief seed from Miss Akemi and thrust it in Miss Miki's face. "Use it to clean your soul gem first and then we'll see if Hat-and-Clogs here is full of shit or not."

Urahara watched in fascination as Miss Miki obeyed; the blue soul gem grew brighter and brighter the darkness leached from the stone containing her soul to the grief seed. "It's always like this?"

Miss Sakura shrugged. "Pretty much. Except that we usually give 'em to Kyubey when we're done, otherwise they re-spawn."

From the way she said it, it sounded like she had made a point of holding back at least once for precisely this purpose, but he wasn't going to call her on it now. Based on his knowledge of the Incubator's system, her logic made perfect sense, even if it was morally reprehensible. Right now, however, he had far bigger problems on his hands than Miss Sakura's past ethical lapses.

When she had finished cleansing her soul gem, Miss Miki handed the grief seed to Urahara. "Please," she said, her voice raw and shaking with emotion as she bowed her head. "Please--bring Mami back!"

"I will," Urahara promised, his hand clenching around the dark jewel that was all that remained of Mami Tomoe's soul. He was, he realized, shaking himself. "I swear it."

Chapter Text

In the end, only Miss Akemi and Miss Sakura accompanied Urahara back to the shop with Miss Tomoe's grief seed. Despite anguished protests from Miss Miki and Miss Kaname, Urahara sent the other two home to their parents--none of whom had any idea what their daughters were up to this late at night--under Yoruichi's escort. By the time the three of them reached the shop, Jinta and Ururu were fast asleep and Tessai had ensured they would stay that way--the last thing anyone needed was Ururu going into Slaughter Mode should any hint of the Crossroad Witch's reiatsu leak out.

Once Tessai brought out a tray of tea and sweets to distract Miss Sakura in the foyer, Urahara tapped Miss Akemi on the shoulder. "May I speak with your privately, Miss Akemi?"

For a moment, he thought she was going to refuse with that same leaden stare she'd worn up to this point. Then she nodded and rose to her feet, padding softly behind him on the tatami floor. He lead her through the house and out onto the engawa, the wooden veranda marking the boundary between the shop and the courtyard beyond, with an excellent view of Tessai's tiny but meticulously kept garden.

Forget the Kuchiki. Up close, Homura Akemi's emotionless affect was closer to the living doll that functioned as Kurotsuchi's lieutenant--a being specifically engineered to tolerate his abuse. But for one so young to have such a detached, world-weary demeanor implied... well, a great many secrets at best, and soul-crushing amount of psychic damage at worse.

She didn't break the silence as she settled onto the floor beside him, simply watched with a patience belying her youthful appearance. He glanced down to reassure himself that Benihime's cord was still bound to her ankle; she hadn't appeared to notice it yet. Good.

"We are shielded from eavesdroppers so anything you say to me won't be overheard," Urahara said by way of opening negotiations--an essential skill when three adults and two children lived in a house with only paper-thin shoji for room dividers for privacy.

Her only response was a nod.

"What do you know of Walpurgisnacht?" he said.

She drew back, startled, before forcing herself back to calm again. "How do you know about that?"

"Miss Tomoe mentioned it in passing," Urahara said mildly, pleased to have drawn a reaction from her at last. "She believes it to be a witch of massive size and strength who will be arriving in Mitakihara at the end of the month. I assume that she learned this information from the Incubator itself."

Miss Akemi's mouth flapped opened and closed in shock. "That seems likely. I originally learned of this threat from her myself. I never asked how she knew of it."

"But now you know more," Urahara said, not conceding an centimeter.

"I have fought Walpurgisnacht before," Miss Akemi allowed.

I bet you have. "I propose we join forces against this witch."

"Or else you'll refuse to bring Mami Tomoe back?"

The challenge hung in the air between them, but Urahara wasn't so easily baited. "I will bring Miss Tomoe back regardless of your decision, Miss Akemi. I assume, being an honorable person, she will consider it her duty to fight Walpurgisnacht once she is restored to her true self. What I do not know is whether she can succeed in that battle without your help." Or whether you can succeed without hers.

"How will you ensure she won't try to kill every magical girl she can if you succeed?"

Urahara frowned. She had referred to this scenario back in the labyrinth; her flat declaration made it clear she considered it a proven fact. "You have reason to believe she would?"

"The shock of learning the truth about what the Incubators have done to our bodies without our consent was enough to tip her over the edge into despair," Miss Akemi said. "What makes you think she'll react any better when she learns such a fate will happen to all of those who have made such contracts? She's dedicated her life to protecting people from witches--she will see it as her duty to eliminate as many as possible to prevent any further suffering."

"Ah, but if I succeed in restoring Miss Tomoe to her original state, then it will be clear to her that killing witches is not the only possible way to neutralize them. I think her kind heart and devotion to justice won't permit her to sentence all those girls to the death penalty for their mistake."

Miss Akemi was mollified, but still not convinced. "Perhaps. But you will have to restore her first to prove it."

"Why don't you don't believe such a thing is possible?"

"I told you, I have not seen it before." Miss Akemi stared out into the moonlit garden and shifted in the first restless gesture she had ever displayed. "However, I am willing to let you make the attempt."

"Very well," Urahara said, bowing the inevitable. "We will continue our discussion of Walpurgisnacht once I've had a chance to examine Miss Tomoe's grief seed more closely. Perhaps that will allow me to come up with a better containment strategy. Tell me, can you see spiritual energy, Miss Akemi?"

If she was confused by the abrupt transition, she didn't show it. "I don't know what you mean."

As it turned out, she could, once he ran her through the basic tutorial of what do look for and how. "The spirit ribbons of ordinary human beings are white, but those of magical girls are the same color of their soul gems," Urahara explained. "Interesting, don't you think?"

Miss Akemi glanced over at him. "What does red mean?"

Urahara beamed at her. She was delightfully quick on the uptake. "Red is for shinigami."

"Is that what you are?" she said, as she slipped a hand behind the shield still resting on her left arm. "Dead?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I am to shinigami what you are to magical girls: an outsider who knows too much and has paid the price for that knowledge with isolation and exile."

She pursed her lips as that blow struck home. "Hardly solitary confinement," she said at last, gesturing to the shop around them.

"Well, it's true I took up running a candy store in my retirement," he admitted. "One simply must keep busy, Miss Akemi, lest time hang far too heavy on one's hands." That sly reference might have been overkill, but he couldn't help himself. "In the meantime, you are welcome to remain here as our guest--"

"No, thank you."

It was all Urahara could do not to laugh--it was like dealing with Miss Tomoe all over again. Both of them so used to doing things on their by necessity, both so convinced that they knew best! No wonder they didn't get along.

"I see," was all he said aloud, however.

Miss Akemi scrutinized him closely, as if aware of his private amusement at her expense. "Why are my spirit ribbons so... tangled?" she asked after a moment.

"I really couldn't say," Urahara said with an innocent wave. "Perhaps something is happening to distort fate around you?"

Miss Akemi had enough of even subtle teasing. She rose to her feet in a smooth graceful motion. "If you'll excuse me--"

"One more thing, Miss Akemi," Urahara said as she reached for the sliding door back into the house, dropping the playfulness entirely. "Did you know that whenever you use your magic to go back in time, it tears holes in the fabric of reality?"

She froze, her hand on the shoji screen, and turned to him, smouldering with grim fury. "What do you mean?"

"Stopping time is one thing, of course," Urahara said. "Just a blink of an eye, a pause here and there. Time skips and eddies, but quickly recovers its momentum. But going back in time means traveling against the flow--which inevitably leads to distortions. The more it happens, the weaker the underlying fabric of the universe becomes, until suddenly"--he made a popping sound by slapping his tongue against the roof of his mouth--"everything collapses at once.

"But it's not only time that gets distorted in the process," he went on, enjoying Miss Akemi's stunned expression more than was strictly necessary. "Destiny itself becomes tangled. That is why if you examine Madoka Kaname's spirit ribbons, you'll find they are even more tangled than yours. Miss Kaname's spiritual energy is so strong compared to a normal human, it can only be the result of very specific meddling. No doubt this is what makes her such an attractive target for the Incubator."

Miss Akemi went white. "No. No. I--"

"Judging by how many times you've gone back in time, the same is likely true for Walpurgisnacht as well. Every time you go back, your efforts only hasten the inevitable collapse."

"You're wrong," she hissed. "I won't give up! I won't stop!"

The world around them went cold and still as everything except for the two of them ground to a halt. Urahara let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, relieved that his trick continued to work. As long as Benihime's molecular-thin lead remained around her ankle, he was safe.

Urahara wagged his finger at Miss Akemi, who was taken aback that her dramatic attempt to end the conversation had backfired. "Now, now, Miss Akemi. Running away so soon? And just when our conversation was starting to get interesting."

To her credit, she didn't run or try to shoot him, both of which would have been annoying and ultimately useless. Instead she straightened and stared him dead in the eye.

"You don't understand," she whispered. "I can't stop until Madoka is safe. I can't."

"I think we are in complete agreement that Miss Kaname's safety is paramount," Urahara reassured her. "I believe that with my assistance, Walpurgisnacht will be defeated, Miss Kaname will remain free of the Incubator's influence, and you will no longer have to keep going back in time. As a bonus, this will also prevent reality from collapsing on itself, thus destroying this city and everything in it in a way no less devastating than Walpurgisnacht would."

Miss Akemi was scanning her surroundings, no doubt searching for the tie that kept him present in the conversation, but she kept coming up short. "Why are you helping us? What do you possibly hope to get out of this?" she said at last.

"Because, as I've explained to Miss Tomoe, I'm rather fond of this world, seeing as I live here myself," Urahara said. "The apocalypse is so bad for business, you know. And of course, I hate to see pretty girls cry. You care for your friends, don't you?"

"I have no friends."

Urahara smiled. "How naive, to believe that friendship is a thing you can end just by being cold to everyone."

For once, she had no retort.

"Anyway, if you choose to go back in time again, I doubt I can stop you," he said. That was a lie, but he didn't feel the need to box her in more than she already was, lest she panic. Right now it was best to let it be her decision to remain, not his. "But I can help you break the cycle--if that's what you truly want. At the very least, you deserve to know the consequences before you act."

Miss Akemi eyed him speculatively as she considered her next move. He sat patiently and let her take all the time she needed. It wasn't as if he could go anywhere as long as reality was still frozen around them.

"I do not promise anything," she said at last. "But there is no need for me to re-start the timeline again just yet. And if an alliance with you will keep Madoka safe once and for all"--her hands clenched into fists--"then I will work with you for now, Kisuke Urahara."

Urahara clapped his hands in only partly exaggerated delight. "Splendid! Now, if you don't mind, tell me what you know about the Crossroads Witch--"

***

By the time Miss Akemi finally departed, it was long after midnight, but Urahara's work was nowhere near over. His first step was to follow-up with Akon, as none of the anticipated interference from Soul Society seemed to have manifested.

"Funny about that," Akon said when he finally picked up the phone. "Turns out I needn't have bothered to turn the alarms off--none of them ever made it up to the main hollow alert system in the first place."

"Oh?" Urahara's skin prickled.

"Yeah, I thought it was weird, too, so I did some digging. There was literally no record in the system for anything in the greater Mitakihara metropolitan area--and all the abnormally high readings on the sensors themselves had been replaced with average ones when I went back to check on them to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. If I had been on the main computer in the lab instead of rummaging through those exact sensors in the equipment room at that precise moment, I would never have known anything unusual had ever happened tonight."

"So someone is altering the SRDI sensor data in situ, then. Interesting."

"That's not the word I would choose, but sure," Akon said flatly. "'Interesting.'"

More than interesting--fascinating. It would explain why Urahara's field data were so wildly and consistently different from the SRDI's own readings--and why no one in Soul Society had noticed the witches running rampant in Mitakihara before now. Only Miss Akemi's strange time-based magic had made it through somehow--probably because whoever was responsible for the cover-up had no idea anything like that was possible and/or couldn't conceive of anyone crazy  enough to keep punching holes through space-time like that.

But it meant the situation was far more dire than either Akon or Urahara had initially assumed. Someone--most likely the Incubator--had infiltrated Twelfth Division's security to deliberately blindside them. Not that hacking the current system was all that difficult--Urahara broke in every now and then just to keep his hand in--but Mayuri Kurotsuchi was going to be even more furious than usual when he found out. It would have been funny if the consequences weren't so serious.

"Did you inform the captain?" Urahara asked carefully.

"He's holed up in his lab and won't return any of my calls," Akon said with an unhappy moan. "Lieutenant Kurotsuchi says he's busy with the whole Kurosaki problem, and he's not dealing with anything that isn't an emergency right now."

It was ironic that Mayuri was spending so much energy on restoring Ichigo Kurosaki's shinigami powers--no doubt with the intent to one-up Urahara--but it was probably for the best. The last thing they needed was one of his tantrums right now. "Can you find out who's responsible?"

"Might take a few days, but yeah, I ought to be able to trace it back to the source," Akon said. "The captain will take the news better if I have definitive proof of who the culprit is."

Translation: someone else to murder instead of me.

"Good luck," Urahara said, and meant it. "Let me know if you run into any problem and I'll do my best to help."

"Thanks," Akon said. "Whatever's going on down there, it's a hell of a lot bigger than we thought."

"That's right," Urahara agreed. "Oh, and while you're at it, did you make any progress on those personnel lists I asked for?"

Akon sighed. "The last few days have been so crazy around here, I completely forgot. You know how it is, right?"

Urahara glanced blearily at the clock. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, and he wasn't likely to get any more tonight, given the monumental task that still lay before him. But this wasn't the moment to go into all the details, even if he could spare the energy.

"Trust me, I know exactly what you mean."

***

When Urahara finally got off the phone with Akon, Miss Sakura was sprawled across the tatami in the living room, snoring loudly. There was no sign of Tessai, but Yoruichi was curled up in cat form on her usual pillow, one eye tracking him as he entered the room.

"You're back early," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Yoruichi snorted. "I did a circuit around the city after seeing the girls safely home. This place is empty, Kisuke--there's no sign of anything spiritually unusual at all anymore. No witches, hollows, ghosts--nothing. I even went back and nosed around for the Incubator's body after Akemi did such a number on it, and that's gone, too. It's like that thing was never even here."

"Would we were so lucky," Urahara said. "Given the nature of its scheme, I can't imagine it giving up so easily, especially with how many bodies Miss Akemi reports it has in reserve. But she seems to have brought us at least a brief reprieve, and we'll see what we can do to throw further wrenches in its plans."

Golden eyes flicked over him with casual scrutiny. "Off to the lab, I see."

"Don't wait up."

"Wasn't planning on it." She yawned and stretched with exaggerated feline grace. "I'd wish you luck, but we both know you won't need it."

"I hope you're right," he said, buoyed once more by her trust in him. Tiptoeing around Miss Sakura, he slid open the shoji on the far side of the room, and picked his way through the house to the laboratory.

Due to the constant risk of fire and explosions, the lab was in its own separate outbuilding on the far side of the courtyard garden from the main house, connected by a wide covered walkway. It had originally started out as a garage, and still retained the large automatic doors along one wall and the industrial concrete floor along with all of Urahara's equipment.

Tessai, bless him, had been as good as his word. Miss Tomoe's body was waiting for him on the central exam table, locked in protective stasis to prevent decay. Laid out on the table in her school uniform, her blank expression and golden curls were reminiscent of a fairy-tale princess forced into slumber by a witch's curse, patiently waiting for the spell to break so she could wake once more.

The entire compound was already extremely well-warded, but even so, his first act was to double and triple the room's protective shields, just in case said awakening went poorly. Both Tessai and Yoruichi were more than capable of handling any excess in a pinch, but after witnessing the Crossroads Witch in action, Urahara preferred to take the more cautious approach--especially with Jinta, Ururu, and Miss Sakura asleep in the main house.

As Miss Tomoe's soul gem was a unique blend of an ordinary human soul and a miniature hougyoku, there were a number of different approaches Urahara could take to restore her to her original state. For now he would begin with the easiest and most likely solution: allowing Miss Tomoe to do the bulk of the work for him.

He drew his zanpakutou from his cane and held it out in front of him. "Oh, Benihime, darling~~~," he called. "Wakey, wakey! Time to play!"

You don't say,, she purred, already primed and ready to go. I was wondering when we'd have a chance to join in all the fun. All that battle tonight has made me... hungry.

The sword flared into its shikai form, a crimson tassel emerging from its base from its pommel as it shifted from a curved cane edge to a more conventionally martial grip. The blade itself widened and thickened, a jet black hamon swirling across the surface. A U-shape guard covering extended three inches up the blade, etched with a flower petal design--rather like Miss Tomoe's hairclip, now that he thought about it.

"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves, dear. I think a little shibari first would be in order, don't you?" Urahara said conversationally.

He slashed the air over Miss Tomoe's body with the sword and a black net descended from the blade, enveloping its target with its thick webbing. Even with all the wards in already place, there was no point in taking any chances. Miss Tomoe would understand; she had once used a very similar technique on Miss Akemi, after all...

And there it was: the reason Urahara so desperately wanted to save her. Yes, she was an innocent girl who didn't deserve this terrible fate that had been thrust upon her. Yes, she was a fascinating puzzle, and a chance to push the boundaries of the possible. But for better or worse, she reminded him so much of himself--a gifted orphan forced to grow up far too fast--and that made it personal.

Besides, it was what Ichigo Kurosaki would have done, and Kurosaki was a far better person than Urahara ever would be. Even if Urahara couldn't change the past or skip to an alternate timeline like Miss Akemi, he could at least choose a different path in this future.

Focus, Benihime reminded him.

Urahara shook himself. "Yes, ma'am."

According to Miss Akemi, Miss Tomoe's soul gem should be able to control the body within a one hundred meter radius, but there was no sign of any movement or motion as he brought the grief seed close to her. Only when he set it in the palms of her hands, as Miss Akemi had done to restore Miss Miki, did she react.

It was dramatic as he could have possibly hoped for. Even as her heart started beating again and she coughed, her eyes snapped open--and something raw and intelligent that wasn't Miss Tomoe peered out. The Crossroads Witch's earlier form lacked eyes, but the angry reiatsu that spiked through the room was unmistakable in its power and fury.

If it hadn't been for the restraints pinning her down, she would have risen from the table and attacked him. As it was, she lashed out both psychically and physically, howling with rage as she strained to free herself. Her bound arms turned gray and began to warp and shift into tentacles--

Well, that wouldn't do. He cast a swift Hakufuku and the witch collapsed back into unconsciousness. Miss Tomoe's body quickly reverted back to normal, her chest continuing to rise and fall as her breathing slowed.

So far, so good.

Ready, love? he said to his zanpakutou.

Benihime's smile was as sharp and polished as her edge. Ready.

He took a deep breath. "Bankai: Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame."

This time, the sword in his hand didn't change form. Instead, his zanpakutou's spirit towered above him: a woman in a blood-colored robe, her dark hair braided in loops spilling down her shoulders. She hovered at his back, her doll-like jointed arms dangling protectively on either side as the two of them studied the girl on the table in anticipation of their next move.

Benihime's gift was the power to restructure anything she touched, which allowed for all sorts of clever work-arounds and opportunities in the closely allied fields of science and war. In this case, it would allow him to restore Miss Tomoe's grief seed to its original form by cutting it apart and stitching it back up again into a coherent whole.

That was the good news. The bad news was that his bankai only has a limited range in which it remained effective. Furthermore, any changes he made would only last as long as the bankai itself remained active.

However, if the two of them could restore Miss Tomoe back to herself long enough for a conversation, perhaps she could be persuaded to apply her own formidable powers to restoring herself.

A gamble, certainly. But Urahara liked the odds.

There were other alternatives if this approach didn't pan out. Tessai was extremely skilled with healing kido, and Hachigen Ushouda of the Vizored knew more than a few tricks of his own. Failing that, there was Orihime Inoue's power to reject and re-write reality, but Urahara would prefer not to involve her at all in this until he'd exhausted the other possibilities.

With Benihime's hand guiding his own, he cut into the grief seed, peeling it back from the central incision, and began pulling it apart into its component atoms. Darkness spilled out in all directions in a visual and auditory cacophony: shouting, screaming, madness, sobbing, the honking of horns, the squeal of tires, and the shattering of glass. Urahara shook his head, grateful for the layers of protective wards keeping everything contained in place, and kept cutting.

Three hours of delicate, painstaking surgery later, he was rewarded with a crude approximation of Miss Tomoe's original soul gem. The main difference on the outside was the band of regrettably unattractive zigzag stitches running up and down the side that forcibly kept it from reverting back to its corrupted state for the moment.

Urahara paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead and admire his handiwork, even as the reconstruction fought him every step of the way. Somewhere inside this fragmented amber jewel was a lonely, frightened girl, trapped inside a prison in her own soul.

He bowed his head, brushing his fingers against the soul gem nestled in her palm as he stepped through into its depths.

Time to seek her out at last.

***

Once more he stood on an empty highway--though this version more closely approximated the vision Miss Tomoe had experienced in her meditation session than the nightmarish chaos of the witch's labyrinth. Wrapped in an impenetrable fog, the world was eerily empty, devoid of any other signs of life.

No. Wait. Somewhere in the distance up ahead, a girl was crying, almost too faint to hear through the fog. Making sure that Benihime was still firmly in hand, Urahara hurried forward to investigate.

As he approached the source of the noise, a wreck swam into view--a silver passenger car that had rammed the concrete barriers lining the road. The front half of the vehicle was a crumpled mess, but the back seat had been shielded from the brunt of the impact and was mostly intact. Inside, the car, a familiar reiatsu flared--bright, strong, and momentarily uncorrupted.

Even so, he could barely make out her silhouette through the shattered window as he peered inside the wreck. She lay with her back to him, curled up on her side amidst the ruined seat cushions and shattered glass as she sobbed.

"Miss Tomoe?" he called. "It's Mr. Urahara. Can you hear me?"

Silence--and then a faint sniffle. "Mr. Urahara? Is that really you?"

"I'm just outside. Can you see me?"

"No. Everything's dark in here. I can't see anything."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"No." A pause. "Yes. Yes. I do. I'm a witch now, aren't I?"

"I'm afraid so," Urahara said warily. If Miss Akemi was right, would she lash out at him now that she knew the truth?

Another pause, longer this time. "Did... did I hurt anyone?"

"No," he said. "Miss Akemi and Miss Sakura and Miss Miki saw to that."

"That's good, then," she sighed. "But it isn't good to be a magical girl, either. Will you make sure they don't hurt anyone, Mr. Urahara? Will you take care of them for me?"

"Of course," he said quickly.

"You must kill them as soon as possible," she continued with such matter-of-factness that Urahara's skin crawled. "They can't be allowed to live. They'll become witches like me. You have to stop them.

"I'm bound here, Mr. Urahara. I can't leave, and I can't die. I should have died back then, you know. But instead I wished to live, to stay connected to this life no matter the cost. I got my wish, but now I'm cursed... cursed to live on alone without any of the things that make life worthwhile.

"I could have saved my parents. Instead, I was selfish, and I only thought about myself. And now I'm alone... always alone...

"I want my friends to find me. Maybe then I won't so alone. That's why I set up so many barriers, so only my true friends would be able to find me." Her voice broke in a sob. "Oh, Mr. Urahara, I'm so glad you're here! I've been so lonely!"

"I know," Urahara said softly. "But I can't stay here much longer. You have to find your way out on your own. "

"Oh, please don't go!" Grey tendrils shot out from the car, tugging at his ankles and wrists as the witch inside reasserted herself. "Don't leave me alone!"

A few quick strokes from Benihime and he was free--and officially out of time. His temporary repair on Miss Tomoe's soul gem, unsteady to begin with, was no match for the wild fluctuations of her mood, forcibly reverting it back into a grief seed despite the magic holding it in place.

"We're all waiting for you out here, Miss Tomoe. Come back to us," Urahara said firmly.

"But my parents--my parents are dead, and it's all my fault--"

"There are others who care for you, who are waiting for you to return to them. Don't make them cry by giving into despair and remaining trapped in here forever. All of us are waiting for you on the other side: Miss Kaname, Miss Miki, Miss Sakura, even Miss Akemi. Yoruichi-san, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu, too." He took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "And me. I'm waiting for you, too--so please, join us--"

Dozens of arms lashed out as the witch screamed in rage, and that was his cue to withdraw. He slammed back into his body with a jolt and released the bankai before the strain of the contest shattered the soul gem. The remaining stitching on Miss Tomoe's soul gem unraveled at once, like an unzipped zipper as the amber stone turned jet black and condensed back into a grief seed before his eyes.

Miss Tomoe's body was seemingly unaffected by the change--her eyes closed and her breathing steady. She wasn't restored, but her grief seed hadn't re-hatched into a witch, either, which Urahara counted as a win in and of itself.

If despair could turn a magical girl into a witch, it logically followed that hope would restore her again. Human emotions, Miss Akemi claimed, were powerful weapons, capable of reversing entropy itself if properly channeled. That was the fuel the Incubators used to power their entire civilization--their reason for preying on young girls in the first place. If Miss Tomoe's hope had indeed been rekindled, then it was possible her transformation into a witch could also be reversed, entropy be damned.

Of course, it was very difficult to go work against entropy, as Urahara had discovered over the course of his own studies. But it wasn't impossible--the hougyoku worked on similar principles. And hadn't Ichigo Kurosaki proven more than once that unshaking faith and determination were enough to accomplish great things? Surely Miss Tomoe would do the same now that she understood the stakes--

Urahara's head throbbed and he wanted nothing more to crawl into bed and sleep for two days straight. Instead, he forced himself to remain upright and alert as he studied the comatose girl in front of him for any signs of change, any proof that his hypothesis was correct.

He'd promised Miss Tomoe he'd be there for her when she returned, and he had every intention of keeping his word.

***

Clang, clang, clang. Clang. Clang.

Mami opened her eyes, and wished she hadn't. She was crouched in the wreckage of her parents' car, her hands jammed against her ears in a vain effort to shut out that awful banging. The world had gone grey again, with even the dried and sticky blood (so much blood) that pooled across the ground devoid of color. She was alive and unharmed, but she didn't dare move, lest whatever malevolent presence that lurked outside discover her.

She was back in the wreckage of that terrible day, but certain details were different. This time she could move and think freely, intact and unharmed by the accident. Neither her body nor her clothes were gray, and she was wearing her magical girl costume, but there was no sign of her soul gem anywhere.

Panic flared as she scrambled in the darkness and found nothing. Where was her soul gem? If her soul gem was her, then--

She didn't have a soul gem anymore. It had turned black and shattered before her eyes. She wasn't a magical girl anymore. She was a--no, don't think about it.

So why was she still wearing her costume, then? Why was she here? Why--?

The world shifted and buckled, spinning out from under her as the car shook from the earthquake. The raucous clanging continued; it was impossible to think clearly with so much noise. There was nothing outside this awful present, and all the guilt and shame and fear that accompanied it, and she was stuck here forever--

Wait. Mr. Urahara had been here just now, hadn't he? She hadn't imagined that, either. "All of us are waiting for you on the other side... *I'm* waiting for you--so please, join us--"

If that was true, then all she had to do was find them...

But though she hated to disappoint Mr. Urahara, the thought of emerging from hiding was even scarier. It was dark and lonely here, and she was in constant pain, but it was familiar, with no additional surprises disturbing her cocoon of misery. As long as she remained huddled in the backseat, she could keep herself safe from any further harm, and nothing would ever change.

Clang, clang, clang. Clang. Clang. Would that miserable banging ever stop? There was a witch out there, searching desperately for something, and Mami didn't want to see it, didn't want to know about it, didn't want anything to do with it. All she wanted was to shut down her senses and blot out the world--anything to stop the pain.

But even if she could somehow escape this place, did she even deserve to be happy? All those people Mr. Urahara had listed-- himself included--didn't know how vile, how pathetic, how selfish she truly was. They didn't know (except for Kaname) that everything about Mami was a lie, a cloak she crafted to conceal her shame and loneliness. They didn't know it was her way of coping with a fate beyond her capacity to change, and the terrible mistake for which she could never fully atone.

I was selfish and I only wished for myself when I should have died. Then I became a witch, and now I *deserve* to die. Even before that, though, I wasn't even human anymore--just a walking corpse too stupid to notice the difference.

Grief spilled over her anew at Kyubey's betrayal, his casual dismissal of their anger and pain. Mami had known she would spend the rest of her life paying for her wish, but the price had turned out to be higher than she had ever guessed possible.

Wait a minute. It was Kyubey who had deliberately steered the Raven Witch in her path to cause the accident. It was Kyubey who had set her up to make a hasty wish, Kyubey who had indirectly murdered her parents through his proxy, Kyubey who had ruined her life.

Maybe--just maybe--none of this was her fault.

She gasped as the full implications of that simple, revolutionary statement hit her. She'd been wrong all along. None of this was her fault.

From the very beginning, she'd never been more than a piece of meat to Kyubey, a tool to be used and thrown away when its task was complete. And if she gave up now, not only was she letting him win, it also meant sacrificing everything she'd ever wanted. Warmth. Friendship. Freedom.

Family.

I *can't* die. Not yet. Not yet. I can't--I have to--

Never mind the witch lurking outside; she had a job to do. It might be hard out there--and it was definitely scary--but people were counting on her and she couldn't let them down now. That's not what magical girls did.

With a yelp, Mami scrabbled towards the shattered window and the tantalizing scrap of sky beyond. I'm coming, Mr. Urahara, I'm coming--

Heedless of the broken glass, she hauled herself up out of the car and threw herself out the window--only to land on the roof of another car instead of the empty highway she'd expected.

She lay sprawled on top of a shattered van halfway up a looming mountain of such wrecks, mingled with the debris from thousands of porcelain dishes in various shades of gray. What she'd initially mistaken for the sky was one particularly large, colorless tea kettle jammed above her hiding place, casting a wide arc over the nearby cars. The actual horizon beyond it was circumscribed by vast bands arching across the sky like stained glass panels in the shape of flowers-- except that the 'glass' behind them was completely dark.

I'm inside a grief seed, Mami thought numbly, before quickly correcting herself. No. Not just any grief seed. *My* grief seed.

The van wobbled and lurched as the ground shuddered beneath her, and she lost her balance and fell once more. She bounced off the roof of another car below, tumbling all the way down the junk pile before she landed in a graceless heap at the bottom.

Clang, clang, clang. Clang. Clang.

The source of the noise emerged into view from the far side of the pile a few second later--the witch was on the move again. The first set of clangs came in quick succession as she bent over and attached her tendrils against the cars. Once settled, she leaned the bulk of her weight on them enough to 'hop' forward with the central foot and re-anchor herself a few meters away, which generated the earthquakes.

Mami's stomach roiled as the witch dug its one of its many arms into the one a broken cars, as if searching for something--only to fling it away from her with a roar and continue on. This was a witch, this was her witch, and she remembered the anger and fear and desperation as if it were her own, lashing out blindly against the world for sins both real and imagined, because this was her--

Without thinking, Mami drew a flintlock out of the air and fired. The bullet struck its target and burrowed in--only to bounce back out seconds later as the witch shrugged off the attack. She succeeded only in drawing the witch's attention straight to her.

Abandoning its futile search in favor of fresh prey, the witch charged, somersaulting its 'heads' over its 'foot' with remarkable speed to close the gap between them. Its grey tendrils extended and doubled in length as the witch hurled them at its prey, the suckers aimed straight for Mami's face.

Time slowed. Once again, Mami was back in the Dessert Witch's labyrinth, the useless gun slipping from her fingers as she froze in terror. Death hurtled towards her even as she stood paralyzed, aware it was coming but unable to stop it--

No!

Mami ducked and rolled just in time as the hydra's arms swept past her and slammed into yet another ruined vehicle. She pulled another flurry of flintlocks into existence and fired again and again, knowing even as she did it was futile. She'd never encountered a witch who could shrug off her attacks like this--

Can she even *be* killed? If she *is* me, and I'm fighting *myself,* then--

Witches couldn't be reasoned or bargained with--they weren't supposed to be capable of rational thought, much less coherent speech. Any magical girl who tried to reason with them was liable to end up dead sooner rather than later, and Mami was going to join them if she didn't defend herself.

She couldn't defeat the witch with bullets, which meant Tiro Finale was likely equally useless. On the other hand, if she could tie the witch down long enough to figure out some way to escape this place--

She broke into a run, bounding across the junk pile in a wide circle and anchoring ribbons here and there as she went along. Once the trap was set to her satisfaction, she lured the witch to the center and ducked behind a ruined truck to dodge the forest of tendrils it sent after her--shrinking back in distaste as one of the slick, muscled coils missed her wrist by centimeters. Then she sprung the trap, and every ribbon exploding up from its hiding at once to grab the witch and pin her down--

For a second, the ribbons shuddered but held fast and Mami allowed herself a sigh of relief. Then the witch's body shifted, the limbs melting and reforming as she shrunk herself down, giving herself just enough slack to rip her way free--

Damn.

This wasn't good. Mami was exhausted and sore and terrified, fighting an opponent significantly stronger than she was. None of her usual tricks appeared to be working, she wasn't even sure her opponent could be killed, and even if she won, there was no obvious way out.

Think, think, think! There's got to be something! You can't give up now!

There was so much she hadn't known. She hadn't known the truth about what Kyubey had done to her body--and then, in her despair, she'd become a witch and learned the truth about them as well. And that meant that everything else she knew about witches was probably wrong, too.

If witches are monsters, then what am I?

If there was any truth to the vision in her soul gem, Kyubey had been able to manipulate the Raven Witch by bribing it with grief seeds. That meant they had a modicum of intelligence and awareness, enough to be controlled on some level. Too bad Mami didn't have any grief seeds on her...

But if this witch really was her, or a part of her, she might be able to reach out to it--her--and negotiate a truce. There was no guarantee it would work, but if none of her weapons could kill it, what choice did she have? She couldn't keep fighting it forever. Eventually she would collapse from exhaustion, and then the witch would have its way with her at last--

Even so, it took every ounce of courage Mami possessed to let the guns fall away and stand still as the tendrils wrapped around her and pulled her close. The witch hoisted her up in the air to its nearest 'head', dangling her over the churning mouth, its teeth chattering in anticipation.

In that moment, the boundaries between them dissolved again, and Mami was the witch, consumed by rage and terror as she lashed out at the world. So much pain, anger, and despair was tangled up with the urge to devour everything in her path, to make everyone feel the way she did. Beneath it all lay the driving instinct to create a world where she could undo the terrible mistake that dominated her life and make it right--

The problem was that in trying to make it right, she just ended up hurting others more. No matter how many times she re-created the accident, her parents were dead and they were never coming back.

But Mami--and by extension, the witch--still could.

"It's all right," Mami panted, pulling away from their emotional connection in a desperate attempt to regain some boundaries, even as she was constricted by the witch's less-than-gentle grip. "It's all right. You don't have to fight me. I'm on your side."

The witch stopped short, stunned, as Mami babbled on as she would to a wounded child, the kind and gentle tone more important than any specific phrasing. The arm holding her up wobbled as the witch hesitated--and then, to Mami's astonishment, gradually lowered her back down to the ground and let her go. The tendril withdrew back a meter and paused, as if waiting for her next move.

Slowly, hesitantly, fully expecting it to rip her arm off at any moment, Mami reached out and stroked it.

The witch made a long, slow hum reminiscent of Yoruichi's purr. Then its entire body began to warp and shrink down in a whirling mass of ribbons until it was a greyscale version of Mami herself, a perfect reflection devoid of any color.

No. Not identical, Mami realized with a start. This was a younger version of herself, the newly orphaned thirteen-year-old in her brand-new dress who lay pinned in the wreckage of the car accident, sobbing for parents who would never return. A lost child abandoned in the dark, obsessing over her failures before vowing to wreck the world that had wronged her in revenge.

Mami's heart ached. Had she ever really been that young and innocent once? Had it really been such a short time ago? But then, she had been forced to grow up and struggle on as best she could over the last few years. Meanwhile, this splintered offset had never left the site of the accident, forced to relive the worst day of their lives over and over again.

"You want to get out of this place, right?" Mami said to her double, who was watching her now with wide, confused, eyes. "You want to fix our mistakes, but nothing you do ever changes anything. You want to hurt the ones who did this to us, but you can't do anything here except get angry and break things."

A tentative nod.

"If you come with me, things will be different," Mami said, warming to her subject. "We can't change the past, but we can move beyond it. There will be good times again, and fun ones, too. We have friends who care about us now--friends who will support us and will fight at our side. And we'll make Kyubey pay for what he did to us, I promise."

That got her younger self's attention, no question about it. But even as the flash of anger subsided, it was replaced by fear, yearning, and a silent question: You're not afraid of me?

"I'm not afraid of anything anymore," Mami said, shocked to realize it was true. "Because"--her voice broke--"I'm not alone anymore. You'll always be with me. You're a part of me, and now that I know you're here, I won't leave you here to cry alone in the dark."

All Mami had ever wanted since the accident was someone who would understand her pain, and hold her, reassuring her that everything was going to be all right, no matter what. For the last two years, she hadn't had any of that. She'd been forced to pull herself together and bury those feelings deep down--and in so doing, this lost, forsaken part of her had suffered the consequences.

Now she--they--had a chance to make a new path. She could save the one person who mattered most, the only person whom, in the end, she could save: herself.

Mami held out her hand to her double. "Whatever happens, I promise you we'll figure it out. Together."

Still wary, with so much rage and grief bundled inside her, her younger self hesitated. But she was no longer angry at Mami, and she was willing to listen--and that was good enough for the moment.

"Good girl," Mami said soothingly. "Good girl. Come on, let's go."

The double nodded slowly, and took her hand, an electric spark running between their fingers. Once again acting on impulse, Mami hugged her tightly. "Welcome home--Trivia Castrovalva."

The name spilled out of her mouth without conscious intention, but it was deep and true and right, possessed of an ineffable power of its own. Even as she said it, Mami knew without a doubt that this was the true name of this part of her soul, in the same way that Mr. Urahara and Benihime were two yet one--a mystery that Kyubey, for all his machinations, would never be able to comprehend.

The name marked a new chapter in Mami's life--one that was deeply and intensely personal, and more than a little scary. It was the beginning of a relationship, the first step in a long journey that would take a lifetime and beyond to reach fruition. But it was also like coming home for the first time, as she was reunited once more with this lost piece of herself.

Even as she pulled the witch close, white ribbons swirled around them, wrapping tightly around them both. Mami's chest burned and she couldn't breathe. Panic flared--had she been wrong about everything? Had the witch decided to kill her after all--?

Then the ribbons vanished, and once more Mami was alone.

No. Not alone. Never alone again.

Nee-san, Castrovalva said in wonder, a pulsing presence like a live coal in the back of her mind. I'm home--

Color snapped back into the world all at once, blinding Mami with its brilliance. The darkened stained glass horizon vanished, replaced with a bright blue open sky dotted with puffy white clouds, and sunlight streaming overhead. The mountain of wrecked vehicles shuddered and fell, dissolving into endless fields of blooming sunflowers rimmed by snowy mountains in the distance. Teacup cars zipped along the gleaming highway weaving through the fields, beeping happily in greeting to each other and the meandering curl-ups as they passed.

So this is what my soul gem is supposed to look like, she thought. I was so bogged down in my own pain, I didn't even realize the world *could* be like this--

But as beautiful it was, she couldn't stay here. She had more than one promise to keep back in the outside world--and so many people waiting for her on the other side. Now that she wasn't fighting anymore, she could feel the faint but familiar tug of her body in the distance, waiting patiently for her--for them--to return.

And was it her imagination or was Mr. Urahara also there, waiting patiently for her just as he promised?

Mami smiled. All right then. Let's go to meet him.

***

One second, Miss Tomoe lay comatose and still on the exam table. The next moment, she was enveloped by a glowing amber light that would have lifted her off the table if it hadn't been for the black netting forcibly holding her in place.

The grief seed, under no such constraints, rose into the air a meter above her body and hovered in place. With a grinding screech reminiscent of fingernails on a blackboard, the grief seed everted itself back into its familiar gold-wrapped jewel form. Then it snapped shut like a mousetrap as both it and Miss Tomoe collapsed back onto the table as if a string had been cut.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Miss Tomoe's eyes jerked opened and she screamed, scrabbling in vain against her restraints. Even without managing to free herself, the wave of panicked reiatsu punched through three separate levels of wards, and would have shattered the fourth if Urahara hadn't been on hand to stabilize the situation.

Flash-stepping across the gap in a second, he dropped the magic and the netting vanished. He half-expected her to keep fighting him, but with nothing left to struggle against, she went limp and boneless instead, collapsing against him instead. Making sure her soul gem was secure, he stowed Benihime in his cane and waited patiently for her to make the next move.

Finally, she sat up gingerly, her shaking hand reaching up to brush the stubble on his chin as if she couldn't quite believe either of them were real.

"Mr. Urahara," she whispered. "I heard you calling me and I came--I came back... because I'm not alone anymore..."

"Miss Tomoe," he said, gently stroking her hair as she threw her arms around him and sobbed with exhausted relief into his shoulder.

Chapter Text

Mami woke to the sound of chewing, followed by a faint mew. Was that Yoruichi? What was Mr. Urahara's cat doing in her apartment--?

She opened her eyes. She wasn't in her apartment at all. She lay on a futon in one of the tatami rooms in the back of Urahara Candy Shop, fully clothed in her school uniform. The chewing sound was Kyouko, stretched out on her stomach as she idly flipped through a pile of manga, munching on a heaping platter of cookies. Yoruichi was curled up beside her, golden eyes fixed on Mami's every movement.

"Kyouko?" Mami said, lurching upright with a start. "Yoruichi-san! What am I--what are you--doing here?"

"Oh, hey, Mami, you're up," Kyouko said with her mouth full. "Muscle-man said you'd be awake soon. Want some cookies?"

She rolled over and sat up, offering the remaining treats to Mami in an uncharacteristic display of generosity.

Mami wasn't hungry, but knowing what food meant to Kyouko, there was no polite way to decline. She accepted the offering and was rewarded with the sharp and piquant taste of gingersnaps. "You mean Mr. Tsubakishi?"

"Whatever," Kyouko said with a wave. "Good, aren't they?"

"Yes," Mami said, covering her confusion by finishing the cookie. "How did I get here?"

Kyouko eyed her suspiciously. "You mean you don't remember?"

"No?" Mami said, sensing a trick question. "I mean, I was on the bridge to Kazaimino--and you and Miki and Kaname were there-- and I had the strangest dream--"

Her voice trailed off as her heart squeezed in her chest. No. Oh, no. That couldn't be right. "I dreamed I was a witch--"

Kyouko thrust the tray back in Mami's face. "Have another cookie," she ordered. "Things got really weird back there. Don't go thinking too hard about it right now."

Mami obeyed. The sugar steadied her, eclipsing the strangeness of her dream with its tangible and tasty reality.

"Where'd you get the manga?" she asked after a moment as she registered the paperbacks scattered on the tatami around them.

"Borrowed it from the red-haired brat--what's-his-name--Jinta. He's got all kinds of cool stuff."

Privately, Mami thought that was the pot calling the kettle black but it would explain the baseball theme. "Are Kaname and Miki all right?"

"They're fine," Kyouko said brusquely. "They're at school right now with what's-her-name, Miss Hoity-Toity. Homura Akemi."

Homura Akemi. Yes, the transfer student had been there on the bridge last night, too. Mami remembered that part of her dream vividly, yet the details still didn't add up. It had been night then, but now it was mid-afternoon and--

"School? You mean I was out all night?"

It was one thing for Kyouko to play truant, but Mami missing school was another matter entirely. Surely someone would notice her absence and start asking awkward questions--

"Didn't I tell you not to worry?" Kyouko demanded, slapping a folded manga against her palms with practiced menace. "Hat-and-Clogs took care of it."

Parsing Kyouko's nicknames took a second, but that could only be Mr. Urahara. "He did? What--"

"Muscle-man dragged him off to bed a few hours ago or else he'd be here himself," Kyouko said. "He said his cat would keep you company, but I didn't think it was right for you to be alone when you woke up."

She shifted uneasily, as if the admission bothered her, before plunging ahead. "Look, Mami, I know we've had our differences in the past, but, uh--I was wrong about a lot of things, and I'm sorry about that," she said in a rush.

Mami smiled, her heart swelling with gratitude at both the acknowledgement of the rift and the apology. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "For my part, I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to drag you into any of this--"

Kyouko waved her off. "Nah, this place is great! A little weird, but frankly, what isn't when you get down to it? Muscles has been giving me three squares a day and all the snacks I can eat for free! Plus I've been kicking Jinta's ass in Mario Kart. Where'd ya find these people, Mami?"

"I don't know," Mami admitted. "They've only been here in Mitakihara for a few weeks..."

"Mmmhm," Kyouko said, her response lost in another mouthful of cookies. "Well. Anyway. Hat-and-Clogs said you were to rest here until the two of you had a chance to talk. I'll go tell Muscles you're awake now."

She scrambled to her feet, bellowing Mr. Tsubakishi's nickname as she opened the shoji into the rest of the house. A muffled Jinta yelled back that it was rude for freeloaders to make so much noise and they should quiet down--which only made Kyouko shout even harder for Mr. Tsubakishi as she stalked from the room.

Yoruichi rolled his golden eyes. "Sheesh, she's a loudmouth, isn't she?" he said once Kyouko was out of earshot, before settling on the futon at Mami's feet for a nap.

Mami smiled behind her hands, then dropped them to her lap when she realized they were shaking. The things I remember. My dream. Kyubey--manipulating our bodies. Changing us. Did that really happen?

She studied her hands carefully, expecting a blackened and corrupted soul gem on her finger. To her relief, the jewel in the ring was its usual pure yellow, pulsing faintly in her hand like always. She drew it out into its full gem form, but closer inspection revealed no sign of darkness or impurities.

She didn't feel like a walking corpse. There were no obvious changes in her spirit ribbons that might indicate a problem. Nor was there any sign of the--no, she definitely didn't want to think about her too closely. Right now, everything was... well, normal.

It must have been a dream. No doubt she had been knocked out in the scuffle on the bridge and hallucinated everything. But it was all so vivid--so real--

What had Kyouko said? "Things got really weird back there for a while." They must have been incredibly weird to give the normally brash Kyouko such pause.

An enthusiastic Mr. Tsubakishi arrived a few minutes later with Ururu in tow, both of them bearing trays of miso soup, rice porridge, and tea. Mami downed all of it without protest, overseen by a scowling Jinta hovering in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest in a display of militant but mute solidarity. Mr. Tsubakishi flatly refused to answer any of Mami's questions, claiming the boss would be with her shortly to take care of it.

Mr. Urahara had been in her dream, too, Mami thought uneasily. He'd told her--

Mr. Urahara himself appeared a few minutes later, more haggard and worn than she had ever seen him. He settled in seiza besides Mami's futon as Ururu and Mr. Tsubakishi gathered up the various plates and bowls and retreated to the kitchen, dragging Jinta in their wake.

"It wasn't a dream, was it," Mami said softly when they had departed.

At her feet, Yoruichi opened a single golden eye, but said nothing.

"No," Mr. Urahara said. Was it her imagination or did he tense slightly, his fingers straining for his swordcane? "It wasn't."

The dam building up inside her burst, and Mami collapsed, burying her face in her hands in a futile attempt to push back the memories. Even as the tears came hot and fast, she brushed against a familiar presence in the back on her mind and drew back in horror. The last thing she needed was to lose control and plunge back into the nightmare again--

But nothing happened. The gem on her finger remained yellow and clear even as the shame and confusion roiled within her, and that stubborn ball of personality inside her remained asleep. If everything she remembered had truly happened, how was this even possible?

"I was a witch!" Mami announced into the silence, unable to hold back a sob.

"Only temporarily," Mr. Urahara said, as if that made it better.

"And this is--this is true for all witches?" Mami demanded. "Were they all once--magical girls like me?"

"So Miss Akemi tells us."

The horror of Kyubey's betrayal hit her like a blow once more, this latest revelation the worst of all. Every witch she'd ever killed might indeed have been born from human curses as he'd implied--but not the aggregate of abstract, diffuse emotions like she'd always imagined. No, each witch was a magical girl like herself, a unique individual whose hopes had been crushed under the weight of their own despair. Mami hadn't been killing monsters--she'd been killing people this entire time, using their remains to power her own magic.

Every conversation, every interaction she'd ever had with Kyubey had been a lie from the very beginning. There was no way he couldn't have known the truth.

But even so, here she was, back in her body with her soul gem intact--along with this new presence lying dormant back of her mind. And if her memories could be trusted, then--

"You saved me," Mami whispered. "You brought me back."

"You saved yourself," Mr. Urahara corrected gently. "You brought yourself back by finding something to counter your despair. All Benihime and I did was give you the opportunity." He sat back on his heels, studying her with hooded eyes. "But I wouldn't mind hearing the story if you care to share it."

Mami did, pausing every now and then to catch her breath or fumble for the right words. Any mention of Castrovalva was like poking at a wild creature she feared would wake over at any moment and consume her. Yet to Mami's surprise and shameful relief, the child in her head stirred and shifted in restless slumber at each mention of her name but did not wake.

"Don't worry, I called your school and told them you would be absent for the next few weeks," Mr. Urahara said once she had finished her tale. "After all, it's not every day, you get to see your long-lost uncle, is it?"

Mami stared at him blankly. "But I don't have any uncles!"

"Fortunately, they don't know that," Mr. Urahara said with the ghost of a smile. "Forgive me for the familiarity of assuming kinship, but Yoruichi-san, Tessai, and I all felt that it was best that you remain out of school for the time being."

"No, not at all," she stammered, her face growing hot. "I'm honored that you would consider me part of your family in any way. But if all magical girls are potential witches--could transform into them at any moment--what do we do about them?"

Mr. Urahara coughed. "Well, I admit it's quite a troublesome little problem. The good news is that as you have so dramatically proven, it is possible for witches to be restored to their original forms under the appropriate circumstances. It is thus likely we can restore many, if not all, of your fallen colleagues to their former states. In the meantime, our most pressing concerns are to develop an alternate to grief seeds for those already contracted, as well as keeping the Incubator from making any new ones--

"Incubator?"

"The being you call Kyubey. According to Miss Akemi, it is short for 'Incubator'--its true purpose here."

At the mention of Kyubey, Castrovalva snapped awake and growled, her anger spilling over and merging into Mami's own.

Incubator. Mami's English wasn't great, but she was familiar with that word from science class: a device that controlled the environment to hatch eggs under artificial conditions. In this case, the eggs were grief seeds and--

"It's doing this to us on purpose?" Mami spat in disgust.

"I'm afraid so."

Mami thought back to her first meeting with Kyubey: the alien silhouette in the broken window, calling to her as she lay pinned and helpless in the wreckage. Will you make a contract with me, Mami Tomoe? he'd asked.

It had all been a trap from the very beginning.

"Kyubey," she whispered. "He arranged the accident that killed my parents. I saw it inside my soul gem, and I thought it was a dream, but it wasn't. He lured the witch who did it to the highway, and--"

Mr. Urahara bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"No," Mami hissed, all pretense of politeness evaporating in a burst of steely fury. The effect was heightened by Castrovalva's own grievances, the anger and hatred that had dominated her existence as a witch spilling over in search of an outlet.

Kill him. Kill them. Kill the whole world and devour it all, Castrovalva chanted in a monotone, the eeriness amplified by her appearance as a younger, paler version of Mami, still devoid of any color. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill--

Mami stamped down on that impulse, hard.

Castrovalva reared back as though she'd been slapped. But Nee-san, you *promised* we could kill him--

Not like *that*, Mami said firmly. And not now. *Later.* If you're *good*.

I hate you, Castrovalva whined, but she settled back down into grumbling silence without further argument. It was surreal for such a powerful entity to pout like a child in a temper tantrum--or maybe it was only to be expected, given her origins.

"It's not your fault, Mr. Urahara," Mami managed aloud, shaken as much by the sudden upwelling of violence as Castrovalva's sulking retreat.

"The fault is at least partially ours. The Incubator should have been stopped long before now. It was the shinigami's responsibility and we failed you. But I suppose there is no point in assigning blame at this juncture," Mr. Urahara said with a sigh. "In any event, the shop and the nearby grounds are lined with Tessai's strongest wards, so we don't have to worry about any interference here. That said, I'd prefer you to remain here until Walpurgisnacht arrives so as not to tip our hand to your restoration."

"Walpurgisnacht!" Mami jerked bolt upright in horror as she made the now-obvious connection. "Kyubey is deliberately luring the witch here--that's how he knew it was coming in the first place--"

"Yes, Miss Akemi mentioned that," Mr. Urahara agreed. "It is a trap for Miss Kaname, of course."

Dread pooled in Mami's stomach. It was far too later for her, for Miki and Akemi and Kyouko--but as long as Madoka Kaname remained uncontracted, she could still be saved from their terrible fate. "What are we going to do?"

"Miss Akemi and I are working on a plan," Mr. Urahara said. "In the meantime, we'd be honored to have you here as our guest along with Miss Sakura."

"What? But I can't--" Mami started.

"To be honest, I am concerned that if we let you go, the Incubator will attack you, either directly or through its proxies," Mr. Urahara explained. "Right now, it believes you are no longer a threat--it observed your transformation into Miss Castrovalva, and perhaps even her subsequent defeat at the hands of your comrades. However, should you leave the shop and its protective barriers, it will realize we have a way to restore witches to their original form and work to neutralize any advantage we might currently possess."

"But--"

"And of course, I'd be more than happy to offer you additional training so that you will be well-positioned to demonstrate the consequences of underestimating you once Walpurgisnacht arrives and we confront the Incubator directly."

Castrovalva brightened, making no secret of how much she anticipated that reunion.

"As will I," Yoruichi said from the foot of the bed.

"That's my pretty kitty!" Mr. Urahara cooed. He reached out to ruffle the cat's fur, and was roundly rebuffed for his efforts. "Owww, Yoruichi-san~~~!" he moaned, sucking on an injured finger.

"All right," Mami said, dizzy from so many changes coming all at once--internally and externally--as she bowed to the inevitable.

Can I eat *that*, then? Castrovalva piped up, meaning Yoruichi. It looks tasty.

No!! Mami shouted in exasperation, wondering how long she was going to have to put up with this. No eating anything that talks!

She only realized she'd said that last part aloud when both of her companions glanced at each other and snickered. Mami turned bright red and covered her mouth with her hand in embarrassment, wishing she could curl up and pull the covers over her head.

Meanwhile, Castrovalva still wasn't satisfied. Aww, Nee-san, are you *sure*--?

***

Miss Miki, Kaname, and Akemi arrived at the Urahara Candy Store after school let out that afternoon, their entrance heralded by shouts of welcome and/or annoyance from Kyouko, Jinta, Ururu, and Tessai long before they reached Miss Tomoe's quarters. Much to Yoruichi's disgust, an extended period of crying (Miss Kaname), enthusiastic shouts (Miss Miki), and smug commentary (Miss Sakura) ensued at the reunion, making it the perfect time for Urahara to sneak away with Miss Akemi amidst the chaos.

"I admit, I did not believe you," Miss Akemi confessed when they were safely out of earshot in the lab. "But she really is back to normal. And she didn't try to murder any of us." It was this last detail in particular that utterly befuddled her.

"Did she do that before?" Urahara asked carefully.

She nodded, a subtle tremor running through her. Whatever had happened that day had gone a long way towards creating that blank facade she now threw up against the world like a shield.

Time to switch gears, so to speak. "How is Miss Kaname holding up?"

As expected, Miss Akemi set her personal distress aside when focusing on Miss Kaname. "She's about as well as can be expected under the circumstances. The Incubator paid her a visit last night in a last-ditch attempt to persuade her to contract with it. She rebuffed it, but... felt the impact deeply. It showed her visions. Disturbing ones. She's been distraught ever since."

"What about Miss Miki?"

"She also encountered the Incubator last night," Miss Akemi reported matter-of-factly. "It argued that the modifications it had made to our bodies without our consent were actually to our long-term benefit, then demonstrated the ease with which a soul gem could be manipulated to cause pain." The casual way in which she brushed over what was clearly torture was chilling. "Suffice to say that Miki has been very careful with her soul gem ever since. She's furious, of course, but so far Madoka and I have been able to keep her from doing anything rash."

"Thank you," Urahara said. "I am afraid we must keep our hand well-concealed until Walpurgisnacht's arrival. Did you bring the information I requested?"

"Yes." She dug into her school bag and began to lay out a complex series of maps and charts across the exam table (the only unoccupied space at the moment), narrating the various scenarios and probabilities she had encountered across a dizzying number of timelines.

Urahara was impressed in spite of himself; the size and scope of this one-woman war was immense. And she was only fourteen?

No. She might have started out that way, but she was much older now, thanks to her time manipulation. And no matter what her physical age might be, she was no longer innocent.

"Very good," Urahara said at length, once the range and scope of Miss Akemi's ambitions had become clear to him. "May I suggest a few modifications?"

She nodded.

"Although Mitakihara itself will be evacuated, with most citizens retreating to the emergency shelter in the civic center, employing a Tenkai Kecchu will further reduce the risk of any civilians getting caught in the crossfire. As a bonus, I'm sure everyone will appreciate an intact central business district when they finally emerge."

"You can do that?"

"Yes, World-Shifting Binding-Posts are quite effective in that regard," Urahara said. He rummaged around until he found a piece of pink chalk and an eraser on the nearest chalkboard, hastily erased the scrawled caricatures and rude words Jinta had scrawled earlier in the week, and began drawing out the schematics. "If we take four linked points across the city and connect them together, we can swap out the area they circumscribe with one from another place. There's a few technical details to work out, of course, but nothing we can't surmount in time for the battle."

Miss Akemi nodded. "If you can create such a thing, I have no objections. What else?"

"Everything in your plan depends on your ability to stop time. As I mentioned last night, small skips and pauses here and there are relatively safe in the grand scheme of things. However, given the extent of your efforts against Walpurgisnacht and the sheer number of battles you've fought with her, the fabric underlying reality will grow more and more frayed as we approach April 30, and will be at its weakest point during the battle itself."

He leaned in closer to emphasize the point. "To put it in the bluntest possible terms, if you use your magic to stop time then--let alone try to go back a few weeks earlier--it is highly likely that space-time itself will collapse as a result. If we're lucky, the devastation caused by Walpurgisnacht's victory will pale in comparison. In the worst case scenario, there might not even be a universe left."

She bore this news better than he had expected. She didn't argue or get angry, only stared at him as she thought through the implications.

"Mr. Urahara," Miss Akemi said at length. "If stopping time is as dangerous as you claim, then how can I fight at all? Unlike other magical girls, I have no magical weapons I can summon, and, as you've noticed, so much of my strategy centers around this ability--"

"My colleagues and I can teach you kido--shinigami magic--as we were doing with Miss Tomoe before our lessons were so rudely interrupted by the Incubator," Urahara said.

She nodded soberly. "I am certainly willing to learn."

Their time together before the battle was limited, but it ought to be more than enough if she were as talented and dedicated as Urahara suspected. Now that he knew why Miss Tomoe had encountered such difficulties in their earlier lessons and could adjust his strategy accordingly, Miss Akemi would likely make rapid progress. Ichigo Kurosaki had taken three days to reach bankai under Yoruichi's tutelage, but then that boy was an exceptional case (and hopeless at kido, ironically enough). Miss Akemi looked to be a much more manageable student in that regard.

"Good. Perhaps you and Miss Kaname can work together, then."

"Madoka?" Miss Akemi drew back, clearly startled by this suggestion. "You'd teach her, too?"

"Of course," Mr. Urahara said innocently, studying her reaction closely. "If she learns magic from us, the Incubator's offers will be that much less appealing, won't they?"

Miss Akemi was forced to allow that this was so, though the idea of Miss Kaname in battle made her visibly uncomfortable. Interesting.

Between the time magic, the shield, and her fearsome protectiveness towards Miss Kaname, Urahara suspected what Miss Akemi's contract with the Incubators had entailed--though of course, it was all theoretical until he heard the truth from her lips.

"Yes," he said with exaggerated casualness. "Tell me about Miss Kaname's abilities in the timelines where she made a contract"

The ensuing stories confirmed Urahara's initial hypothesis, and it was all he could do not to rub his hands with glee. A bow, eh? Oh, this was all very interesting, indeed...

By the time he and Miss Akemi returned to Miss Tomoe's room, everyone was screaming from the revelation that Yoruichi could talk, which meant Urahara had the pleasure of watching a rare double-take from Miss Akemi. Luckily, he had already laid the groundwork by suggesting shinigami cats had magical properties beforehand, or else she might have shot the cat on sight. It was highly unlikely that such an attack would have hurt Yoruichi, of course, but bullet holes in the shoji were so annoying to repair.

Come to think of it, he'd have to develop training plans for all of the girls like the one he'd already drawn up for Miss Tomoe. Even if Miss Akemi and Miss Kaname ended up with different teachers after all, perhaps Miss Miki and Miss Sakura would work well when paired together...

Hmm. He'd have to think about this.

***

Mami didn't know what sort of reunion to expect when Kaname, Miki, and Akemi arrived after school. Would they be disappointed in her? Angry? Frightened? Would they hate her now that they knew the truth about magical girls and witches--let alone Castrovalva's unrepentant attempts to murder them last night? What was Mami supposed to say to that, anyway? "Sorry" didn't seem to cut it.

But any awkwardness on Mami's part was eclipsed by Miki's enthusiastic "MAMI! YOU'RE BACK!" as she burst into the room with Kaname at her heels and they embraced their sempai--both of them loud enough that Yoruichi woke and twitched in annoyance until Mami got the pair to calm down. True to form, Kyouko huffed in the corner, pretending she didn't get what all the fuss was about, while Akemi hung back, offering only a polite nod that Mami returned on autopilot.

"Thank goodness you're all right, Mami!" Kaname sobbed in relief as she buried her face into Mami's shoulder. "I was so worried about you--!"

"Thank you, Kaname," Mami said, tearing up herself as she hugged the other girl back, aware of how little she deserved this forgiveness. "I was wrong, and you were right--it was too dangerous for you to become a magical girl, and wasn't a thing I should have encouraged for anyone--"

"Oh, no, Mami, it wasn't your fault! You didn't know!" Kaname insisted through her tears. "I would never blame you! And please--call me Madoka!"

"Yeah, none of this formality stuff anymore," Miki--Sayaka--said, slapping Mami on the back in solidarity. "You're still our sempai, and we respect that, but we're a team, you hear?"

"A-all right," Mami stammered, overcome with relief and gratitude at this unexpected display of support. Everyone in the room had seen her at her worst inside Castrovalva's labyrinth--and made it abundantly clear in their words and actions that they didn't blame her for any of it.

"How could we? It wasn't like you were in your right mind or anything," Kyouko said, when Mami voiced that particular thought aloud. "Like you always used to tell me, how can you fight against something you don't even know exists in the first place? The same thing could've happened to any of us."

All three of them shuddered at the thought. Mami glanced up at Akemi to gauge her reaction to all of this, but the other girl was nowhere to seen. An uncomfortable silence fell, which Sayaka hastily broke.

"Madoka and I stopped by this morning before school to check on you, but you were sleeping, so Mr. Tsubakishi told us to come back later. He gave us the keys to your apartment so we could pick up some clothes and things for you," she said, reaching into her schoolbag and tossing said keys at Mami. "Turns out we didn't actually need 'em since you forgot to lock your door."

Mami blinked as she caught the the jangling bundle out of the air, noticing her owns schoolbag stacked neatly in the corner for the first time. Someone--presumably Mr. Tsubakishi--must have retrieved it from the highway where she'd dropped it last night.

"Thank you," she said, genuinely touched by their thoughtfulness. She hadn't considered such quotidian details when she'd promised not to leave the shop, but Mr. Urahara and Mr. Tsubakishi appeared to have thought of everything.

"We also talked to your teacher and brought you your schoolwork," Sayaka said, extricating a folder from her own schoolbag for Mami. "And we brought a few things of our own for tonight so we could camp out here with you and keep you company."

"That is, if it's okay with you, Mami," Madoka added cautiously. "I couldn't bear it if Kyubey showed up at my house again after what he did to you. I told my parents I'd be spending the night at Sayaka's, but--"

"Of course!" Mami said. "I'm so glad to have you here with me!"

"Yeah, we figured you didn't want to be alone," Sayaka agreed.

Mami teared up again at this, which meant that Madoka started crying as well, and earned them both many hugs from Sayaka. Disgusted by all the "lovey-dovey stuff," Kyouko wandered off to play baseball with Jinta, Ururu, and the neighborhood kids in the vacant lot next door. Meanwhile, Yoruichi took advantage of the relative quiet to resume his nap as Madoka and Sayaka hauled the aforementioned luggage in from the genkan.

"Awww," Madoka said when she returned, shaking her head in dismay. "I wish I knew where Homura went. I was going to ask her if she wanted to join our sleepover so she wouldn't feel left out. I know you haven't always gotten along with her, Mami, but she's a good person and she really cares about us even if she doesn't know how to show it. I hope you can both be friends now that we're all on the same side--"

Mami sighed. "Of course," she said, more to console Madoka than out of any real desire for Akemi's company. She wasn't sure what that girl's game was--but given the coming battles, they needed all the allies she could get.

Then, since it was technically a school night, Mami insisted that the three of them start their homework. She barely made any progress on her make-up work--both Madoka and Sayaka kept interrupting with questions about their own assignments--but it was a welcome burst of normality in the midst of so much of upheaval and change.

With impeccable timing, Kyouko swaggered in as they were wrapping up, settling back into her corner and flipping open another volume of manga as she made herself comfortable.

"How was the game?" Mami asked.

"We kicked their asses, what do you think?" Kyouko said, extracting a box of Pocky from her back pocket and helping herself.

"Any sign of Kyu--the Incubator?" Sayaka asked cautiously.

Kyouko shrugged. "Not that I saw."

Yoruichi woke up from his nap at the foot of the futon, and stretched luxuriously. "Unsurprising," he commented. "The Incubator appears to be holding its cards very close to its chest. I don't expect we'll see it out in the open again for the time being."

Silence fell as all four girls stared at the cat in shock. Madoka and Sayaka froze, and a half-eaten pocky stick fell out of Kyouko's open mouth. Even Mami started--more surprised that Yoruichi has chosen to drop the act than at the matter-of-fact announcement.

Yoruichi snickered at their reactions. "It never gets old."

"Yoruichi? You can talk?!" Madoka yelped, recovering first.

"Yes, of course I can talk," he said, raising a leg to groom his fur with casual ease. "You, of all people, should hardly be surprised by that at this point. Magical girls, witches, and familiars are fine, but this is where you draw the line? Tsch. What a failure of imagination."

Madoka, Sayaka, and Kyouko immediately began peppering the cat with excited questions, but Mami was distracted by a muffled curse from the doorway. A wild-eyed Homura Akemi burst into the room, one hand reaching behind her shield as if for a weapon.

"Now, now, everyone, please remain calm," Mr. Urahara said, his hand planted firmly on Akemi's shoulder as she jerked to a halt. "May I introduce everyone to their new teacher in the shinigami arts, the lovely and talented Yoruichi-san?"

"You want me to learn from a cat?" Akemi demanded, rounding on him in surprise. "You never said--"

"Oh, this is amazing!" Madoka said. "I knew Yoruichi was magical! I knew it!"

"Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but what kind of magic are we talking about here?" Sayaka asked.

"My question exactly," Kyouko agreed.

Yoruichi yawned. "Hmmm. Such skepticism from ones so young! Kisuke, are you sure these kids are truly worthy of my attention?"

"Now, now, Yoruichi-san, be nice. You've barely had a chance to get to know each other yet," Mr. Urahara said. He turned to the others. "Yoruichi-san is a master of the subtle art of avoiding detection, a defensive style of footwork that allows one to move than the eye can follow."

"That's right," Yoruichi said from his shoulder. Seconds later, she was balanced in a startled Kyouko's lap, and then back on the futon at Mami's feet as if nothing had happened. "I'm not the 'God of Flash' for nothing."

"Whoa!" Sayaka said. "That was incredible!"

"How did you do that?!" Kyouko demanded.

Akemi glared at Mr. Urahara. "That does seem like a useful skill," she said through gritted teeth, as if the admission pained her.

"Isn't it, though? We'll start with lessons tomorrow!" Mr. Urahara said, grinning like a maniac. "But for now, Yoruichi-san and I must leave you girls to your own devices--try not to cause too much trouble around here while we're gone!"

And he and Yoruichi disappeared, leaving the five girls staring at each other in astonished silence.

"Is he... always like that?" Sayaka said to Mami.

Mami shrugged. "You get used to it." Sort of.

"Ah, Homura, you're back!" Madoka said, perking up again. "You're staying for our sleepover tonight, aren't you?"

Akemi froze, caught like an animal in the headlights, which was Mami's cue to smile, and wave her over. "Please join us tonight, Akemi," she said, careful to keep her tone warm. They weren't on first name terms yet, and might never be, but extending the invitation was the first step in healing the rift between them--and the least Mami could do under the circumstances.

"All right," Akemi agreed reluctantly.

"Yay!" Madoka cheered, jumping up to throw her arms her and dragging a stunned Akemi into the cluster around Mami's futon.

In that moment, Mami couldn't help but notice how tangled both their spirit ribbons were. Odder still, they appeared to be entwined with each other's, the pale lavender merging with the white and only to split apart again. She blinked, but the sensation persisted until she finally gave up and let the unexpected vision drop.

"How's your friend from the hospital doing?" Mami said to Sayaka in an effort to steer the conversation back to more solid ground. Off in her corner, Kyouko pricked up her ears as if this conversation was of especial interest to her.

Sayaka laughed nervously. "You know, to be honest, I was so upset about what happened last night, I barely paid any attention to anything at school today. I hope Kyousuke doesn't think I hate him now that he's back on his feet. But as far as I can tell, he's doing great." She sighed. "At least the Incubator did that much for me, even if it's gonna regret the rest of it once I get my hands on him."

She launched into the story of how the Incubator had tampered with her soul gem the night before, which sent Kyouko--who by now had abandoned any pretense of reading Jinta's manga--into outrage on Sayaka's behalf. She wasn't the only one; both Castrovalva and Mami were incensed, although Mami was careful to keep a tight lid on their combined emotions lest she accidentally lose control.

"Unfortunately, we have more than just the Incubator to worry about," Akemi said quietly when she had finished. "There's also Walpurgisnacht."

"Hey, you've mentioned that Walrus--Walpurgisnacht thing before, right, Mami?" Sayaka said. "That's this massive witch that's attacking at the end of the month? That's coming up soon, right?"

"That's right," Mami and Akemi said in unison. They looked at each other, embarrassed, and tried again, only for the same result. "It's complicated--"

Everyone laughed at that--even Akemi, jammed as she was between Madoka and Sayaka.

"Hey come on, you can trust us, we're all in this together, aren't we?" Sayaka said, nudging Akemi with an elbow.

Akemi glanced at Mami, as if seeking permission.

"I think this is your department, isn't it?" Mami said with a raised eyebrow.

So Akemi told them all the story--much of which Mami already knew, though there were a few details here and there that were new to her. Everyone listened avidly, with Kyouko inching closer and closer until she had finally joined their cluster by the time Akemi had finished.

At Mami's request, her four companions then recounted their journey through Castrovalva's labyrinth--slowly and cautiously, as if they expected the enraged witch to flare up in their faces at any moment. Their hesitation was understandable under the circumstances, though it was both unsettling and vaguely shameful to Mami that they tiptoed around certain facts for fear she would break down again.

They needn't have worried. Castrovalva gloated at the descriptions of her own exploits in battle, right up to the moment of her defeat, at which point, she sulked until Mami soothed her back to sleep.

Having such an powerful subpersonality in her head was exhausting, but Mami was starting to get a feel for how best to handle her unexpected new companion. As with any small child, warmth, kindness, and understanding went a long way, even in the face of tantrums. The difference was that this particular child was a powerful entity capable of murdering everyone in the shop and smashing it to pieces if left unchecked, which raised the stakes considerably.

Come to think of it, Castrovalva probably wouldn't be able to murder everyone in the shop even if she did get out of control. Ururu alone would make her work for it, and Mami had a feeling that both Mr. Urahara and Mr. Tsubakishi would make short work of her in a crisis.

Yet another reason not to leave the shop for a few days, she decided with a shudder. Just in case.

By dinnertime, Mami finally felt strong enough to get up, and they had a very loud, very boisterous meal in the living room to celebrate. Mr. Tsubakishi refused all her offers to help, conscripting Sayaka and Kyouko instead to help serve alongside with Jinta and Ururu. They ended up opening the shoji doors to the foyer and smash several tables together since eight people didn't all fit comfortably together in such a small space.

Both Mr. Urahara and Yoruichi were absent all evening, which worried Mami until Mr. Tsubakishi reassured her that they had returned from their earlier errands were now holed up in the workroom, and she relaxed. Between Mr. Urahara's accomplishments last night, and Yoruichi's hidden depths, Mami had complete faith in their ability to engineer a solution to all the problems before them, and was happy to leave them to it.

At Jinta and Ururu's insistence, they all watched Cazh Soul when it came on TV that night. Everyone--even Akemi!--crossed their arms over their chests and chanted "BWA-HA-HA" along with the host when Madoka urged it, a sight Mami would never, ever forget. Castrovalva enjoyed the antics, too, joining in with gusto, much to Mami's mingled relief and amusement.

Castrovalva's awkward residence within her soul meant Mami was never really alone anymore. Even so, it felt good to have other people in the room with her for a very different kind of company.

No, not just people.

Friends.

***

The shop was unusually quiet when Mami woke up the next morning, empty save for Mr. Tsubakishi sitting on a stool by the cash register in the genkan. He graciously brought her a tray of rice porridge, miso soup, and tea from the kitchen for a late breakfast, which she ate on the tatami platform while he unwrapped inventory from the stockroom behind the counter.

"Where is everyone?" Mami asked at length, her curiosity getting the best of her at last.

"Miss Akemi, Miss Kaname, and Miss Miki left for school early this morning with Yoruichi-san, and Jinta and Ururu are out with Miss Sakura," Mr. Tsubakishi explained. "Meanwhile, the boss is still in the lab, leaving me to mind the shop."

Mami admired his optimism. No one had come in so far this morning--and despite Mr. Urahara's claims to the contrary, she'd never actually seen anyone buy anything here. "Do you really expect any customers today?"

"It's true that most of our regular clientele are back in Karakura, but that's no reason to become complacent," Mr. Tsubakishi opined. "We've only been open here in Mitakihara for a brief time and building up a loyal customer base can take years. Still, between shifting to this new branch and Miss Sakura's appetite, I'm afraid this fiscal year will find us at a loss--"

Mami spent another hour chatting with Mr. Tsubakishi about the challenges of small business ownership before returning to her room to tackle her schoolwork. Despite her best attempts, it was rough going: the conditions necessary to generate a lemniscate from a given quartic polynomial equation couldn't compete with the myriad questions swirling through her mind.

Finally she gave it up entirely, and went in search of Mr. Urahara's lab, which was off in its own separate outbuilding in the back. She rapped on the ramshackled door off the courtyard garden, wondering what in the world he could possibly be up to in there.

"Ah, Miss Tomoe, come in," Mr. Urahara called at her knock.

The lab itself was more or less unchanged from her brief glimpse of it two days earlier; the exam table at the center of the room a empty island in an otherwise jumbled mass of chaos. It was the stereotypical mad scientist's lair, if said scientist were also an auto mechanic, a computer technician, and half a dozen other professions rolled into one.

Shelves lined every wall, packed tightly with books, papers, and assorted knick-knacks, as well half-empty bowls of noodles (now molding), trays of dirty dishes and the occasional preserved specimen of... something in alcohol. The benches jammed in between the shelves were home to a wide range of equipment, from the standard laboratory Bunsen burners and glass flasks to computer monitors with beeping, blinking readouts measuring who-knows-what. Detailed mannequins showing off various aspects of human anatomy and (hopefully fake) skeletons were packed in a dense cluster in one corner. A handful of potted purple orchids in riotous bloom perched atop a clear-cased fridge stocked with nothing but canned soda.

Mr. Urahara was hunched on a stool in the far corner, even more disheveled than usual in his wrinkled jinbei, but he smiled up at her kindly as he waved her over. Unlike the rest of the lab, his work surface was immaculately organized, free from any dust and debris, and lined with well-polished hand tools for fine jewelry making and gemstone grinders.

"How did you know it was me?" Mami asked.

"You're going to have to do a better job concealing your reiatsu if you want to sneak up on me."

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything important--"

"Don't be. I'm just experimenting with artificial grief seeds," he said, raising a familiar gleaming sphere in his hand to demonstrate.

"Artificial?" Mami said, settling down on a stool beside him after blowing a heavy layer of dust off the battered seat cushion. She never would have guessed it wasn't the real thing. "I didn't know you could make those."

Then again, if the shinigami could make a person like Ururu--an artificial person with an artificial soul--an artificial grief seed probably wasn't much of a challenge.

"Until yesterday, neither did I," he said. "Now that I understand the principle behind the soul gems better--"

"You mean that they really are souls," Mami cut in, her face flaming. Now that she knew what to look for, the resemblance between the grief seed on the table and the jewel on her finger was unmistakable. The truth had been literally in front of her face the whole time and she hadn't been able to see it for what it was until Kyubey had ripped the veil from their eyes with his boasting.

"Indeed." Mr. Urahara inclined his head. "Though it appears that the Incubator did not explain the full terms of his contract before any of you made a bargain."

Mami still hadn't fully processed the extent of Kyubey's betrayal, and each new reminder hit her like a punch in the gut. He'd pretended to be her friend for the last two years, but he'd lied from the start about what he wanted and why, misleading her on everything from his true name to his motives. Even worse, he couldn't comprehend why everyone was so upset when they learned the truth. From the other girls' accounts of that night on the bridge, Mami's transformation hadn't horrified him--it had pleased him.

"Of course he didn't." Just thinking about it was enough to make Castrovalva flare up again, and Mami was forced to gently but firmly push her back down so she could concentrate.

"No, I mean even before that," Mr. Urahara said. "His original explanation of how your gems work in the first place was highly misleading."

Mami frowned at this unexpected wrinkle. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the way you explained it to me when we first met was that using your magic depleted the reservoir of magical energy in your soul gem, which was 'replenished' by grief seeds, yes?"

"Y-es.That's not the case?"

"No. As far as I can determine, the total sum of spiritual energy in a gem never actually decreases--which makes sense, since that's how human souls generally work. However, the quality--polarity, really--of that power is extremely important."

"Wait, what?"

"Spiritual energy, being whole and unbroken, is essentially a neutral substance. Emotions may influence the quantity available, but not polarize it, which appears to be a unique aspect of the Incubator's system."

Okay, now Mami really didn't understand. Sensing her confusion, Mr. Urahara pressed on.

"Think of a prism," he said, reaching for a translucent triangle on the bench and holding it up to the light to demonstrate, resulting in a tiny rainbow on the surface of the desk. "Just as ordinary sunlight, which appears white, can be split into a full spectrum of colors, something roughly analogous occurs when spiritual energy is channeled through a soul gem, which impacts both the color of your spirit ribbons and the quality of any spiritual energy channeled through it."

"So that's why my spirit ribbons are yellow?"

"Sort of." He set the prism back down. "A better analogy would be how diamonds--essentially highly pressurized carbon--can take on different tints depending on any other minerals that are incorporated into the crystalline structure. In your case, this divided spiritual energy would also be filtered to your unique life experiences, resulting in different colors for each individual.

"In any event, when spiritual energy is channeled through a soul gem, it gains a new quality--the polarity I mentioned--and acquires positive or negative charges depending on the circumstances. One side effect of the contract and the formation of a soul gem appears to be that magical girls are only capable of using the positive form of spiritual energy when using their soul gems."

"Is that why I had such difficulty with kido, then?" Mami hadn't thought it was possible to loathe Kyubey any more than she already did, but events kept proving her wrong.

"Indeed. Now that I understand the underlying mechanism, it is basically a complicated, but ultimately solvable optics problem. I expect that with a few slight modifications, it will be fully possible for you all to perform kido as a complement to your other talents.

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. When a magical girl draws on energy from their soul gem, it results in the loss of a certain amount of 'positive magic' proportional to the difficulty of the task accomplished, as well as a simultaneous replacement of that lost positive magic with an equal amount of 'negative magic'. Grief seeds, in contrast, are repositories of wholly negative energies, which attract even more negatively-charged energies--including those contained within a soul gem--until they are completely filled. This creates a temporary vacuum in the soul gem, which is recharged with an equal quantity of positive energy from... somewhere."

"What do you mean, 'somewhere'?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. Judging from Miss Akemi's explanations, the Incubator is equally baffled by the phenomenon, which I find oddly comforting."

"But what difference does it make?" Mami said. "Either way, you still need grief seeds to purify soul gems, don't you?"

"I'm getting to that. Suffice to say that there is a third factor affecting the quality of magical energy in a soul gem. Because a magical girl's abilities are driven by emotions, a deterioration or improvement in their mood also replaces positive or negative magic in the gem with an equal amount of that magic's polar opposite."

"In other words," Mr. Urahara continued, warming to his topic, "I suspect the reason you were able to survive for so long as a magical girl is only in part due to your admirable skills in combat and regular acquisition of grief seeds. It was your positive outlook on life--putting on a good face and faking cheerfulness even when you didn't really feel it--that likely kept you from becoming a witch much earlier in your career."

Mami's chest tightened at the memory of all those days of hiding her tears and crying alone. For two years, she'd been walking a narrow tightrope, never realizing the true consequences of the despair she fought so hard to keep at bay. It hadn't been good or healthy in the long term to suppress her emotions, but doing so had kept her alive long enough to get her to this point, and she was grateful for it.

"So how does the negative energy turn a soul gem into a grief seed?" she asked, uncertain if she really wanted to know the answer.

Mr. Urahara beamed at her. "Excellent question! It turns out that the energy used in the formation of a soul gem is not only used to grant the victim's wish--some of it is channeled into dividing the soul itself.

"Human souls, as you know, are vast and complicated things, full of hidden depths and subpersonalities. The price of becoming a magical girl appears to be deliberate isolation of the dominant personality from various subpersonalities associated with negative memories and emotions--indeed, it is almost required by the set-up. The suppressed components feed on the negative energies within a grief seed, with the strongest eventually coming to dominate. However, regular exposure to positive magic prevents them from taking over completely.

"A grief seed is a vessel that emerges from a soul gem when that soul gem has been completely drained of positive magic. When the negative magic contained within that grief seed exceeds the volume of the seed itself, the seed cracks--hatches, if you will--and the overflowing magic manifests externally as a witch. If the soul gem is literally a magical girl's soul, then a witch is an external and exaggerated materialization that soul, dominated by one or more of its suppressed subpersonalities that have achieved total or partial sentience due to their exposure to high levels of spiritual energy."

"In other words, my soul was so full of despair, it shattered its container, and let Castrovalva loose," Mami said, translating as best she could.

"Both containers," Mr. Urahara corrected. "The original soul gem shatters, yes, but so does the grief seed that it initially becomes. A soul gem is limited in size, so it can only hold a finite amount of magic, and the same is true of grief seeds. Paradoxically, witches have no such limitations. As expressions of purely negative magic, they draw further negative energies to themselves and consume human souls, both of which further increase their size and power.

"Defeating a witch means forcing her to retreat back within her former shell; without a connection to a body, she is temporarily inert and immobile until she is exposed to sufficient energy to break the seed and re-form. Familiars work on the same basic principles: they were originally minor subpersonalities before they separated from their witch, and once they have absorbed a certain quantity of energy, they are capable of becoming witches in their own right.

"So, with all this in mind, I've been trying to apply these principles to what we call gigonkan, or soul candy, to make something that will mimic the functions of grief seeds without going so far as to gain sentience or spawn additional witches. The real challenge, of course, is figuring out what to do with the negative energy once it's contained. The Incubators solve that problem by burning it as fuel, but I think that by substituting the seeds with artificial constructs, I've created something roughly analogous that will purify soul gems without the downsides which can also be safely disposed of."

"Can I see it?"

"Of course!" he said, passing it over to her. "Miss Akemi and Miss Sakura have already found it to be most useful."

"Huh," Mami said, rolling the silver-wrapped black sphere back and forth on her palm before it wobbled upright on its needle-thin axis. Drawing out her soul gem, she held it beside the grief seed, expecting to see a familiar wave of darkness wash from former to the latter.

Nothing happened.

That was odd. She hadn't been using magic at all--well, except to maintain her body, which she hadn't even realized she was doing before now. All the more reason there ought to be some visible movement between the two.

"What's wrong? Why isn't it working?"

"Nothing's wrong," Mr. Urahara said. "It's working exactly as it's supposed to. It's just as I thought: you don't need them anymore."

"I don't need grief seeds?" It was the cardinal rule of a magical girl's life, abruptly turned upside down. "Why?"

"One point that both Miss Akemi and the Incubator agree on is that there has never been a magical girl who has been restored to her original state after her transformation to a witch. What happened the other night appears to be literally unprecedented, so this is only a hypothesis, and a provisional one at best.

"Two days ago, I temporarily reconstructed your grief seed back into a soul gem, but it reverted to its prior state when I withdrew the magic that sustained the transformation. You, however, were able to bring about a more permanent change when you assimilated the negative subpersonality that had taken over when you became a witch. As a result, my suspicion is that you are no longer limited by the dichotomy of negative and positive magic--the roles of magical girl and witch--forced upon you by the Incubator. Thus you are both and neither at once--either way, with no special need for grief seeds."

"Oh." Mami looked back down at the artificial grief seed, an inert and useless lump in her hand. "So I don't have to worry about turning into a witch again?"

"It is always a risk," Mr. Urahara admitted. "But if it happens, it is unlikely to be due to a lack of grief seeds. For better or worse, Trivia Castrovalva is a part of you now, and always will be. As long as you keep an even temper and a sunny outlook, I don't think you have to worry about her taking control. You appear to have the upper hand for the moment--with time you may even learn to work together for a common goal."

"What would that look like?"

"Let's just say I know someon who might be uniquely situated to help you."

"Really?"

"Well, we're not exactly on speaking terms at the moment," Mr. Urahara admitted. "But that's not something you need to worry about right now..."

***

Thanks to Miss Sakura's prompt return at noon with a ravenous Jinta and Ururu in tow, Tessai was sufficiently distracted by the trio that Urahara could remain in the lab over lunch undisturbed. Yoruichi stopped by briefly to check in and exchange notes before she went back to shadowing Miss Kaname, and Urahara had several uninterrupted hours to focus on the myriad schemes demanding his attention.

However, when the trio of schoolgirls arrived a few hours later to do their homework in the living room with Miss Tomoe, it was the perfect opportunity for Urahara to snag Miss Kaname herself for a private chat.

Miss Kaname hesitated at his request, looking to Miss Tomoe and Miss Akemi for guidance. When both of them nodded, she got up and obediently followed him through the house and onto the engawa overlooking the garden, which was rapidly becoming his go-to spot for one-on-one chats.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Mr. Urahara?" Miss Kaname ventured nervously.

Urahara's initial questions centered around the visions the Incubator had shown her the other day--Miss Akemi's truncated accounts left a great deal to the imagination. Once he'd exhausted that particular line of inquiry, he launched into his main area of interest: Miss Kaname herself.

"As I'm sure you're well aware by now, you have unusually high levels of spiritual energy," he said. "Such abilities are often passed down in families. Is that true in you case?"

"I don't think so," Miss Kaname said, shaking her head. "Mama is so strong and talented and Papa is so kind, but I don't think they have anything to do with magic. I never knew it was even possible until Homura transferred to my class and I met Mami and Kyubey."

"You love your family very much, then," Urahara said with a smile.

"I do! I really do!" Her face lit up, only to fall a few seconds later. "I feel bad about lying to them about everything that's been going on. I don't like keeping secrets from them. I want to talk them to about all this, but... I don't think they'd understand."

"But you wanted to become a magical girl before you were fully aware of the dangers," Urahara said.

She nodded, shame-faced. "I did! I wanted to be special. I wanted to help people, instead of bumbling along as I am with good intentions and nothing to show for it. I thought I could really help people as a magical girl, like Mami did."

"Do you still want that?"

"To help people? Of course! But not--not if it means becoming a witch--"

"I see," Urahara said. "What if I told you the power you desire already lies within you? That it's more than merely potential?"

Miss Kaname's eyes went wide. "What? But--but how?--"

"The Incubator cannot make anything new; it can only manipulate what already exists inside you. I'm sure Kyubey mentioned how powerful you'd be as a magical girl, didn't he?"

"W-well, yes."

This was due to Homura Akemi's manipulation of timelines, but this wasn't the moment to reveal that particular secret. "Have you ever heard of the Quincy?"

"Quincy?" She stumbled over the unfamiliar word. "No. What's that?"

"Quincy were--are--spiritually gifted humans who can absorb and manipulate free-floating spirit particles as well as their own personal reserves. The gift is usually passed down in bloodlines, hence my curiousity about your family."

One or both of the Kanames must have a trace of Quincy talent, so miniscule as to be irrelevant by shinigami standards. But even a small reservoir of spiritual could grow to exponential proportions given enough repetitions--and Miss Akemi hadn't held back on that front.

"Quincy are very rare these days," Urahara went on. "However, I am acquainted with at least one individual who might be willing to tutor you if you are interested."

"Oh! That would be truly wonderful!" Miss Kaname said, her face lighting up again with joy. "All I want is to not be helpless anymore. I'm so tired of standing back while others risk their lives for me--I want to fight alongside my friends!"

Urahara shook his head in wonder. No wonder Miss Akemi's quest to protect Miss Kaname always failed, no matter how many timelines she tried. This was not a spirit that was easily quenched. But give her a different outlet for those yearnings, and contracting with the Incubators would lose its appeal--hopefully a compromise Miss Akemi would be willing to accept.

"I should warn you it won't be easy," he said. "And there are, shall we say, certain complications."

He ran through a summary of the various spiritual entities, from shinigami to humans to witches to hollows, and along with a brief history lesson summarizing shinigami-Quincy relations--culminating with the former's near-total genocide of the latter.

"But that's awful!" Miss Kaname exclaimed, her hand clapsed over her mouth. "Why would they do that if they were on the same side against the hollows?!"

Urahara sighed. "When a Quincy defeats a hollow, they don't purify its corrupted soul the way a shinigami would--they destroy it completely, so it can never be reborn again in any possible world. As you can imagine, this caused a problem in the balance between the world of the living and the world of the dead, which the shinigami were duty-bound to protect. Life and death became mixed together, causing chaos in both realms. When the Quincy refuses to stop, the shinigami chose to fight, wiping them out to maintain the balance."

Miss Kaname clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. "But--that's awful," she repeated, at loss for any other words.

"Yes. Yes, it was." Urahara had not been directly involved in that particular war, but as head of the Onmitsukido's Detention Unit, he knew far too much as it was. "You see why I said this won't be easy."

"So any witches I kill with my magic... would be utterly annihilated," Miss Kaname said slowly. "No reincarnation. No second chances. Just... gone forever. Extinguished."

"That's right."

"I can't do it! I just can't do it!" she burst out in a rush. "I want more than anything to help my friends, but now that I know that Walpurgisnacht is a person, just like us--just like Mami--I couldn't destroy their soul forever--

She burst into tears. "It's so cruel--all of it," she sobbed. "There has to be a way to change things. There has to be--"

"If anyone can find a way, Miss Kaname, I think you will," Urahara said gently. "Even so, do you still wish to learn to unlock the power inside you?"

Miss Kaname took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye as she straightened her shoulders. "...Yes."

***

By the time Urahara and Miss Kaname returned to the main house, everyone had decamped to the underground study chamber for the promised flash step lesson with Yoruichi. Thanks to the Incubator's manipulations of their bodies, and their increased stamina, all four of the magical girls had an edge over the typical beginner, zipping after the black cat with remarkable acumen. Even so, Miss Akemi was a natural, bounding through the air with precise, even steps, though Miss Tomoe was rapidly catching up. As for Miss Sakura and Miss Miki, well--grace, would come in time, Urahara thought, trying not to laugh as the two nearly collided with each other in mid-air.

"Oh, my," Miss Kaname said, her hands clasped over her mouth as she stared up in wonder. "Yoruichi--Homura--Mami--you're flying--"

"Not quite," Yoruichi said, sliding neatly into place beside them. "But it does appear that way, doesn't it?"

Miss Akemi and Miss Tomoe joined their teacher on solid ground--though unlike her, both were breathing heavily from their exertions.

"C-can I do that, too?" Miss Kaname asked meekly, as Miss Miki and Miss Sakura ground to a halt alongside them. "I've never been very good in gym class..."

Yoruichi glanced over at Urahara, who shrugged. "I don't see why not, though my understanding is that the Quincy have developed their own unique form that might be easier for you to master," he said. "We'll see what happens when your tutor arrives."

"Tutor?" Miss Akemi said, jerking to attention.

"Quincy?" Miss Tomoe said at the same moment.

Miss Kaname wasn't shy about explaining her situation to her friends. By the time she'd finished, everyone was bursting with pride and excitement for her, except for Miss Akemi, who glowered sullenly throughout the monologue.

"All right, well, that's enough for the day," Yoruichi interrupted, her tail twitching in amusement. "It's getting late, and we'd better get Madoka and Sayaka home before their parents get suspicious."

Ignoring the chorus of complaints, she hustled them off, with Miss Akemi trailing along as a watchful escort. Meanwhile, Miss Tomoe and Miss Sakura went upstairs to prepare for dinner, leaving Urahara once more to his own devices.

Letting Miss Kaname continue with her daily life for the next few days was a risk, but Yoruichi could handle anything the Incubator could throw at them, if it did try to make another play for the girl. Miss Miki was another wild card in Urahara's mental equations, but she was powerful enough to protect herself from any further ambushes--especially once she was armed with the prototype artificial grief seeds he had whipped up this afternoon. It would have to do for the moment.

Urahara spent the rest of the evening finalizing the preliminary lesson plans for his new students and scanning the camera footage from Miss Castrovalva's labyrinth for patterns or clues that might help them against Walpurgisnacht. The stakes were high, and the pressure to get everything exactly right was intense.

If the battle went poorly and something happened to Miss Kaname, Miss Akemi was likely to use her magic to go back in time again, with potentially disastrous results. Urahara had tried to impress upon her the seriousness of their position, but she was so dedicated to her cause--evoking flashbacks of Ichigo Kurosaki at his most determined--that any promises she made were entirely conditional, and they both knew it. Given the chance of saving Miss Kaname at the risk of complete and total collapse of space-time, there was no question what she would choose.

Hence Urahara's deep preoccupation with Miss Kaname's safety and well-being. It was all the more reason to teach the girl to protect herself, even if that made Miss Akemi unhappy. It wasn't fair to Miss Kaname to keep her helpless--not only did she chafe at the role of perpetual victim, such passivity made her all the more susceptible to the Incubator's offers of power and agency.

He was going to have to have a longer chat with Miss Akemi about that at some point. Or, he amended after a few minutes' contemplation, perhaps Yoruichi would be better choice, since the two seemed to have a good working relationship at the moment. By now, he and Yoruichi had the good cop-bad cop routine down to a science, and Urahara was willing to bear the brunt of Miss Akemi's ire if it meant the continued existence of the universe.

There was no word from Akon yet, which was just as well, given how busy Urahara was at the moment. It troubled him that the Incubators appeared to have infiltrated Soul Society, but there was nothing to be done until they had more data. For now, Urahara was content to let Akon handle the reconnaissance; he had more than enough on his plate at the moment.

Given the stakes involved, there was no question he would need additional help if they were going to get through this crisis unscathed. This translated into several weary but necessary hours on the phone, calling in various favors from his vast and checkered career.

Of course, none of his contacts were happy to hear from him--but for better or worse, the impending destruction of a major metropolitan area had a remarkable way of re-ordering their priorities. In the end, everyone agreed to help, with only minimal cajoling on Urahara's part. He chalked up his success less to his stellar negotiating skills and more to everyone becoming softer and more sentimental with age.

Like it or not, Walpurgisnacht was coming. The nut Homura Akemi had never been able to crack was barrelling towards them on a collision course, steered by the weight of destiny and the Incubator's malice. They had one chance to get everything right, or Miss Akemi would go back in time again and start all over again--ripping apart the entire space-time continuum in the process.

Urahara looked at the crumpled calendar pinned over the workbench and sighed. Four days until the end of the world.

He'd worked on tighter deadlines, but it was going to be close.

Chapter Text

Early the next morning--so early she suspected he had never gone to bed in the first place--Mr. Urahara brought Mami down to the study chamber for more training with an unexpected new teacher.

"Miss Tomoe, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Mr. Urahara said, gesturing with his fan at the short woman sporting a red track suit, spiky blonde pigtails, and a toothy scowl reminiscent of Kyouko. "Hiyori-san here is an old colleague of mine who has graciously agreed to lend her expertise to our unique situation."

"Shut up, baldy," she said, belying that claim with a sulky glare. "Hiyori Sarugaki," she added to Mami, by way of introduction, as if he hadn't spoken. "What's a nice girl like you doing with a loser like this?"

"No accounting for taste, Hiyori-san," Mr. Urahara said cheerfully, not offended in the slightest.

"Shut up, baldy," Ms. Sarugaki repeated, this time including a rude gesture in direction. This appeared to be her default response to anything out of Mr. Urahara's mouth, though he wasn't even remotely bald.

"Please, Hiyori-san--there are children present!" Mr. Urahara gasped, covering his face with his fan in mock embarrassment. "We don't want to harm their delicate, tender sensibilities so soon--"

"Yeah, whatever, like you're one to talk," Ms. Sarugaki grunted in annoyance. She focused the full brunt of her attention on Mami and cracked her knuckles. "So! You went and got yourself hollowified, huh?"

"Hollowified?" Mami repeated. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You said--" Ms. Sarugaki sputtered, turning to Mr. Urahara.

"Similar, yes. Not identical," he demurred.

"I don't get it."

"I don't understand it very well myself."

That admission brought a smile to her face at last. "Very well, watch this," she said to a bewildered Mami, and winked.

A mask of bone crowned by a single massive horn appeared on the side of her head. She yanked into place over her face and rushed at Mr. Urahara with a bloodthirsty roar.

Swiftly drawing Benihime from his sword cane, he sent up a cloud of red mist and she bounced back, dragging scuff marks in the dry packed earth in her wake and sending up a riotous cloud of dust. Seconds later, a completely unharmed Ms. Sarugaki emerged, snarling as she launched her next attack.

"Hiyori-san here is what we call a Visored--a shinigami with hollow powers," Mr. Urahara explained casually to Mami as if this were a perfectly normal occurrence. "Instead of being corrupted into Hollows, they have mastered the demon that lives inside of them, allowing them to summon it at will."

'Demon' was certainly the right word, Mami thought, as Ms. Sarugaki charged at Mr. Urahara again, only to be repelled a second time. "You think I could become... like that."

"I believe you can access your witch form while remaining in control of your faculties, yes. Or something to that extent, anyway." A blood red slash appeared across the cheek of Ms. Sarugaki's mask, cracking it in two.

Ms. Sarugaki swore as she peeled the broken mask away and tossed it aside with disgust. "You're no fun to spar with, baldy!"

"My apologies, Hiyori-san. Time is of the essence and duty calls," Mr. Urahara said. "Perhaps you'd like to try a round with Miss Tomoe instead?"

"Sure thing!" Ms. Sarugaki said before Mami could open her mouth. Summoning a new skull identical to the first back over her face, she charged--this time straight for Mami.

"WHAT?!"

"Sorry about this," Mr. Urahara said, flash-stepping beside her. "'Carefully structured life-or-death situations', remember?"

He thrust a hand in Mami's face as a ball of white lightning exploded in front of her eyes, and everything went... gray.

***

The effect of the Tanma Otoshi kido was as dramatic as Urahara could have hoped for. Even as Miss Tomoe pitched forward into unconsciousness, a blurry grey shadow burst forth from her soul gem and wrapped tightly around her, engulfing her in a cocoon of grey ribbons reminiscent of her magical girl transformation.

When the ribbons finally dissolved, Miss Tomoe still stood before them as before--but all the color had leached from her hair and skin and clothes. This new figure was a ghostly silhouette jarringly out of place in bright lights of the study chamber, but the feral gaze in her eyes was all too familiar from their earlier encounter in the lab. Hiyori was forced to shift from offense to defense as her opponent's left arm shifted into a meaty tendril and knocked her out of the air before pressing the attack.

"Ya could have warned me!" Hiyori shouted in disgust, her cursing muffled through her mask. "What the hell is this kid, baldy--?!"

"Hiyori-san, meet Miss Castrovalva," Urahara said, bowing at each of the combatants in turn. "She is Miss Tomoe's--alter ego, shall we say, an entity rather like your own inner hollow in personality and attitude, if not in origin."

"Oh, yeah?" Hiyori demanded. "Ought to have known you'd be messing with weird shit like this, baldy. Don't you ever learn?"

"Hiyori-san, please! I had nothing to do with it this time--"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said, instantly dismissing him as she re-assessed the situation. "Well, let's see how you likes this, ya little monster--"

The next twenty minutes were exciting for everyone. As in the labyrinth, Castrovalva was highly durable, so any attacks that landed rarely stopped her for long. She had a definitive edge over Hiyori in terms of brute strength, but lacked control and finesse, and Miss Tomoe's human body was poorly suited for her preferred attacks. However, once she managed to sprout more than the usual number of arms out of her back, Castrovalva amused herself by tossing assorted boulders at Hiyori's direction, forcing her opponent to duck and weave in order to dodge the blows.

Urahara was distracted from what happened next by three new arrivals to the study chamber, all of whom shimmied down the ladder with practiced ease.

"Yadomaru-san! Aikawa-san! Hachigen-san! Thank you so much for coming," Urahara said, raising his fan in greeting as he waved them over.

"Huh," said Yadomaru, regarding Castrovalva with interest. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Urahara? Seems you weren't exaggerating at all."

"Whatever you got for us looks like fun! Karakura is so boring these days," Aikawa agreed behind her.

"Thank you for the invitation, Urahara-san," Hachigen Ushouda said with a polite bow. "That is the new Visored you spoke of?"

Urahara raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what category Miss Castrovalva belongs to. Perhaps you can help me with that--"

"Hey!" Hiyori shouted from across the study chamber, waving her arms at her fellow Visored to grab their attention. "Are you two gonna stand around jabbering or you gonna help me with this nut? I've been going easy on her because she's just a kid, but even I have my limits--"

She darted away as a boulder slammed into the ground where she'd been standing seconds earlier, sending up another cloud of dust.

"How long have Hiyori-san and Miss Castrovalva been fighting?" Hachigen asked.

Urahara made a show of looking at his watch. "Twenty minutes so far."

"I see. You are performing the usual strategy?"

"That's right."

Yadomaru tsked in annoyance. "Fine, I'll take over," she said, striding forward as she slid her mask over her face. How she saw out of it with only a single cross etched across the center like a knight's visor, Urahara had no idea.

Meanwhile, he planned to sit back and enjoy the spectacle.

***

Mami awoke to the unpleasant discovery that her body was no longer under her control. Not only had Castrovalva forcibly relegated her to passenger status, she was also shaping their shared body into a grotesque caricature of her witch form, and it hurt as skin and flesh warped and shifted into extra limbs. Meanwhile, Ms. Sarugaki was still attacking them with no signs of letting up, and Mr. Urahara, the traitor, was cheering on both sides with equal fervor.

I should have known he would pull a stunt like this! Not another near-death experience to trigger any latent powers I may or may not actually possess! Mami thought as Castrovalva cackled gleefully and tossed a boulder at Ms. Sarugaki. Why on earth did he think *this* would help?

Mr. Urahara might be eccentric, might be crazy, but he'd proven over and over again to have Mami's best interests at heart. If he thought she could get the upper hand with this, then there had to be something she was missing... right?

Fighting Castrovalva in the labyrinth hadn't worked. Mami had only succeeded when she treated the witch like a child with her own thoughts and feelings, parrying her tantrums with calm maturity. But I can't just tell her what to do and expect her to *listen* if she doesn't want to--

Or could she? After all, she'd had no trouble working with Kyouko and Sayaka. Castrovalva was more willful than both of her juniors combined, but Mami wasn't aiming to break her spirit--just channel it into more productive activities. Besides, what did she have to lose by trying?

All right, then. She cleared her throat to grab Castrovalva's attention, channeling the fading memories of her parents' discipline. What do you think you're doing, young lady?

You were doing fuck all to save our skin, so I took over, Castovalva said, utterly unrepentant. *Somebody* had to.

Language, Mami said sternly, but she had to admit it was a valid point. Do you really think attacking Ms. Sarugaki is the right way to go about it, though?

She attacked first, Castrovalva sniffed, like a child on the playground caught throwing punches. You're not going to thank me for defending us?

There was a quaver in her voice that hadn't been there moments earlier; the wounded child was surfacing again. Mami forced herself to calm down--her own anger, however justified, would only make the situation worse.

It was very brave of you to take over for me while I was incapacitated against my will, she said, choosing each word with care. But Ms. Sarugaki isn't our enemy. This is just one of Mr. Urahara's tests--she's not *really* trying to kill us.

Don't care, Castrovalva said. Let's kill her and dance on her grave! Eating her will help us grow stronger!

Nobody's eating anyone, Mami said firmly. That's not nice.

I bet she tastes good--

No. Mami put her foot down, channeling every ounce of sternness she possessed to rein this wayward being back into line.

To her immense relief, Castrovalva caved first. Awwwwww, Nee-san, you're no fun. I can't even chew on her a little?

Mami settled on a compromise. You can keep fighting for now, but nobody's eating anybody. Deal?

Fine. A speculative pause. What about Kyubey?

It was a tempting proposition until she imagined Kyubey's limp and bloodied form dangling from Castrovalva's--no, her own--mouth, and her roiling stomach gave her pause. Better not make any promises she couldn't keep.

I think he'd give us indigestion.

Stupid rat, Castrovalva snorted. Always causing trouble.

Mami had no argument there.

While all of these negotiations were ongoing, Castrovalva was still in hot pursuit of the smaller and more mobile Ms. Sarugaki. She lost her quarry when the other woman slipped behind a string of boulders, but when the obstacles were tossed aside, Ms. Sarugaki was gone/ A young woman in a green and white sailor fuku that was far too small for her leaped out instead, a bone-white mask with a cross etched across her face like a knight's helm as she leveled her sword like a lance and charged.

Another one?! Mami thought in dismay, as Castrovalva once again beat a hasty retreat. How many of these people *are* there, anyway? ...Maybe I'm not as much of a freak as I thought.

Hey! Castrovalva snapped. Watch who you're calling a freak!

Sorry.

The new girl was much more agile than Ms. Sarugaki, fond of handstands and powerful kicks. She also favored a lightning-fast sword cuts that shredded Castrovalva's limbs to pieces, forcing her to regenerate more and more frequently to remain in the fight.

Castrovalva had to work harder now, and she didn't like it. She was, however, loathe to listen to any of Mami's suggestions on strategy and tactics, preferring to brute force her way through any difficulty.

Just when Mami feared they might have met their match after all, the girl disappeared. Any relief was short-lived, as she was immediately replaced by a tall Black man in a green gymsuit and sunglasses--equally aggressive and no less dangerous. His mask was reminiscent of an oni in classical woodcuts, and he was strong enough to rip straight through any of Castrovalva's limbs he could reach with his bare hands, which she did not appreciate at all. She was in a foul mood, as yet another round ended in stalemate.

Maybe you should try a different approach next time? Mami suggested, when a rotund man in an improbably olive-green tuxedo stepped out to confront them. His mask was a traditional Balinese demon mask, with tusks extending from its mouth and a ring of bony plates around the edges.

No! I told you, I've got this! Castrovalva sneered. Look at this clown, he's a sitting duck! He's too fat to move quickly and he doesn't even have a weapon. I can *totally* take him!

Mami started to say that Castrovalva, of all people, should know better than to judge by appearances, but the stranger, seemingly unconcerned by the monster barrelling down on him, beat her to it.

"Bakudo #79!" he called out, slapping his hands together. "Nine Sun Bind!"

On cue, nine black holes appeared around them--the last one directly on top of Castrovalva's chest, pinning them in place.

I wish I knew how to do that! Mami thought, wondering if she could even summon her usual ribbon barriers in this form.

We don't need that, Nee-san! I told you, I got this!

He's not actually trying to hurt us, you know--he just wanted to stop our attack. I don't think--

"Chocolate Bar Slider!"

Castrovalva howled of dismay as cascades of brick-size chunks of energy slammed into her, tearing into her flesh like acid. You were saying? she demanded, reeling from the impact even as she sprouted replacements.

I take it back, Mami admitted.

Well, I'm not going to just give up and let him win! I'm--going--to--fight--

She broke through the binding through sheer force of will, but to no avail. The man clapped his hands and a series of nested kido barriers similar to Mr. Tsubakishi's Bakudo #73 sprang into being around him. Every time Castrovalva smashed through one, another appeared to take its place, leaving her unable to attack him directly.

I hate you, I hate you, I *hate* you--! she roared, slamming into the barricade and beating it with her fists in fury. Go ahead and die already!!

Mami decided matters had officially gotten out of hand. All right, playtime is over, she declared. Go back to sleep. I'll take care of it from here.

Castrovalva drew up short, her temper tantrum halted in mid-swing. Aww, Nee-san! You sure I can't keep fighting?

There will be other times, Mami promised. It was a safe enough bet, given Mr. Urahara's antics. Good night, Trivia Castrovalva.

Her younger self sighed. ...Good night, Nee-san.

She flung control of their body back to Mami as if tossing a doll that now bored her, before vanishing once more.

The outward effect was far more dramatic. Mami pitched forward as golden ribbons wrapped around her body and the extra limbs crunched back down into her back and sides. She flexed her fingers when she was finally restored to normal, vowing never to take even such simple movements for granted ever again.

Her final opponent, correctly identifying that the battle was over, dropped the barriers, politely waiting until Mr. Urahara and the other three Visored had joined them before approaching.

"Welcome back, Miss Tomoe!" Mr Urahara called, with an enthusiastic round of applause that sent a thrill of pride through her. "Nice work there."

"Yeah, what he said," Ms. Sarugaki added from atop a nearby boulder, her arms crossed over her chest as if any agreement with Mr. Urahara pained her.

Mami glared at Mr. Urahara, still annoyed with him for tricking her into this in the first place. "That wasn't nice!"

"No, but you have to admit, it was effective," he said, even as she sputtered in protest. "Now, let me officially introduce you to Hiyori-san's colleagues, Miss Lisa Yadomaru, Mr. Love Aikawa, and Mr. Hachigen Ushouda..."

***

Mami emerged from the underground study chamber after the lesson with the hope that Mr. Tsubakishi might be willing to make her some tea to fortify her before the next ordeal. No such luck.

Everything in the store was in utter shambles--shelves tipped over, the cash register and counter knocked to the ground, candy and other merchandise scattered everywhere. The source of the disarray was a wide-eyed and giggling Kyouko, staggering like a drunkard as she tipped candies into her open mouth with gusto. Both Jinta and Ururu--armed with a catcher's mitt and baseball bat, respectively--were attempting to corral her outside with no luck whatsoever.

"What is going on here?!" Mami shouted from the relative safety of the tatami platform at the disaster raging around her.

"House guest! Thank goodness you're here!" Jinta lunged at Kyouko's ankles, missing by a hair as she danced away at the last second. "The freeloader claims the boss promised her samples of everything and she ate something that made her even weirder than normal, and now she won't stop--"

Mami sighed and hauled herself, careful to close the trapdoor behind her lest Kyouko stagger into it by mistake. "Okay," she said, doing her best to size up the situation. "Where is Mr. Tsubakishi?"

"Unavailable!" Jinta said. "He left us in charge! We were playing baseball in the courtyard when a certain freeloader decided to start chowing down on the merchandise, and--"

"It's okay, Miss Tomoe, I know what to do," Ururu said. She set the bat carefully against the wall and shrugged on red fingerless gloves with blue and white skulls embroidered on the back. "She'll calm down if I get her out of her gigai--"

Mami had no idea what that meant, but she was absolutely certain it was a bad idea. "Stop!" she shouted, but it was too late.

Ururu punched Kyouko square in the solar plexus, knocking her back with an audible whump as all the air wheezed out at once. Even as Kyouko's body went limp and she collapsed to the ground, her soul gem popped free, careening across the room to smash into pieces on the ground--

"Catch it, catch it, catch it, catch it!" Mami screamed, frozen in numb horror.

"Oh! Oh! I got this!" Jinta shouted, diving for it with his catcher's mitt.

To Mami's amazement, he caught it out of the air in time--only to sail through a sea of candy wrappers, slam into the door to the stockroom behind the register, and plow straight on through to the other side. There was a clatter as if something heavy--many things, actually--had fallen off the shelves all at once, followed by a dull thud, a moan of pain, and a muttered "Uh-oh".

Mami caught her breath. "Kyouko?!!"

She rushed over to Kyouko's limp body, but it was like Sayaka on the bridge all over again: no spark of life whatsoever. She's not dead, Mami reminded herself, trying to stay calm amidst the chaos. Somehow, Ururu broke the connection between her soul gem and her body, but once we put it back, she'll wake up good as new. She has to!

"Mami?" a muffled yet recognizable voice called from the stockroom. "What the hell just happened--?!"

Mami started, and glanced back down at the corpse in her arms. If this was Kyouko, then what--

"Ahhh! Ahhh! Get off me, you cretin!" Jinta screamed, answering that particular question.

The stockroom door burst open and a burly man with bright red hair tied back in a ponytail and elaborate tattoos all over his face and torso stormed out, a flailing Jinta tucked under one arm as if he were a football. His only clothing was an ill-fitting pink bathrobe, but  Kyouko's soul gem was cradled protectively in his free hand.

"What the hell--?!" he said in Kyouko's voice, speaking for all of them. Then he (she?) caught sight of Mami and paused. "Hey, Mami, watch where you put your hands! That's my body you're holding--!"

Mami turned to Ururu for help. "I thought you said this would solve the problem!"

Now that the immediate crisis was over, Ururu had reverted back to her bashful mode, and only shrugged in response.

"How was I supposed to know the boss was keeping the extra gigai in there?!" Jinta exclaimed from his less-than-dignified position in Kyouko's armpit.

"Gigai?" Mami said, before she could stop herself, even though she was certain she didn't want to know the answer to that question, either.

"Artificial bodies," Ururu said, as if this were a perfectly normal item available at every local convenience store. "That one is left over from a recent reconnaissance operation in Karakura. Don't worry, Miss Tomoe, I've got this--"

"The hell you do," Kyouko snarled.

She flung Jinta at Ururu in preparation for the fight--but slipped on a candy wrapper, and Ururu sidestepped the living missile with ease. She slammed her gloved fist into Kyouko's chest, and the soul gem went flying once more. Fortunately for everyone involved, Mami was ready this time, and caught it neatly out of the air before it could hit the ground.

Void of any animating intelligence, the gigai collapsed on top of Jinta, who was still screaming bloody murder. Wordlessly, Ururu bent down and scooped up the body, tossing it over her shoulder like a sack of rice as she hauled it back into the stockroom.

Mami sighed. Ignoring Jinta, she turned Kyouko's original body on its back and set the soul gem on the upturned palm, as Akemi had done for Sayaka on the bridge.

To her intense relief, Kyouko blinked and sat up immediately, flexing her arms in mingled confusion and dismay. Both Mami and Jinta tensed, prepared for more flailing punches, but any drunkenness appeared to have passed.

"Okay, that was really weird," Kyouko said out loud, speaking for all of them.

Mami glanced around the room in dismay. She couldn't imagine the look on Mr. Tsubakishi's face if he were to walk in right at this moment and discover his carefully organized shelves in such a state. Her only consolation was that nothing was actively on fire.

"Don't worry, Miss Tomoe, we'll have it all cleaned up in no time," Ururu said, emerging from the stockroom with a broom and setting to work.

Jinta moaned, muttering curses about freeloaders under his breath as he struggled to his feet.

Undeterred by either rebuke, Kyouko reached for one of the candies on the floor--only to yell as Mami slapped her hand away.

"What are you, five?!" Mami demanded. "Haven't you learned the hard way not to put random objects from this place in your mouth?!"

For once in her life, Kyouko was suitably chastened by her ordeal that Mami's words registered, and she settled back with an unhappy scowl. "Oh. Yeah. Right."

***

Somehow the four of them managed to restore the genkan to its former state with no one the wiser. Even so, Mami was grateful to retreat back into the study chamber for more training with Ms. Sarugaki and Ms. Yadomaru after a hastily foraged lunch. As much as she would have preferred a kido lesson with the genial Mr. Hachigen, even the most aggressive coaching from the other Visored was preferable to the chaos a bored Kyouko could unleash.

Nudging Castrovalva to take control of their shared body on cue wasn't hard. Directing her after the fact continued to be the challenge. Castrovalva had incredible reservoirs of energy--not to mention greater speed, reach, and a knack for shapeshifting between her human and full witch form--but lacked both focus and follow-through to accomplish much damage with any of it. More than once, they were hit by an attack because they couldn't agree on a course of action in time, which sent Castrovalva into a downward spiral of angst and recriminations that made further failures all but inevitable.

Eventually, after much trial and error, Mami worked out a system, offering carefully worded suggestions for Castrovalva in lieu of forcing her will on her younger self. With much patience and praise, Castrovalva gradually relaxed, more and more willing to work with Mami instead of against her. Heartened by success, she was less likely to be carried away in the heat of the moment.

They might only have a few more days before Walpurgisnacht's attack, but with any luck, the two of them would have a long lifetime in which to cement their partnership and figure things out. In the short term, her promise to remain at the shop meant she had plenty of opportunities to practice. As Mr. Urahara had said, it was a start.

I'm not afraid of witches anymore, Mami thought in wonder as the two of them in tandem successfully blocked one of Ms. Saguraki's attacks--though how much of that was her and how much of that was Castrovalva was difficult to say.

Witches had always been a tool under the control of the Incubator--a harvest and weapon in one. Now Mami would turn this particular witch against the Incubator--their mutual enemy--with full approval of both parties. The irony was palpable.

When Ms. Yadomaru finally called a halt, and Mami took full control of her body back from Castrovalva once more, her friends were off to one side, cheering her on behind a makeshift kido shield courtesy of Ms. Sarugaki. A (mercifully sober) Kyouko chowed down a (mercifully unadulterated) sandwich, flanked by Akemi, Sayaka, and Madoka, all of them impressed by what they'd just witnessed.

"That was awesome, Mami!" Madoka called, waving her over.

"Maybe I should become a witch if it means getting cool new powers like Mami," Kyouko said, licking her fingers as she finished her sandwich.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Akemi said before Mami could intervene.

"Why not? Mami came back." Sayaka away from the group and transformed, swords spinning around her in a flurry of light. "I might try it myself at some point. But definitely not before we beat Walpurgisnacht. I wouldn't want let everyone down and miss out on the fight if I couldn't kick my witch's ass in time."

"It's not really like that--" Mami started.

"Ugh, Walpurgisnacht," Kyouko said as she transformed herself. "I almost forgot about her."

"Maybe we can bring Walpurgisnacht back, too?" Madoka volunteered.

Akemi blanched. "I suppose..."

"We have to get her grief seed first, though," Sayaka reminded her. "And that's gonna be tough, since Akemi says none of us have ever beaten her on our own. But if the five of us are working together, then maybe--"

"In that case, we'd better work on coordinating our attacks," Mami said, slipping automatically into teaching mode. She glanced over at Ms. Yadomaru and Ms. Sarugaki, who were engrossed in an argument of their own and paying no attention to any of them. "Since we're all here, and Yoruichi-san hasn't arrived yet for our lesson, shall we practice together?"

Akemi shook her head. "I am afraid I will be of no use to you until I am more proficient in kido. Mr. Urahara said he would be personally tutoring me."

"All right then," Mami said, accepting this statement at face value--though she couldn't suppress a pang of jealousy at the fact that Akemi was getting more of Mr. Urahara's attention than she was. "Kyouko! Sayaka! Let's go! We've got work to do!"

"What about me?" Madoka said.

Mami frowned. "Weren't you supposed to have a special tutor for this whole Quincy thing?"

"He hasn't arrived yet. So I don't know--"

"Why don't you wait here with us until they show up?" Mami said. "Akemi can keep you company until her own lesson starts."

"Yeah, you can cheer us on from the sidelines!" Sayaka added cheerfully.

Akemi flushed, but she didn't protest, which Mami took as a good sign. Neither Akemi nor Madoka struck her as the type to enjoy sitting back and watching, but it was far better than either of them sitting alone, and they were both good sports about it.

Mami had worked one-on-one with Sayaka and Kyouko enough to feel comfortable fighting with each of them--but getting the two of them in sync with each other was a struggle and integrating flash steps into the mix came with its own hurdles. But it was worth it, Mami thought in satisfaction, as Kyouko zipped out of the sky, covering Sayaka as she aimed her swords at the unsuspecting boulder Mami had declared the enemy.

"Not fast enough," Kyouko declared roughly once they'd finished the run and the boulder was in pieces.

"Just try not to be overconfident," Mami said--a reminder to herself as much as her juniors. "Do your best, but don't try to be perfect. That's why we're a team--so we cover for each other when we make mistakes."

"That's right," Yoruichi said, sidling up out of nowhere to study all three of them with a critical eye as they balanced in mid-air. "Nice to see you three already getting started--and I like what I'm seeing a lot. So let's get to work, shall we?"

Mami, Kyouko, and Sayaka nodded. "Yes, sir!"

***

As Urahara had explained to Miss Akemi, there were numerous technical details to work out before a Tenkai Kecchu could be safely employed in Mitakihara. The good news was that Tessai and Hachigen--the former captain and vice-captain of the Kido Corps, respectively--possessed both the raw power and technical finesse for the task, with Hiyori, Aikawa, and Yadomaru filling in when either man needed a break. This meant Urahara could reserve the bulk of his energy for coordinating all the myriad other tasks that needed to happen before Walpurgisnacht's arrival--including Homura Akemi's kido lessons.

While Urahara fully intended to teach all four (five?) girls in due time, Miss Akemi's need was the greatest, since her own magic was of limited use without access to time-stops. As expected, she threw herself into their lessons with a single-minded dedication that more than made up for any failings in her social skills. Given their limited time, Urahara planned to focus on few key spells he thought were suitable replacements for the magical powers she was willingly foregoing for the sake of the universe's continued existence.

Flash step wasn't quite a substitute for her time stop, but would at least partially make up for it. Since Miss Akemi already possessed adequate defensive capacity in the form of her shield, so he would leave the defensive bakudo alone for the moment and focus primarily on offensive capabilities. Hado #31, the Red Flame Cannon Tessai had originally demonstrated for Miss Tomoe, was a classic spell drilled into every Academy recruit for its ease of use and destructive versatility, capable of generating explosions to eclipse that of ordinary pipe bombs and guns. He would add further spells if there was time, but judging from Miss Akemi's accounts of prior battles, that ought to be enough--Wapurgisnacht was not a witch who valued subtlety.

Urahara had initially assumed the girl would need a second jewel to channel the spiritual energy split by their soul gem back into its original unbroken state. However, Miss Akemi completely bypassed his prototype, using her entire body as the focus instead, which made both their lives much easier. Like the flash step and the spirit ribbons, it proved to be  a remarkably simple task for her once she engaged it with this new perspective.

But, Urahara reflected later that evening while manufacturing more artificial grief seeds, the odds of a magical girl stumbling across this discovery by accident--let alone being able to use it for anything--were extremely small without the right training. The Incubator didn't encourage its victims to question its version of reality by experimenting for themselves.

Just another reason to beat this creature at its own game, he thought grimly, and went back to work.

***

Dinner at the Urahara Candy Store that night was the usual boisterous affair, made even more so by the increased number of people packed around the living room table. After everyone had eaten their fill, Kyouko and Akemi left with Yoruichi and Sayaka to walk Madoka home, and the shop was noticeably quieter for their absence.

Mami waved from the genkan, smiling gamely as they departed, but the sight of her friends walking away without her sent a stab of loneliness through her chest that was hard to shake. Mindful of her promise not to leave the grounds, she resisted the temptation to follow them and went to see what everyone else was up to in the living room.

Ms. Sarugaki and Ms. Yadomaru were the only adults on the premises, griping at being roped into baby-sitting Jinta and Ururu while the men were busy with their own affairs. Fortunately for everyone, Jinta and Ururu were content to marathon re-runs of Cazh Soul on television, while Ms. Saguraki muttered irritably in the background and Ms. Yadomaru read her dirty manga.

"Oh, hey, new girl," Ms. Sarugaki said, perking up when she registered Mami in the doorway. "Let's blow this joint for a bit. I want to talk to you."

"Shhh," Ururu said, her eyes glued to the screen. "This is the best part!"

"Yeah, you two, take it outside if you can't appreciate genius," Jinta agreed.

"I can't leave the shop," Mami stammered as the other woman dragged her out of the living room towards the front door. "Mr. Urahara said the Incubator will be looking for me."

"Smells like bad spirits!" screamed the televised host behind them, with remarkable timing.

Ms. Sarugaki rolled her eyes. "Whatever that means."

"I'm serious!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Don't worry, we won't go far."

They ended up tucked away beneath the shelter of a dense azalea bush at the corner of the little garden behind the shop after Ms. Sarugaki scanned the area to ensure no one was eavesdropping. It was cramped and uncomfortable, and she was going to have to pick all the  leaves out of her hair, but Mami's spirits lifted even so. She hadn't realized how much she missed spending time outside--especially around green and growing things--until she'd spent the last three days inside.

"All right," Mami said, settling herself down besides Ms. Sarugaki in the undergrowth. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Ms. Sarugaki snorted. "He really roped you into this, huh? I knew it was bad, but I didn't realize that bastard had you on such a short leash."

"Who?"

"Urahara, of course," Ms. Sarugaki said, as if it were obvious.

"Well, no, actually, it's not his fault. It's for my own good." Mami did her best to explain the events of the last few weeks, from her first meeting with Mr. Urahara in the park to waking up in the shop after her confrontation with Castrovalva inside her grief seed.

"Gotta admit, that's rough," Ms. Sarugaki said when she had finished the story. "I still say it's Urahara's fault for not being square with you up front. He's sneaky like that. Always has been. Never says what he's thinking, that one."

"What's your relationship with Mr. Urahara?" Mami asked. "You sound like you know him from somewhere--"

Ms. Saguraki laughed, a harsh, ugly sound more like a cough. "Damn straight I do, and I wish I didn't. He was my boss for a while back in Soul Society after Captain Hikifune left, and a pretty terrible one at that."

She launched into a rambling, byzantine explanation of Soul Society politics and inter-office drama which made little sense to Mami. There was a great deal of emphasis on an entity known as the Thirteen Court Guardian Divisions, but Mami had no idea what that was or how it fit into the larger picture, and Hiyori wasn't forthcoming in her explanations.

"So were you mad at Mr. Urahara because he wasn't Captain Hikifune, or because you were hoping to get the promotion instead?" Mami ventured at length.

"Ha! Don't be ridiculous," Ms. Sarugaki said. "Captain Hikifune didn't even stop in to say good-bye to us on her way out. Shows how much we meant to her. And no way in hell was I ever going to be a captain. Too much weird shit to deal with, plus I never did make bankai."

"Bankai?"

"Yeah, bankai--you don't have a zanpakutou, so I guess you wouldn't know about that. It's the final release of a zanpakutou and there's all sorts of cool tricks that come along with it. Don't get me wrong, Kubikiri Orochi and I get along fine, but that was never something I was going to go for, and they don't make you a captain without it. So I knew they were gonna transfer someone new in. I just didn't expect it to be him."

Mami frowned. "What was wrong with Mr. Urahara?"

"He wasn't one of us, ya hear? He was the third seat from Second Division," she said vehemently, as if that term ought to mean something to Mami.

"Second Division," Ms. Sarugaki repeated, when Mami still kept coming up blank. "You know, the Onmitsukido? The secret police?"

"Secret police?" Why would the afterlife need secret police? What kind of place *is* this?

Certainly, Mr. Urahara had openly admitted to being a condemned criminal when they'd first met, but he'd insisted all the charges were false. Had he been lying to her? But the details didn't quite line up, so maybe this was something different--

"Oh-ho-ho, so you don't know," Ms. Sarugaki chuckled, rubbing her hands together with glee. "He really didn't explain shit to you, did he?"

Mami was getting tired of this game. "Explain what?"

"Who he is. What he does. He's a sneaky murderer like the rest of them--always has been and always will be. Before he came to Twelfth Division, he was the head warden of the secret prison the Onmitsukido used to toss people they didn't like, without a trial or nothing. They called it the Maggots' Nest, which ought to tell you what it was like in there.

"It doesn't matter if you did anything, or if they just think you're dangerous, they'll lock you up anyway, just in case--and they do the same thing to anyone who tries to 'withdraw' from military service once they're in too deep. The whole system is rotten to the core, and Kisuke Urahara's dirty fingerprints were all over it.

"He says he was just doing his job, but he's been the Shihouin clan's lapdog since birth, and they have him eating out of their hands. Whatever one of them told him to do, he'd do--and that wasn't going to change just because he started working over in our division. And the first thing he did was to bring all the inmates into our division to 'make 'em useful'."

"That was good, right?" Mami said. "I mean, you said there weren't any trials or anything--"

Ms. Sarugaki picked up a handful of dried leaves off the ground and rolled them around her palm. "That man filled Twelfth Division with all kinds of weirdos--most of whom probably still should have been locked up. He's the one who let that freak Mayuri Kurotsuchi out when he should have spent the rest of time rotting in a cell." She spat in disgust and crumpled the leaves to bits in her fist. "Ugh. Just thinkin' about that guy makes me want to take a shower. What a ridiculous clown--would have been funny if he weren't so dangerous. Believe it or not, Urahara made him my direct subordinate, only that dickwad wouldn't listen to a word I said. Always convinced he knew best, blah, blah, blah, science.

"Anyway, after about a decade of that shit, Urahara asked me to go out and investigate some weirdness in Rukongai--the boonies out beyond the Court of Pure Souls," she said, forestalling Mami's next question. "Lotsa people were disappearing and he said I was the only one he could trust with the investigation. Ha!

"Long story short, this bastard named Aizen was running a long con and conducting secret experiments and we all stumbled into it headfirst. A bunch of other captains and their lieutenants were out sniffin' around for clues and they got infected with this... disease that makes ya turn into hollows. Once I was exposed, there wasn't much hope for me. I thought I was going to die out there as a monster. Sometimes I wish I had, to be honest."

She turned and met Mami's gaze directly. "Urahara waited until the last possible minute to step in, of course--said he had no idea things had gotten so out of hand. He and Tsubakishi couldn't fix us, but they at least halted the infection and gave us new gigai so we could keep Soul Society from tracing us while we figured out what to do next. By that point, Soul Society had death warrants out for all of us, so they were in just as deep shit as we were."

"Anyway, there was no way in hell we were gonna stick around with those two, so we set out on our own. Made new lives for ourselves, called ourselves the Visored, and watched each others' backs--because nobody else was gonna do it--"

"But you found a cure eventually, right?" Mami said. "You and your hollow fought well together today--"

"There's no cure for this shit," Ms. Sarugaki said, cutting her off roughly. "You just have to live with it. Me and my hollow, we've come to a truce of sorts over the years, but every time I pull on my mask, it's a struggle to determine just who is gonna come out on top."

She turned away and crossed her arms over her chest. "But look, this really isn't about me or my sob story, or making you feel sorry for me. All I want to say is that Kisuke Urahara is a magnet for trouble--always has been and always will be. Nothing bad ever sticks to him, but it'll get all over you and anyone else nearby and fuck up your lives for good."

"My life was already messed up before I met Mr. Urahara," Mami said, rising to his defense. "I just didn't know it."

"Tsch, well, ignorance is bliss," Ms. Sarugaki opined. "Like it or not, Urahara uses the people around him to get his way, and it never ends well for any of them. You know what happened to his last human protege, right? Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"I've never heard of him," Mami said.

"Must be nice. Believe me, I wish everyone would stop gushing about that little punk. He was a self-proclaimed substitute shinigami who fancied himself such a big shot around town until Urahara fucked him over and turned him into a hollow--and then even after Kurosaki got that under control, Urahara set him up against Aizen in a big showdown. Kurosaki won, but he lost all his powers as a result. Now he's just a sad nobody moping about the glory days when everyone was trying to kill him."

Mami stared in horror. "Why are you telling me this?" she said at length.

"Because I think you deserve better than that shit!" Ms. Sarugaki snapped. "Leave that bastard Urahara and his gang behind, and come join me and Lisa and Hachi and Love at our place in Karakura. You're an orphan, right? Ya got no family here anymore, so what's holding you back?"

"I--" Mami stammered, taken aback by Ms. Sarugaki's vehemence. "I don't--"

Ms. Sarugaki sighed and turned away, the anger fading back into her usual cynicism and disdain. "There used to be a lot more of us Visored, ya know. A lot of 'em turned tail and went back to Soul Society when we got officially pardoned. They went straight back to working for the same folks who spent decades tryin' to kill 'em! Tssch! Talk about spineless cowards! Complete and total dumbasses, the lot of 'em!"

Mami didn't know what to say to that, so she kept her mouth shut and let Ms. Sarugaki stew in silence.

"Gotta admit, it'd be nice to have you around," the other woman admitted at length. "Fresh blood and all that. It's been kinda quiet since the others abandoned us. The others are great, don't get me wrong, but Lisa and Love spend all their time reading porn and Hachi's busy studying sorcerous shit. They don't have much time for anything else--"

Ms. Sarugaki was lonely, Mami realized, and this was likely as close as she would ever come to admitting it. Even though she's trying to warn me away from Mr. Urahara, it's thanks to him that I'm no longer alone. But she didn't know how to explain that in a way that Ms. Sarugaki could understand.

"Let's get a few things straight," Ms. Sarugaki said gruffly. "I didn't come here on Urahara's say-so, I came here because I think you deserve better than anything that bastard can give you. So whatd'ya say?"

"I--" Mami stopped short, considering her options. "I'm honored by the invitation, Ms. Sarugaki," she said at last, not wanting to hurt Ms. Sarugaki's feelings with an outright refusal. "I'll have to think about it."

"That's fine, take your time," Ms. Sarugaki said. She crossed her arms over her chest and surveyed the shrubbery with satisfaction, content to have delivered her message at last. "Consider it an open invitation."

***

Kyouko returned by herself later that evening, as Yoruichi was staying with Madoka, and Akemi was at her own apartment. Mami couldn't blame Akemi for disappearing this time--while Mami personally enjoyed all the hustle and bustle at the Urahara Candy Store after so much time alone, silence and quiet were forever in short supply. Constant exposure to such madness must grate on an introvert like Akemi to no end.

Kyouko, for her part, was in an unusually somber mood. As Yoruichi had reported earlier, the city remained eerily empty--no witches, familiars, hollows, ghosts or Incubators to be found.

"It's a good thing Hat-and-Clogs made those artificial grief seeds or else we'd be in real trouble," Kyouko said, shaking her head when she reported the news to Mami in the genkan. "My stash wouldn't last long divided amongst the four of us. I can't believe that rat is trying to starve us like this!"

She snatched a candy bar from her pocket, ripped the wrapper with her teeth and stuffed the whole thing into her mouth at once.

Now was not the time for Mami to mention she didn't really need grief seeds any more--and the fact that Kyouko was willing to share spoke volumes for her true feelings towards her compatriots.

"It's not going to work," Mami said. "He doesn't know Mr. Urahara found a way to beat the system. We're going to be fine. All of us."

It was thirty seconds before Kyouko swallowed enough of her mouthful to respond. "I'm gonna go see if Muscles has any leftovers." Brushing past Mami, she made a beeline for the kitchen.

Mami sighed, hoping her words had sunk in somehow. Kyouko was doing her best to hide it, but Kyubey couldn't have picked a better way to rattle her--which was precisely the point.

He's a lying, cheating, scheming, little bastard, Castrovalva said, utterly incensed by this latest dirty trick.

That's right, Mami agreed, not bothering to chide her younger self for language this time.

***

The next day passed much the same as the first, with Mami working in tandem with Castrovalva against a rotating crew of Visored for most of it. Despite her considerable progress on that front, she was delighted when her friends arrived from school, allowing her to take a much-needed break.

"How's your friend from the hospital doing today?" Mami asked Sayaka, curious as to how the situation was unfolding.

Sayaka tugged at her hair in an passable attempt at Akemi's distinctive hair flip, a gesture that was much less effective with shorter hair. "He's only been back at school for one day, and he's already got the girls lining up to confess to him, can you believe it?"

And you're not one of them, because you're here with us, Mami thought, reading between the lines. Poor Sayaka, sacrificing so much and recieving so little in exchange for it. Still, she was holding up better than Mami expected, given her disappointment.

Sayaka sensed her sempai's train of thought, and hastened to explain further. "Nah, don't worry about me, I'm fine, really."

"Really?"

"Really!" Sayaka insisted. "I mean, yeah, it hurts that he's not into me after all I've done for him, but-- it seems so stupid and petty to get mad at Kyousuke for not being able to read my mind after what Kyubey did to us. If I'm mad at anyone, it's him."

Mami blinked. This was... a far more measured and mature response than she'd ever thought possible from Sayaka. Would wonders never cease?

"Gotta thank Kyouko here for pounding some sense into me," Sayaka added, tempering that impression somewhat.

"Any time," Kyouko called back, the words muffled by the ice cream cone stuffed in her mouth.

They had just started on their flash-step lesson with Yoruichi when Madoka's Quincy tutor finally arrived--a young man with dark-hair, glasses, and white spirit ribbons that marked him as completely human. The school uniform, however, was a surprise--somehow Mami hadn't expected the last surviving Quincy to be a high school student.

"Oi, Ishida. Long time no see," Yoruichi said by way of greeting which he returned with a pointed cough. "You certainly took your time getting over here. How's Kurosaki doing these days?"

Mami's skin prickled at the mention of Ichigo Kurosaki, but Ishida didn't crack a smile. "I came as soon as I could. Some of us have responsibilities, you know. As for Kurosaki, he's the same as always--brooding, depressed, and trying to hide it from everyone. Inoue and Yasutora are looking after him while I'm gone along with the regular hollow patrol."

He glanced around at the four girls hovering in mid-air and crossed his arms over his chest, unimpressed. All four girls glared back. "What's all this about a new Quincy you found?"

Madoka laughed nervously and waved as she stepped forward from the sidelines. "Hi, I'm Madoka Kaname. Nice to meet you."

"Uryu Ishida," he said with a slight bow, a flicker of genuine interest crossing his face for for the first time. "I see. You really are a Quincy, aren't you?"

Akemi's glare noticeably deepened.

"That's what Mr. Urahara and Yoruichi said," Madoka agreed. "But I don't really know what that means--"

Ishida raised an eyebrow in Yoruichi's direction. "You didn't explain anything to her?"

Yoruichi waved a paw at him in a remarkably human dismissal. "We decided to wait for the expert. Wouldn't want to accidentally leave out anything important."

"That's right," Ishida agreed, without a trace of irony. "Well, allow me to demonstrate the power of the Quincy for you all."

He raised his left arm, and a crackling blue-white bow of pure energy appeared out of nowhere. Drawing his right hand along its length, he pulled the bow back, generating a matching bolt of pure energy in lieu of a traditional arrow. When he let go of the 'string', the bolt zoomed away, obliterating a boulder a hundred meters away in an explosion of light.

"So that's it?" Sayaka said, speaking for all of them as the weapon vanished from Ishida's hands. "You don't have to transform or anything? You can just--do that?"

Ishida looked her up and down, assessing her costume with a critical air. "That outfit suits you," he said at last. "I like the color. Did you make it yourself?"

"Make it?" Kyouko chortled. "Who the hell do you think we are?"

"To be honest, I have absolutely no idea," he said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You don't look like any shinigami I've ever seen, but then, they've got all kinds of weirdos in their ranks."

"We're not weirdos! We're magical girls!" Sayaka shouted indignantly.

"Uh, Sayaka, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that! Please calm down," Madoka said, playing peacemaker as usual.

Sayaka wasn't the only one riled up by Ishida's dismissal. His so-called "Pride of the Quincy" pissed off all four magical girls in quick succession, which Mami considered an achievement in and of itself. Even after he and Madoka decamped to far side of the study chamber, the quartet kept shooting distracted glances over at him, united in their shared distaste.

Mami's one consolation was that Quincy couldn't summon their own costumes on demand. Ishida had been forced to change into his own uniform behind one of the boulders, which he took as a personal affront to his dignity. He had, however, designed and sewn his outfit from scratch, which earned him much praise from Madoka and eyerolls from the others when the two Quincy weren't looking.

In Akemi's case, Mami suspected she was more incensed about the way Ishida held Madoka while adjusting her archery form and the hero-worship Madoka turned on him than any flaws in his personality, which were really no worse than Akemi's own. Fortunately for everyone, Akemi was soon conscripted by Mr. Urahara for a private lesson of her own, though she glared daggers at Ishida all the way out of the study chamber.

Uryu Ishida had only been at the Urahara Candy Store for less than an hour, but Mami could already tell he was going to be trouble.

***

Madoka couldn't believe this was really happening. Not only did she possess magical powers as one of the last surviving members of a secret race of spiritually gifted humans, she had finally started her training so she could help her friends against Walpurgisnacht. Butterflies vibrating in her stomach couldn't stop her from eagerly hanging onto Ishida's every word, soaking up the torrent of information as best she could.

From Mr. Urahara's descriptions, Madoka had imagined the Last Quincy as a kindly old man with long silver beards in flowing white robes. Uryu Ishida was the polar opposite of that image in almost every way. He was sharp and angular, jet-black hair and glasses, grim and severe in a way that reminded her of Homura, with hidden hidden depths lurking beneath that overly calm facade.

"This whole magical girl business is incredible," he admitted before they started with the lesson in earnest, staring out across the study chamber as Yoruichi ran the others through some sort of transformation speed drill. He shook his head in mingled disbelief and admiration. "I almost wish Kurosaki were here to see this."

"Why? Does he enjoy magical girl anime?"

Ishida snorted. "Hardly. He wouldn't be caught dead watching that stuff--spoil his tough guy image. No, he's a philistine with no taste in fashion, among his other flaws. He'd hate it."

It sounded like they were great friends even if Ishida was reluctant to admit it, Madoka thought, though she was careful not to contradict him.

"W-well, I always wanted a costume like that of my own," she  said aloud. "But yours is very nice!" she added, lest he think her impolite.

"Of course it is, I made it myself," Ishida said absently, smoothing down the lapels.

"Really? Can I ask you something, then--?"

"Later," Ishida said. "We have a limited amount of time before the battle, and I don't want you to be a dishonor to the Quincy."

Pride and honor were very important to the Quincy, apparently--it was a recurring theme of Ishida's teachings. Madoka nodded gamely, vowing to do her best.

"All Quincy have the gift of absorbing spiritual energy from our surroundings and combining it with our own personal energy to form weapons," Ishida explained by way of introduction. "Spiritual energy, like light, can be percieved as both particles and waves. Unlike the shinigami, who focus on the wave form, we Quincy manipulate spiritual particles, known as reishi, to form our Heilig Bogen, or holy bow. Condensing the reishi further gets you Heilig Pfeil, the sacred arrows of destruction. As a Quincy becomes more skilled, they gain more power and precision with their arrows."

Madoka was struggling to keep up with the cavalcade of unfamiliar terms. "Are all of the names in German?"

"Yeah, that's just how it is," Ishida shrugged.

Madoka had little trouble drawing her own holy bow, but firing a Heilig Pfeil was more challenging. How did Ishida made it look so easy?

"My grandfather used to say that a Quincy's arrows should only be released in when you have something that must be protected," Ishida said when she faltered. "From there on, it depends on your heart."

Madoka thought of the people she wanted to protect--her parents, her little brother Tatsuya. True to Ishida's advice, the bowstring slid back, agreeably supple in her hand.

Homura, the thought rose unbidden in her mind as her fingers slipped from the 'string'. To Madoka's astonishment, the Heilig Pfeil appeared and soared through the air, right at the center of the target Ishida had hastily constructed out of a few boulders.

"That's great, Kaname! I knew you'd get it! You may not have much experience yet, but your spiritual power is strong, and you really understand what in means to be a Quincy deep in your heart. That's not something that can can be taught! That's something the shinigami will never get."

"So, if Quincy don't get along with shinigami, why are you helping Mr. Urahara now?" Madoka ventured.

"What makes you think I'm working for Urahara?" Ishida said shortly. "I came here to help you, not him. Besides," he added after a moment's reflection,"Urahara might have been a shinigami once, but not anymore. He helped me and Kurosaki out when they were going to kill one of our friends and snuck us into Soul Society to rescue her under their noses. Plus, Ryuken will be pissed when he learns I'm here."

"Ryuken?"

"My father. The self-proclaimed 'Last Quincy,' even if he does fuck-all with it." Ishida sighed. "'How many times do I have to tell you, there is no point in saving the dead, Uryu?' he always says. 'That's a shinigami's job. You should learn how to save the people who are alive.' Never mind all the people that will get eaten if we don't stop the hollows!"

"That sounds awful," Madoka agreed, though she privately thought both sides had a point.

"Yeah, things were better when my grandfather was alive." Uryu leaned back and closed his eyes. "My grandfather Souken was everything my father wasn't: patient, wise, kind--the ideal Quincy, one of the only survivors of the shinigami genocide. He taught me everything he knew, much to Ryuken's disapproval. He didn't want to see our traditions die with him.

"He was old-fashioned in a lot of ways, but he tried to make peace with shinigami, heal the age-old riff between our peoples. His dream was for us to be the first responders, protect humans from hollows until the shinigami arrived--thus maintaining their precious balance. 'Be it Human or Shinigami, seeing a sad face is unbearable to me,' he told me, over and over again. But nothing ever came of it. The shinigami never wanted to listen. And they killed him for it."

"They killed him?!"

"That's right. At first, I thought it was an accident--he was attacked and killed by a hollow before the shinigami arrived to clean up the mess. But when I went to Soul Society on that rescue mission, I learned that the head of shinigami research and development division that manages their hollow alert system deliberately sabotaged the alarms so he could capture my injured grandfather and use him for his 'experiments'." Uryu chuckled, though there was no humor in it. "That bastard made sure to tell me there was very little left of my grandfather once he was done."

Madoka clasped her hand over her mouth in horror. "Oh, no. Oh, no. Ishida, I'm so sorry--"

"Don't be. It's not your fault." He brushed aside her concern with a careless wave. "I do what I can to carry on his legacy--be the Quincy he would be proud of. But I wish... I wish things had been different...

"My grandfather wasn't that monster's only victim," he added after a moment. "He's hurt a lot of people, up to and including the woman he claims as his 'daughter'. She saved my life once when she didn't have to. I just wish--somehow--I could pay back the favor--"

He broke off abruptly, as if he'd let slip more than he meant. "So what was it you wanted to show me earlier?"

Madoka blinked at the abrupt change in subject, but accepted the transition without complaint. Now it was her turn to shift uncomfortably. "Uh--well, you said you were good at sewing, and I thought--maybe you could make me a Quincy costume? Like yours?"

"Of course!" His face lit up with an enthusiasm beyond her wildest hopes. "That's a brilliant idea, Kaname! Let me get my measuring tape, and--"

Madoka tittered. "Well, actually, there's just one other thing," she said, reaching into her school bag for a certain notebook. "I was wondering if you could make it look something like this, so I match my friends--"

Ishida blinked as she thrust the pages at him.

"Please don't laugh," Madoka said into the silence.

Ishida pushed his glasses up on his nose and studied her intently. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, no pink," he said, glancing down at the notebook again. "It isn't a Quincy color. That said--" He slammed the notebook shut and handed it back to her with a flourish. "I think I can make the rest of it work."

"So you'll do it?"

"Like I said, I think we can make it work--" he started, only to be abruptly cut off as Madoka tackled him in gratitude.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Oof, no need to thank me yet," he said, pushing her off him long enough to whip out a measuring tape from somewhere. "Now, let me get your measurements and then we'd better get back to training again--"

***

There was a certain point before every Omnitsukido operation where there was nothing left to do except wait, and the battle against Walpurgisnacht was no different. The Tenkai Kecchu was ready for deployment, the myriad wards and spells and contigencies prepared for, every weapon polished and ready--not to mention the dozens of artificial grief seeds now waiting in reserve. All that remained for Urahara to do was snatch what rest he could in the calm before the (in this case, literal) storm.

Urahara hated this limbo with a passion, yet experience had taught him he'd regret it tomorrow if he didn't take advantage of it. Experience had also taught him the best solution: snag Yoruichi and make her suffer with him.

"I'm still not sure I understand what we're up against here, Kisuke," Yoruichi said when he dragged her into the lab late that evening. She was human again, eyeing the detailed satellite maps of the city Miss Akemi had brought him earlier in the week with renewed interest. "This Walpurgisnacht creature is a witch that's also a storm?"

"Walpurgisnacht is... exceptional in that regard," Urahara admitted. "Most witches devote their considerable spiritual energies towards the creation of specialized pocket dimensions, drawing victims inward. According to Miss Akemi, Walpurgisnacht does the exact opposite: she imposes her own reality on top of our own. In a sense, the world around her is her labyrinth."

Yoruichi shook her head. "The amount of power that would take-- How did a single witch get that strong?"

"A steady diet of human souls would do it," Urahara said grimly. "Or grief seeds. Witches appear to be very similar to the Meno Grande, growing stronger and stronger as they consume each other. Since Walpurgisnacht appears to be under the Incubator's direct control, it may well be that all of the grief seeds the Incubator has been collecting for many years have gone into this particular witch. Miss Akemi's manipulations of the timelines have also had a disproportionate effect on Walpurgisnacht, thanks to her karmic connection with Miss Kaname."

"Yet another reason why time travel is forbidden kido," Yoruichi said. "Just thinking about this makes my head hurt."

"If all goes well, Miss Akemi will have no need to employ it again." If Urahara's sensors could be trusted, she'd foregone any use of time magic over the last few days with one small exception; he fervently hoped this trend would continue as they approached the critical juncture. The alternatives were... unpleasant to contemplate.

"She's a good kid, Kisuke," Yoruichi said. "Reminds me a lot of me when I was her age, if I hadn't had you and Tessai around to ground me. She's been holding back a lot around the others, but when she fights, she fights to win and I like that. You think she'd stick around after all this is over?"

"Something tells me she'll remain by Miss Kaname's side," Urahara said.

"Tsch. Well, that's love for you," Yoruichi said, flashing a wicked grin in his direction. "Makes you stupid. Ask me how I know."

"Now, now, don't sell yourself short," Urahara said, refusing to rise to the bait. "'The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.'"

"Like I said: stupid."

As Yoruichi was the one who'd brought up the matter in the first place, he had no qualms about re-negotiating their earlier agreement. "You'd have better luck with Miss Sakura and Miss Tomoe, anyway."

She saw where he was going with this, of course, and raised an eyebrow. "I would, huh?"

"Ururu was having nightmares about the SRDI lab again until Miss Sakura moved into her room," Urahara reported in a carefully neutral tone.

"Damn it, Kisuke, we can't just adopt every wayward orphan that comes along!"

"We can't?" Puppy-dog eyes blinked up at her, though the effect was spoiled by the shit-eating grin he couldn't keep off his face. "They certainly seem to have adopted us."

"Ugh!" Yoruichi slapped her hand against the desk in digust. "You are so annoying sometimes!"

"'Sometimes'? I must be losing my touch."

"Scratch that--all of the time!"

She was weakening, though. He'd floated the idea once more, and now it was time to let her mull over it, without any more pressure from him. She'd come around on her own, or not--though the girls in question were terribly stubborn and might have ideas of their own on this matter that would be worth taking into account.

"I believe we're all set for tomorrow," he said, adroitly changing the subject. "We have, as Jinta would say, the home team advantage, especially now that the Tenkai Kecchu is ready. Given that a magical girl of Miss Kaname's caliber was able to take on Walpurgisnacht alone in at least a handful of timelines, I think our numbers are more than sufficient."

"When's this thing supposed to arrive, anyway?" Yoruichi pointed to the computer screen in the corner picking up the ordinary human radar from the local weather service--the screen was green and tranquil, without nothing unusual across the entire Kanto region. "You may or may not have noticed, but the sky outside is perfectly clear."

"Statistically speaking, the most likely time for manifestation is early tomorrow morning."

She caught the change in his inflection and frowned. "Okay, Kisuke, spit it out. What's really bothering you?"

Urahara knew better than to try and dissemble with her. He sighed. "Something about the situation doesn't feel right. There's been no word from Akon on what's happening with Soul Society--he's probably just busy, but the silence makes me nervous. I'm missing something important, I don't know what it is, and I haven't felt this way since Aizen. Which makes me wonder if he's involved somehow."

Yoruichi shot him a pointed look. "You think he escaped from Muken? The strongest, most secure prison Soul Society has ever built?"

Put that way, it was absurd, but Urahara had learned the hard way not to underestimate the man. "Assuming they threw the correct being inside the first place? No. But he could have made an alliance with the Incubators and provided a back door into Soul Society's security and monitoring systems for them."

"I agree the situation in Soul Society is concerning," Yoruichi said. "But whatever is going on is going to have to wait until after we've pummeled Walpurgisnacht into the ground."

"You think I'm paranoid?"

"No, I think you're speculating based on past trends rather than any actual evidence," she said, ever the pragmatist. "And based on past trends, you'd be absolutely right. But there was evil in the world before Aizen, and there will be evil long after he's gone. That's just how it is. The Incubator has been running its shell game here in Mitakihara unchecked for a long time now, but there's no way to know yet if anyone on the shinigami side is involved. Yet."

The last word hung in the air between them, halfway between a promise and a threat, as if she were still the Omnitsukido commander, tasked with ferreting out corruption at all levels of the government. Even a hundred years of exile couldn't dampen the reflexes from so many years of dedicated training.

"I suppose you're right," Urahara said at last.

"You're not convinced."

Of course not. "If you could go back in time like Miss Akemi and change the past, would you?"

It wasn't a non sequitur. It was a new variation on the same question he'd asked in a thousand different ways over the last hundred years.

"No," Yoruichi said without hesitation--the same answer she'd always given each time he'd asked.

"No regrets?"

She flashed him a toothy smile. "None whatsoever. And you?"

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it," he admitted.

Once, he would have jumped at the opportunity. He'd come so close in those first few years of exile to broaching the possibility with Tessai on more than one occasion. But now--

"But I would have lost so much I valued, too," Urahara continued. "Good times, bad times, happy things, sad things--so many experiences that have shaped me into who I am since we left Soul Society, for better and for worse. To give up all that we've shared, everything we've created on the off chance that it might go better a different way--especially now that Aizen is gone--would be foolishness of the highest order."

"But you'd do it anyway?"

"Perfection is an illusion--except for Yoruichi-san, of course! I'll settle for 'good enough'." He leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "But that's easy for me to say--I got my happy ending, after all."

Yoruichi snatched off his hat and mussed his hair in retaliation as she wrapped him in a hug. "You hopeless romantic."

"Guilty as charged."

They stood together in silence for a long time after that, the empty radar screen flashing in the background as they waited for the coming battle.

***

Life at the Urahara Candy Store had fallen into a steady rhythm as everyone prepared for Walpurgisnacht's arrival, yet Mami couldn't ever remember time moving so quickly. The sensation was amplified by her confinement to the compound, to the point where the outside world had a faded to a distant memory. After so many hours in the underground study chamber, the only way she knew the weekend had arrived was that Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura were all there much earlier than usual.

The night before the battle, Madoka and Sayaka sweet-talked their parents and everyone at the store into another sleepover. The adults had all disappeared for last-minute preparations of their own, leaving the younger folks to their own devices in the living room. Fortunately, Sayaka and Kyouko were channelling their restless energy into a cutthroat Mario Kart competition against Jinta and Ururu--the least destructive way the quartet could be spending their time--while Mami tried and failed to distract herself with her much-neglected schoolwork. Akemi was off on her own somewhere, probably sulking while Madoka and Ishida were engaged in "top-secret Quincy business," whatever that meant.

As if on cue, the shoji screen slid open and Madoka hesitantly stepped into the room, herded by a beaming Ishida in his formal dress whites. "Um..." she said, and stopped short, staring down at the floor as five pairs of eyes turned to stare at her. "Ishida was nice enough to make me a Quincy uniform of my own, and... what do you think?"

Mami was impressed in spite of herself. Uryu Ishida had taken the frilly designs from Madoka's notebook and given them a Quincy flair in keeping with his own aesthetic standards. He'd kept the form-fitting high-collared white tunic of his own uniform with its long sleeves, tassels, and miniature cape, but swapped the trousers for a pleated knee-length skirt edged with ruffles and matching over-the-knee socks and boots, throwing in a touch of lace at her wrists and ankles. The standard Quincy cross was etched in icy blue across both the front and back of the tunic and the boots. Another cross dangled from her wrist on a long silver bracelet with beads like a rosary.

Not only did the two perfectly complement each other, as if they were a matched set, Ishida had constructed the entire thing from scratch in less than two days--without any magic whatsoever. And the joyous self-confidence blossoming on Madoka's face was worth the admittedly well-deserved smugness Ishida was radiating behind her.

"You look amazing, Madoka!" Sayaka gushed, dropping the controller as she rushed to investigate up close.

"Yeah, straight outta Cardcaptor Sakura or something," Kyouko agreed, flashing Madoka a thumb's up from her cushion by the television.

"You think so?" Madoka said.

Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose. "For the last time, Quincy are not magical girls!"

Jinta took advantage of Sayaka's inattention to send her avatar sailing into a cartoon obstacle in an explosion of flames. "Ahahaha, suck on this, freeloader!" he gloated as his own car leaped ahead of the pack.

"You wish, brat!" Kyouko spun the vehicle she was controlling on-screen into a nosedive that managed to take out all three of the remaining players in one fell swoop, much to Jinta's vocal dismay.

"This is incredible work, Ishida," Mami said, offering credit where it was due. "I had no idea you were such a talented tailor."

"Why isn't it pink? Didn't you want pink?" Sayaka demanded of Ishida and Madoka in turn.

"Blue is nice, too," Madoka said diplomatically, unable to keep the wistfulness out of her voice.

"Pink isn't a Quincy color," Ishida said, as if this was an exchange they'd repeated many times before.

"I like pink," Ururu said.

"Geh, too girly," Jinta declared with a gag.

"Watch your mouth," Kyouko said, cuffing him in annoyance. "What's wrong with being a girl, anyway?!"

"Ignore him, Madoka, you'd look fabulous in pink!" Sayaka declared over Jinta's aggrievated squawks. "Like a princess! A Quincy princess! Do the Quincy even have princesses?" she added after a moment's afterthought.

"No, they don't," Ishida said through gritted teeth.

Kyouko raised a pragmatic eyebrow. "Won't the white fabric get all bloody and stuff?"

"I'm not going to fight! I don't want to hurt anyone!" Madoka countered. "But I don't want to watch from the sidelines, either!"

"Kaname won't be in any danger tomorrow," Ishida said curtly. "I swear on it by my pride as a Quincy."

At Sayaka's insistence, Madoka twirled, laughing in delight as the skirt billowed and swirled around her--such a contrast from the shrinking violet Mami had met cowering in the Butterfly Witch's labyrinth a few weeks earlier. "Now, I'm ready," she declared, striking a pose.

Maybe all it took was the right costume, Mami thought in wonder, marveling at the transformation.

"Where's Homura?" Madoka asked, scanning the room and coming up blank. Her face fell. "I was hoping to show her my new outfit..."

Jinta snickered. "Good luck with that."

"She's in the basement blowing shit up," Kyouko said by way of explanation.

"Leave her alone," Sayaka added unexpectedly. "What?" she said when everyone turned to look at her. "Akemi's been broody and miserable all day, and I for one would rather her get it out of her system so we can fight at peak form tomorrow."

Mami had heard enough. Akemi wasn't always easy to get along with, but she was a part of Mami's team, and therefore her responsibility. She shoved her homework aside and rose to her feet. "I'll go check on her."

"Oh, would you, Mami? That would be great!" Madoka said. "Homura's been awfully sad lately and she doesn't say anything when I try to talk to her about it."

"Eh, suit yourself, Mami," Kyouko said. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

"Don't worry, Mami isn't scared of Akemi," Sayaka said, rising to her sempai's defense.

It was true, Mami thought with a smile as she as brushed past Madoka and Ishida towards the trapdoor in the foyer. These days, she wasn't afraid of anything.

***

Mami had never been in the study chamber this late at night; the normally brilliant lights were dimmed to mimic the darkness above ground, cloaking the room in shadows. Even so, she had no trouble finding her quarry. True to her friends' predictions, Homura Akemi was blowing craters in the ground with grim and single-minded precision. Boom, boom, boom went the explosions, one after the other under Akemi's steady assault.

"Nice Red Flame Cannon," Mami said, flash-stepping in beside her and surveying the scene. "Especially considering you're not using any form of the incantation."

She was rewarded with a crooked smile from Akemi. "I'm doing my best to make up for lost time. I'm not used to having offensive magic at my disposal like this, let alone the leisure to practice at length."

Mami sympathized, though she had been so busy coordinating with Castrovalva and perfecting her flash-step that she had let her kido studies slip by the wayside. Maybe once they'd defeated Walpurgisnacht, she could resume her lessons with Mr. Urahara once more--or study with Mr. Tsubakishi or Mr. Hachigen, who had a decidely calmer approach.

"Why don't you take a break?" Mami offered the other girl. "Everyone else is upstairs, and we'd love it if you joined us."

Homura shook her head. "No, thank you."

"Madoka was asking for you," Mami said, determined to play hardball.

"All the more reason for me to stay here, then."

Oh, dear, it's worse than I thought. Time to switch tactics, then. "Are you nervous about tomorrow's battle?"

Akemi thought for a moment, pondering the question with the utmost seriousness. "Yes and no," she said at last. "No matter how many times I've fought this battle, the night before is never any easier. If anything, it gets worse."

Given the scope of Akemi's knowledge of Walpurgisnacht, Mami had guessed the two had met before, even if Akemi hadn't been forthcoming on the circumstances. "So Kyu--the Incubator has thrown this witch at other people before, huh?"

"In a manner of speaking."

Gah! Mami was reminded once more of the pointed conversation outside the hospital after Akemi had saved her life against the Dessert Witch. They might be on the same side now, but Akemi was still the same cryptic, obnoxious person she'd always been. Why couldn't she give a straight answer for once in her life?!

"You still don't trust me," Mami said aloud. "Why?"

Akemi paused as if picking her words with great care. "This is the first time you've survived long enough to ask me that question."

"What do you mean, 'survived'--" Mami started, only to gasp as the answer clicked into place. So much had happened in the last week, she'd forgotten about the reason why Mr. Urahara had come to Mitakihara in the first place. "You're the one who's been messing around with time, aren't you? You're the anomaly Mr. Urahara was looking for!"

Akemi nodded soberly.

"Does he know?"

"Of course he knows," Akemi said in disgust. "Somehow he knew that my powers as a magical girl allow me to stop time, and even redo the past up to a certain point. He knew I have been repeating the last few weeks to keep fighting Walpurgisnacht for a long time now."

"How many times?" Mami whispered.

Akemi let out a hollow little laugh. "Too many to count."

Oh.

It was a ludicrous reaction to an impossible statement, and yet Mami didn't doubt her for a moment. It explained all the nagging little pieces that hadn't lined up before: how Akemi knew what she did about Walpurgisnacht; how she'd suddenly appeared in Mitakihara as if out of nowhere; not to mention all her cryptic comments.

How many times had Mami wished she could turn back time and save her parents, either by wishing for them to be restored along with her, or preventing the accident in the first place? Homura Akemi had actually made such a wish... and while Mami wasn't sure what exactly that entailed in her case, she was more than a little jealous.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Akemi said, mistaking Mami's mingled horror and envy for disbelief.

"No! I believe you! I believe you!" Mami said hastily.

"I'll show you, then." Ignoring Mami's protests, Akemi reached for her arm even as she raised the shield on her other hand. The smooth metal surface clicked opened to reveal an intricate set of nested gears at its center, with dark sand spilling from the red round bulb at the top to an identical one on the bottom. "Don't let go."

"Wait, what--?"

Click.

The two glass bulbs rotated counterclockwise ninety degrees around the center, and the stream of sand paused. So did everything around them, the colors washed out and faded as if they had stumbled into a labyrinth version of the study chamber.

"If you were to let go, time would stop for you as well," Akemi said casually. She raised her shield hand once more, this time with her fingers in the position required to cast a kido spell. "Hado #31: Red Flame Cannon!"

The fiery orb burst forth from her palm--only to hover in mid-air several meters away once its momentum was lost. Akemi repeated this maneuver several more times, varying the angle of the strike each time, before engaging her shield once more. With another distinctive click, the hourglass shifted back into its previous position, the sand resumed its flow, and all of the fireballs descended upon their target at once, exploding en masse.

"Wow," Mami said, unable to summon more coherent praise.

Akemi let go of Mami's hand and tossed her hair back in a gesture that Mami had come to realize was her method of handling discomfort. "Believe it or not, it has taken me a great deal of practice to become so adept with it."

"Well, that's how it always is, isn't it?" Mami shrugged. "So, wait a minute--if something goes wrong tomorrow during the battle, you can wipe the slate clean and start over from scratch? Like you've done before?"

Akemi nodded. Mami was relieved, until she realized that if Akemi was still going back after so many repetitions, it meant that every previous time must have gone wrong--which did not bode well for their chances tomorrow.

"This is the first time you've ever survived long enough to ask me that question."

How had she died in those other timelines? Had she fallen against Walpurgisnacht--or had the Dessert Witch killed her first? Or had it been Akemi herself who had done it? Somewhere along the way, something terrible had happend to alienate the girl so she kept Mami at arm's length even when they weren't actively hostile towards each other.

"But it's not so simple," Homura added unexpectedly, watching Mami's face closely. "There may be... consequences I wasn't previously aware of. Mr. Urahara claims it is extremely dangerous for me to keep going back in time, especially since I have already meddled so much in this particular battle."

"Why would he lie?" Mami said before she could stop herself.

Akemi shot her a pointed look, as if the answer was self-evident. "I don't know if I believe the universe will collapse, no matter how much data and statistics he throws at me. It's certainly never happened before or else I wouldn't be here. But I take the possibility seriously, and I will not try it again except as a last resort."

And that was good, Mami realized in a daze. There was no reason for her to doubt Mr. Urahara, given his current track record. That said, even if Akemi was right and it wouldn't destroy the universe, going back would mean all of Mami's gains in the last few days would vanish like a soap bubble. She'd lose her connections to Mr. Urahara and the shop, all her friends--yes, even Akemi--not to mention Castrovalva!

If Akemi went back, Mami would be alone once more, toiling unhappily in her solitary witch hunts, unaware of the awful truth underlying her existence. She would still believe Kyubey to be her dearest friend. And next time she might not be so lucky against the Dessert Witch--

Once again, Mami had been completely wrong about everything. Wishing to change the past came with burdens of its own--and it certainly hadn't put an end to Akemi's problems. The other girl's silhouette in the darkness was straight and proud, but there was deep exhaustion in her stance, not to mention the jaded cynicism she wrapped around her like a protective cloak. She was stuck in a loop of her own making, unable to break free for reasons as yet unknown.

What others truths is she holding back because she's afraid of me?

"In the past, we didn't get along," Akemi said, as if she had read Mami's mind. "You never believed me, no matter how I tried to explain. More than once we were mortal enemies."

Mami wasn't sure she wanted to know the details. Maybe later, once it was over, but not right now. The person Akemi had known in those other timelines might have shared her name and her face, but Mami wasn't any of those versions of herself and never would be. She wasn't responsible for any of those other girls--and she couldn't afford to wallow in guilt over their actions with the battle against Walpurgisnacht on the horizon.

Mami had learned the hard way in Castrovalva's labyrinth that obsessing over past mistakes was its own kind of trap. She had no intention of getting caught in anything of the sort again.

Akemi must have caught a glimpse of this on Mami's face, because she shook her head and took a deep breath to steady herself before plunging on ahead. "I never would have trusted any other Mami Tomoe like this. But the person I thought I knew never could have returned from becoming a witch. I'm still... not used to the person you are now."

"Neither am I," Mami admitted.

"I'm not used to--any of this, really," Akemi added, gesturing around the study chamber. In that moment, her stoic mask slipped, and a different girl looked out, young and wistful and alone--so much like Mami's first meeting with Castrovalva that her heart ached in sympathy.

Mami caught her breath, afraid to push further for fear of what she might learn if Akemi truly opened up to her now. She was equally aware, however, that any remaining secrets could prove deadly, and she would never get a better chance to investigate.

"What do you hope to achieve by going back so many times?"

She expected Akemi to recoil from such a personal question, to slam the door in her face and walk away, as she had done in the past. But to her surprise, the other girl answered: "I made a promise that I would protect Madoka. I won't let anything happen to her, no matter what."

"Madoka, huh?" Mami said, as yet another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"She saved me. She saved my life when I was helpless, and I owe her everything. I couldn't bear it if I failed her again!" Akemi said, choking back a sob.

"Does... this Madoka know?"

Akemi shook her head, the stoic mask cracked beyond salvaging as her eyes filled with tears. "Each time I go back, we grow further and further apart. I don't know how to talk to her anymore. I don't know how to reach her. To me, she's the most precious person in the world--to her, I'm just some transfer student she met for the first time a few weeks ago. She doesn't understand." Her hands clenched into fists. "And then this Quincy shows up, and she's all over him!"

"I think that's just Madoka's way of being friendly," Mami said diplomatically, aware she was venturing into emotionally fraught territory. "She's wanted to be special and powerful for a long time, and now she has a chance to learn magic of her very own... Can you blame her for being excited about it?"

"But I'm the one who made her so strong in the first place!" Akemi burst out in a rush. "I did it by going back so many times! None of this would have been possible without me!"

So that was why the spirit ribbons of those two were so hopelessly tangled. Mami sighed. "Have you tried talking to Madoka about all this?"

"There's been no time. She's too excited about the Quincy, and I can barely get a word in. At least that will keep her away from the Incubator. Maybe this time she won't be so quick to sacrifice herself against Walpurgisnacht now that there are so many of us fighting alongside each other."

"She's done that before?"

"Always. No matter what, she always dies and I can never save her. The first time, she defeated Walpurgisnacht alone after you failed, at the cost of her own life. The second time, she won the battle, only to transform into a witch--"

Mami held her breath, lest she trigger an explosion.

"Another time, I killed her," Akemi continued dully, staring at the ground. "I destroyed her soul gem before she could complete the transformation."

Wow, Nee-san, that's cold, Castrovalva said quietly. Mami hadn't even been aware she was listening in. I don't like that at all. Are you sure we can trust her?

Sssh, Mami said, waving her away. The last thing she needed right now was a distraction, especially after Akemi had dropped such a massive bombshell in her lap.

It was ironic that Castrovalva, self-proclaimed devourer of worlds, would draw the line at the murder of a friend--or maybe not. Like most children, she'd divided the world into "us" and "them"--and an acceptable fate for "them" was unthinkable for someone she considered "us".

(Or maybe it was the part where Akemi had killed a nascent witch before she could defend herself that spooked her?)

"I'm sorry," Mami said aloud, aware Akemi still was waiting for a response. "There was really no other choice, was there? I--I likely would have done the same thing in your place."

Mami was a professional, and so was Akemi. Killing witches was their job--or at least it had been until they'd learned the true nature of witches. Akemi hadn't even known it was possible to restore them until a few days ago. How could Mami judge Akemi for nipping a monster in the bud, as it were, even if--especially if--it was a beloved friend?

Akemi nodded as if she'd passed some sort of test. "You did."

...Maybe Castrovalva was right. That was just creepy. Though it might explain why Akemi had been so reluctant to trust her before now? Mami wracked her brains for an appropriate response and found none.

"Madoka told me use my powers to go back in time and save her from the Incubators--keep her from contracting--and I've never been able to do it!" Akemi went on. "Every time, no matter what I do--it's always the same. She makes her wish and then she dies, every single time! She turns into a witch and destroys the whole world, and I can't bear to watch it happen again--"

"But she hasn't contracted now," Mami said, striving to focus on the present. "Everything's different this time, right? You said we'd never worked together against Walpurgisnacht before, yet here we are."

"That's right. Mr. Urahara has never been here before, either," Akemi added with a rueful laugh. "He followed the... traces that time travel leaves--something the Incubator failed to mention when I made my contract."

"Surprise, surprise," Mami drawled, unable to contain a snort.

Akemi laughed along with her, bitterness mingling with mirth. "Indeed. Though perhaps this particular omission will backfire on him in the end. Mr. Urahara and his companions have introduced no small number of complications, but their presence here may be enough to tip the tide in our favor. I have certainly learned many useful skills from them."

"You can tell Madoka the truth tomorrow after the battle is over," Mami said firmly. "Once we win."

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do! You've been so strong for so long, but whatever happened in the past, we're a team now. We're going to win this time, Akemi; there's no way around it. All you have to do is hold out a little longer, and let us support you."

"Thank you... Tomoe," Akemi said, wiping her face roughly with her hand in an attempt to regain her composure. "I appreciate your support."

"Thank you for trusting me tonight, Akemi," Mami said--and then, on impulse added, "Please, call me Mami. Everybody else does." Time to let that particular barrier dissolve for good.

Akemi blinked owlishly at her. "Then I would be honored if you called me Homura," she said at last.

"Then let's do our best together tomorrow--Homura."

She was rewarded with a weary but genuine smile in return. "Likewise--Mami."

Chapter Text

The morning of April 30 dawned dark and overcast, though 'dawn' was a relative term--any sunlight on the horizon was lost behind a wall of clouds so thick there was no way to tell at a glance whether it was day or night. Urahara woke to a feline Yoruichi staring out the window at the clouds, both of them seized by the same uneasy restlessness.

Sharp gusts punched through the streets of Mitakihara, rattling the tightly latched shutters of the Urahara Candy Shop and the whole building shivered on its foundation. The air pressure had plummeted overnight from the intensity of the coming storm, and the spiritual pressure rose in counterpoint, weighing on everyone in the city even if they weren't consciously aware of it.

Tessai was already up and bustling around the kitchen, a massive vat of coffee as dark as the sky outside brewing on the stove. Urahara filled his mug on autopilot and drank it bitter and black, without any of the milk and sugar laid out on the table in the foyer.

Once the caffeine kicked in, he checked his phone for any new messages from Akon, but there were none. As the ominous waves of reiatsu grew steadily stronger, he switched on the TV in the living room, tuning in just in time to pick up the weather forecaster's stunned announcement that a supercell had officially formed within the city limits.

The deep, persistently rotating updraft that marked Walpurgisnacht's presence was now visible even to those blind to the more subtle vortices. Meanwhile, the official Soul Society monitors for the region continued to insist everything in Mitakihara was normal despite all evidence to the contrary. Urahara shook his head, and drank more coffee.

The spooked city authorities issued an official evacuation order beginning at six o'clock, sending trucks through the streets blaring instructions on loudspeakers. Everyone who had slept through the first signs of the storm was jolted awake when they drove past the Urahara Candy Shop a few minutes later.

"Call your parents and tell them you're going to the shelter with each other. We don't want them to worry unnecessarily," Urahara ordered Miss Kaname and Miss Miki when they stumbled bleary-eyed into the foyer shortly thereafter. The last thing anyone needed were concerned parents stumbling out into the storm to in search of wayward offspring before the Tenkai Kecchu was deployed.

The girls obeyed as more people trickled in, ranging from sleep-fogged and grumpy to nervous and twitchy. Most were content to grab their miso, rice porridge, and coffee from the spread laid out for them and retreat into the silence of their own thoughts. Despite Tessai's glorious cooking, everyone except Miss Sakura picked at their food, too distracted to eat.

By seven-thirty, the streets had gone quiet as even the emergency service trucks hunkered down in the wake of the rising storm, which meant it was time to move out.

"You ready?" Yoruichi said in his ear as she alighted on Urahara's shoulder.

He cleared his throat by way of answer, and was rewarded with the full attention of everyone in the room--even the normally combative Hiyori--fell silent. He scanned the room, meeting each gaze squarely before he spoke.

His speech was short and to the point--no jokes or grandiose boasts, just two simple words: "Let's go."

Ready or not, here we come.

***

The city authorities had managed the evacuation with calm and thorough professionalism; there were no witnesses to observe their little army as they made their way downtown. It was just as well. The two Quincy were the most conspicuous in their gleaming white uniforms, but the unlikely assemblage of adults, children, and a single black cat would have drawn stares from passers-by even if Ishida and Miss Kaname had opted for civilian clothes.

Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu split off first, crossing the bridge to the far side of the river past the vulnerable power plants and gas refineries in the industrial sector to where their pillar would be set. Hiyori and Yadomaru veered north at the hospital, while Hachigen and Aikawa went south towards the middle school. Uryu Ishida and Madoka Kaname remained with them the longest, as their post was to the west, on the far side of the central business district. The latter waved enthusiastically to her friends when they parted ways, and Miss Akemi relaxed a fraction of a hair once the pair had disappeared from sight.

Like a spider centered in a vast web, Urahara would direct the coming battle in the heart of the area circumscribed by the Tenkai Kecchu-- the park along the river downtown where Miss Akemi had made her final stand in previous timelines. He and Yoruichi stood in mid-air above the open plaza, both projecting a nonchalance they didn't entirely share as the four magical girls transformed without fanfare and stepped up to join them.

"I don't see anything," Miss Sakura said, scanning the horizon in between bites of one of the many snacks concealed on her person.

"Patience. Walpurgisnacht will be here soon enough," Miss Akemi counseled her.

There was no sign of the Incubator either, though Urahara suspected its presence was obscured by the crushing weight of Walpurgisnacht's reiatsu. Whatever the Incubator had originally intended by deploying this witch in Mitakihara in past timelines, it was now a trap for Madoka Kaname, meant to box her into an impossible situation with only one way out. Suffice to say it would be following today's events with great interest.

According to the weather report on his phone, the eye of the storm---Walpurgisnacht herself--was approaching at a rapid pace. It was a fitting image, as the witch truly was a hole in the world, a growing distortion in his awareness as reality twisted around her in ways more subtle than Miss Akemi's time travel, but just as dangerous.

Where does the Incubator keep such a powerful creature? Urahara wondered absently. Walpurgisnacht wasn't the kind of weapon one could casually leave lying around. Perhaps she was imprisoned in the pocket dimension accessible through the Incubator's back--the same place where it seemed to store collected grief seeds--which raised an entirely new set of troubling questions...

"She's close," Miss Akemi announced, cutting through his musings.

Urahara nodded and connected all their allies on a group call. By now they should have been able to raise and anchor their respective pillars per Tessai's instructions. "Report in," he ordered, holding the phone to his ear.

"We're good here, boss," Tessai said over the line, a statement Urahara could visually confirm even at this distance. The green pillar marking the eastern boundary of the Tenkai Kecchu roughly the same height as the observation tower in the foreground. Red and black smears that were Jinta and Ururu perched besides the larger brown blur that was Tessai on top of the pillar, their weapons in hand.

"Ours is anchored and ready," Hachigen confirmed from his end.

"Activation complete," Ishida chimed in a half-second later.

"I better not get cut in half this time, baldy," Hiyori muttered under her breath as the last pillar settled into place. Urahara pretended not to notice.

A new voice crackled over the phone, laced with static and more than a hint of laughter. "Ready, Urahara-san! Dare I say, it's about time?"

"Thank you, Isshin-san," Urahara said, unable to contain a grin of his own. "Incoming!"

Now that the the four pillars of the Tenkai Kecchu were in position, Urahara activated the seal Tessai had given him, and the spell leapt into action. With a grinding roar, the section of city bound between those four points disappeared beneath their feet, replaced by an equal expanse of bare earth. A deep channel had been dug to accommodate the displaced riverbed, a makeshift moat directing the water that would have otherwise spilled in every direction back to where the original bed started up again on the far side of the circle.

"Wow," said Miss Miki, speaking for all four magical girls as they stared with their mouths open. "Now you see it, now you don't."

Unlike the Tenkai Kecchu created by Mayuri Kurotsuchi in the battle against Aizen at Karakura six months earlier, Urahara had no need for a detailed replica of the city to fool Walpurgisnacht. Skyscrapers forcibly wrenched from their foundations were one of the witch's favorite weapons in previous timelines, and the absence of any structures would deprive her of any possible advantage on that front.

The fake Karakura had been swapped with an equally large portion of Soul Society, which Urahara's team couldn't have managed without drawing unwanted attention to themselves. Moving the city to Hueco Mundo would have been equally disastrous, drawing thousands, if not millions, of hollow to feast on the unconscious human souls slumbering within. Thus, the bulk of Mitakihara was now safely secured in an empty patch of the Precipice World, the empty dimension between Soul Society and the world of the living.

Even so, the transfer was not without its own risk. The Precipice World was a dangerous place, even under the watchful eye of former Tenth Division captain (and Ichigo's father) Isshin Kurosaki, who was intimately familiar with it. Despite Isshin's considerable spiritual prowess, he could only suppress the Koryu--the current that would otherwise tear the city to pieces--for an hour in real time The battle with Walpurgisnacht would have to be finished well before then or the city would shift back, defeating the entire point of the exercise.

To further complicate matters, one hour in the outside world was the equivalent of two thousand hours in the Precipice World. Tessai and Hachi had circumvented the logistical challenge of keeping the citizens sheltering in the civic center unconscious for eighty-four days straight with special barriers that slowed the otherwise overwhelming flow of time within the protected zone to about twelve hours total. That said, it would be a long and solitary three months for Isshin on his side of the barrier, and Urahara was grateful he had volunteered for the task without complaint.

On the plus side, however, Soul Society hadn't bothered to replace the Kototsu--the spiritual equivalent of a rampaging street sweeper--since Aizen had destroyed the previous one. One less headache to deal with.

Their timing was exquisite. Seconds after the Tenkai Kecchu took hold, dozens of neon green elephants surged forward across the plain, stirring up massive clouds of dust as they towed their still-invisible mistress via long pennants trailing behind them. In between the elephants were elaborate carts pulled by fuzzy pink llamas, helmed by living dolls and dancing puppets in a grotesque parody of a circus. Then the wind picked up once more, blowing away the rising dust, and Walpurgisnacht emerged out of the darkness at last.

Say whatever else you would, Urahara thought, she certainly knew how to make a dramatic entrance.

The bulk of her body was a massive cog wheel hovering in space, from which a human figure dangled like a puppet. It was clad in a parody of European medieval garb for a wealthy noblewoman, complete with ruffled skirts, lace bodice, and steepled hennin projecting like horns from its mutilated head, all of which remained upright in complete mockery of gravity. What remained of its ruined face was a smear of red lips set in a mocking smile against the bone-white face of a porcelain doll. The pennants binding the elephants were wrapped in a collar around her throat and she was flanked by halos of shimmering iridescent light that hinted at more horrors to come--

The sheer scale of her took Urahara's breath away. Miss Castrovalva had been the equivalent of a Vasto Lorde-class Menos, but Walpurgisnacht was a compendium of such witches, all brought to the brink of madness through their own despair. No wonder she was insane.

She was laughing now as the elephants approached the moat, a high-pitched mocking giggle that set Urahara's teeth on edge. The crushing weight of her reiatsu deepened as she registered the combatants, and her surroundings grew more and more cartoonish as she asserted her dominance over reality. Like a mad queen intent upon her delusions, Walpurgisnacht believed wholeheartedly in her own warped vision--so strongly the world itself bent to her whim.

The moat was still there, untouched. The parade simply ignored it, walking over the obstacle in their path as if it wasn't even there. So much for that idea, then.

Urahara admired the optimism in the SRDI's firm insistence that everything was fine, even as his own sensor network began short-circuiting from the strain. The relatively simple task of remotely shutting down the alarms was an effort under the overwhelming weight of Walpurgisnacht's reiatsu, and the wave of helpless futility that accompanied it.

I may have miscalculated, he thought in an unexpected flash of self-doubt.

It was ludicrous to think that four schoolgirls would be enough to stop a witch of this magnitude. He should have called in the captains, confessed everything, brought in an entire army of the Thirteen Court Guardian Divisions' best fighters with their power limiters removed--

And then Urahara chuckled, realizing that these bleak thoughts were one of the witch's more subtle attacks, meant to soften up its prey before it ever came to blows.

Nice try, but it's not going to work on me so easily. I've fought worse than you, with even worse odds. We got through those battles, and we'll get through this one, too. Besides, you're not the real enemy here.

Victory wasn't a matter of numbers or the respective power levels of the combatants. It was skillfully using what assets you had to achieve your aim, and only time would tell if the Incubator understood that or not.

For now, though, Urahara was more than happy to watch from the sidelines, as Miss Akemi and her compatriots faced off against the witch. They had more than earned the privilege. He and Yoruichi had made it clear they would only intervene if things got out of hand--tactfully refraining from mentioning what that might entail.

Miss Akemi was fighting to save Miss Kaname. The others were fighting to save Mitakihara. Urahara was fighting to save the world. There was too much riding on this battle for it to be otherwise.

As much as he'd come to care for these girls, sometimes it was necessary to make sacrifices for a larger cause.

He sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that, though.

***

As a veteran of dozens of witch battles, Mami had thought she knew what to expect, especially with all Homura's stories. But faced with the stark unreality of Walpurgisnacht, her mind shuddered to a halt, unable to grasp a witch beyond the scope of her wildest imaginings.

I fought this before? she thought numbly through the shock. No wonder I died. I wouldn't stand a chance alone. Even with the four of us, it won't be enough--

Come on, Nee-san, we got this, Castrovalva said, supremely unimpressed with Mami's self-doubts. She hovered on the edges of Mami's vision, her arms crossed over her chest with an exaggerated swagger and chin tilted in defiance.

To Castrovalva, Walpurgisnacht was a fellow predator worthy of respect--but nothing more. She was unintimidated by the larger witch, determined to fight despite the unlikely odds--and win.

Mami took a deep breath, remembering the cardinal rule that had gotten her through those first grim and solitary months as a magical girl: Fake it 'til you make it.

You're right, she agreed. We got this.

Beside her, Sayaka was uncharacteristically quiet, and Kyouko was muttering curses under her breath. If looks could kill, Homura would have already burnt Walpurgisnacht to a crisp from the force of her glare. Her hatred was a tangible presence, an ominous crackle pulsing around her that could flare up at any moment as she regarded at the witch responsible for her misery, the enemy she had faced so many times before and never truly defeated.

This was the last time, Mami vowed. She would make sure of it.

She glanced back over her shoulder to where Mr. Urahara and Yoruichi waited behind them, though she wasn't sure if it was for confirmation or reassurance. Mr. Urahara nodded when she caught his eye, his striped bucket hat firmly in place despite the fierce wind, his quiet faith in her buoying her spirits.

"Let's get this party started, shall we?" Mami said aloud with renewed enthusiasm as she turned back to the others. "If Walpurgisnacht wants a celebration so badly, we'll have one with a nice big cake for everyone--for our victory!"

"Now there's a battle cry I can get behind!" Kyouko shouted, hoisting her spear in the air.

"Yeah! Cake!" Sayaka cheered.

"I... look forward to it," Homura said quietly at Mami's elbow.

"All right, then," Mami said. "Let's do our best together, everyone!"

For you, Madoka, she thought as she summoned an array of flintlocks, her heart swelling at the thought of her absent friend. Maybe it's not the celebration I originally envisioned for us, but... this will be even better, I promise.

She opened fire on Walpurgisnacht and was rewarded with a piercing shriek as the first bullets struck home. Beside her, Homura was already chanting the incantation for Hado #31, her fingers locked in the familiar configuration as she lobbed a massive fireball at the witch in tandem with Mami's shots, as if they'd practiced together for years, rather than a handful of rushed and scattered sessions in the underground study chamber.

Two weeks ago, she and Homura had been enemies. Now they were fighting side by side as part of a team, united by a shared purpose against a legendary witch--something that had never happened across all the myriad timelines that Homura had experienced.

They would make it through this together now. They had to.

The plan was for Mami and Homura to hammer Walpurgisnacht with as much force as possible from a distance to soften her up. Only then would the two melee fighters swoop in, taking advantage of their small size and greater speed and maneuverability compared to the witch. In the meantime, Kyouko and Sayaka amused themselves by harrying the circus familiars from above, slashing at the strings connecting the elephants to their mistress and sending the whole caravan into stampeding panic.

"Hurry up, you two," Kyouko called over the frantic trumpeting. "I'm dying of boredom over here!"

"You'll have your turn soon enough," Mami called back, shaking her head at the strangeness of it all.

Freed from the elephants' tethers, Walpurgisnacht floated and bobbed in the air seemingly at random, which made her a harder target to hit. Mami kept firing, frustrated by the intricate shields Walpurgisnacht summoned to block the assault. Stalemate.

But only for a moment. Then the witch was on the offensive, belching fire and flames from her red-rouged mouth at her tormentors. Homura caught the blow straight on her shield, but Mami couldn't get her own barrier up in time to fully block the attack, and was scorched by the heat when the flames finally withdrew.

The witch wasn't finished, though. Dark shadows exploded from her body, striking the earth directly below her. They skittered along the ground in all directions like the spokes of a wheel before bursting from the surface in a shower of boulders and earth, blossoming into a forest of twisted trees. Once again, Mami had to move quickly lest she be impaled by the pointed black branches invading her personal space.

"Keep firing! Don't let up!" Homura shouted to Mami over the din as they scrambled across the air away from the new obstacles. "Whatever you do, don't stop!"

Meanwhile, Kyouko had gotten her wish for more excitement in spades as more shadows emerged from the witch's body. These took the shape of giggling winged children, glittering with iridescent sparkles, which swarmed Kyouko and Sayaka with unmitigated glee.

Others zeroed in on Mami and Homura, chasing them up and around the dark branches of the forest. Wordlessly, Mami switched to picking them off one by one, covering Homura's continued assault on the primary target.

This division of labor worked well enough, except the trees kept shifting and expanding, forcing them to keep on the move. One of them snatched at Homura's leg while Mami was distracted, the branches closing in to trap her in their embrace. Homura slashed at her assailant with kido, and was rewarded for her efforts as the tree shuddered and collapsed around her--but not before it flung her into the earth a hundred meters away from the combat zone.

By the time Mami had finished with her own mob of familiars, Homura was back on her feet and in the air once more, though her leg was bleeding freely now, and she was visibly limping from the injury. She was already at work blasting through the familiars coming at her with kido, leaving Mami the only one positioned to carry on against the witch.

There was no reason to hold back any longer, Mami thought. She'd show Walpurgisnacht that the magical girls of Mitakihara weren't so easily trifled with. The way to defeat Walpurgisnacht once and for all was to hit her so hard even she couldn't bounce back. And Mami had the right tool for the job at her fingertips--

Slinging a ribbon over her head, she pulled as hard as she could, leaping down to the ground as it coalesced into the weapon she needed. It was a flintlock the size and shape of a tank gun, attached to the body of an actual tank, all of it etched with the same lacy silver filigree that marked all her ribbon-weapons.

It was so big even she couldn't lift it; the cannon she had used against the Dessert Witch was a child's toy in comparison. It only held one shot, but one shot was all she needed at this level of power. Mami couldn't help a hint of smug satisfaction as she aimed at the witch and fired.

"TIRO--"

Walpurgisnacht shrieked and another jet of flames burst from her mouth, aimed directly for Mami. The two missiles collided in mid-air, and the tank exploded beneath her. Now it was Mami's turn to hurtle through the air, rolling through the burning rubble before she finally came to a halt.

When her version cleared, she was alone at the bottom of a smoking crater, bruised and aching, but otherwise unharmed. Smoke and dust billowed through the air, triggering round of hacking coughs that made her chest rattle. She forced herself to sit up once the fit passed, scanning her surroundings for any further danger.

She froze. Looming above her on the crater's rim was an all-too-familiar silhouette, staring down at her implacably with red, unblinking eyes.

Castrovalva hissed with barely suppressed rage, and reached to seize control, but Mami blocked her path. No, she ordered, forcing her younger self to stand down. Not yet. Let me handle this.

Hello, Mami Tomoe, Kyubey said, cocking his head to the side as if this were a chance encounter in an otherwise ordinary battle. What a surprise to see you here.

His snow-white fur gleamed with unnatural brilliance beneath the darkened sky, untouched by any misadventures since their encounter on the bridge. Here was the same affable little creature she had always known, the only one who had stayed by her side during the tumult of her tenure as a magical girl. Her benefactor. Her guide. Her friend.

No. Any companionship between them had existed only in Mami's mind. This was the Incubator, now and forever, perfectly content to use her up and throw her away without a backwards glance.

"You."

Mami yanked a rifle out of the air and fired. Kyubey's head exploded in a wet sodden mass of fur, and his body tumbled down the side of the crater to land at her feet. Mami stared at the ruined corpse in shock, knowing it wasn't really over, but desperately wishing it was.

She poked at the body with foot in mingled and fascination and horror. Whatever inside his body was red and soft and superficially resembled flesh, but it was of uniform consistency, with no obvious bones or organs mixed in, and it didn't bleed right. It was more like a stuffed animal or a puppet than a living creature. How had she never noticed before?

Ugh, Castrovalva commented in distaste. You were right, Nee-san; that's gross. I take back what I said about wanting to eat him.

Anything Mami could have said was lost as the skin on the back of her neck prickled in warning. She whirled to face a new Kyubey, identical to the first, on the crater's lip.

I see Homura Akemi has been a bad influence. Aren't we friends, Mami?

"Friends don't trick me into sacrificing my body and soul for their whims!" she snarled, leveling another rifle at him. "Friends don't trap me in an impossible situation and use me as a power source-livestock--"

She was shaking so much she could barely stand, let alone shoot straight. Not that hitting her target would do any good; she couldn't kill him this way. But it was the only thing she could think of to make that precise, infuriating voice shut up--

You're taking this the wrong way, Kyubey said, eerily indifferent to its predecessor's fate. Everything we've done has been for the greater good of the universe. And, lest you forget, you've benefited from our association as well.

"Liar!" Mami shouted. "You only saved me because I was useful to you! You let my parents die--"

It's not my fault you made such a hasty choice, Kyubey interrupted. The power to save them was yours the entire time. I know the human mind is frequently overloaded in moments of intense mental and physical distress, but I'm sure you would have remembered if it was truly important.

Mami flinched as though she'd been slapped. "That's not true!"

Of course it is. If I hadn't stepped in, you wouldn't be here now to argue--

Mami shot him again. Even knowing it wouldn't take, it was deeply satisfying and Castrovalva cheered her on. "If it weren't for you, my life would never have been in danger in the first place!"

I don't know what you're talking about. Another body appeared seconds later, continuing the conversation without interruption. You humans really are irrational creatures; sometimes I don't know why do we even bother with you.

Beyond the crater, the battle was still raging. Explosions echoed in the distance, and flames lit up the horizon--Kyouko, Mami guessed, from the reiatsu signature. She must have taken Mami's absence as a sign to take matters into her own hands and damn the plan.

Walpurgisnacht was still out there, and her friends needed her, but Mami's attention was riveted solely on the remorseless creature who had ruined her life, boxing her into a situation where she had no choice but to accede to its plans for her--then had the gall to blame her for doing so.

"I was there," Mami said. "I saw it. I didn't know what it meant then, but I do now. A witch caused that accident--a witch you lured there. You maneuvered it there it the same way you brought Walpurgisnacht here to trap Madoka. You wanted me to be a magical girl, so you put me in a situation where I had no choice but to say 'yes' to your little bargain.

"None of this would have happened if it weren't for you. There wouldn't be any witches if you hadn't created them in the first place. All this time I thought I was protecting innocent people from them, when it turns out they were your victims the whole time.

"You didn't give a shit about my well-being when you thought I'd become a witch, and you don't give a shit now. My emotions and feelings don't matter to you in the slightest. All you care about is your precious power cells, which of course is perfectly rational of you."

She drew herself up to her full height. "Well, take a good look, Incubator. I'm not afraid of witches anymore. One way or another, your reign of terror is over, you bastard."

It was delicious to swear, to speak so roughly, even if the Incubator was too alien to appreciate the insults she flung at him. Mami didn't care. It was enough to finally say the words aloud, to speak the truth at last, even if there was no hope anything she said would register.

Hmm, Kyubey said after a moment. I must have accidentally transferred some personal short-term memories in the process of creating your soul gem. I didn't realize you could access those with your level of mental abilities. Interesting. Well, it's clear that you have chosen permanent antagonism, then, yes?

"You're not getting away so easily." This time, she wrapped his new body in ribbons, letting it implode from the pressure as she squeezed it tight.

Even as she abandoned the limp corpse, she was on the move, scanning for more of them. Sure, enough, there was the tell-tale gleam of red eyes--there--and there--and there--and there--

She shot them all in quick succession, nodding in grim satisfaction as they fell. Take that, you little--

Something soft and fluffy rubbed up against her ankles. She had a moment of panicked shock in which to register the sea a sea of Incubator bodies around her before she went down in a tangle of arms and legs as they rushed her. One of them nudged the soul gem tucked away in her hair, and she yelped as a bolt of pain went through her at the contact.

Good, the pain receptors are still active, then,, the Incubator said with satisfaction, its multiplicity of bodies swaying around her with unified, hypnotic purpose. We have so much to discuss. I'm very curious how you returned from becoming a witch.

Mami hoped Homura and the others were making headway against Walpurgisnacht while its master was distracted or else they were all well and truly fucked.

***

"Don't worry," Ishida said as yet another of the rainbow-shadow familiars smashed into the partly translucent barrier around their pillar like a bug slapping against a car windshield. "They can't possibly break through."

Madoka shivered, but said nothing, too on edge to argue. There was another splat from the shield as another familiar hit the shield as the storm raged on outside their protected enclosure. Cartoon lions, polka-dotted tigers, and neon-green elephants stampeded below them, as if her beloved stuffed animal collection had gone mad. A sinister forest of black, leafless trees had grown up around the city center, and Walpurgisnacht hovered above them, her flames lighting up the sky before the darkness closed in once more.

Haunted by the fear of extinguishing Walpurgisnacht's soul forever--and the souls of the magical girls she'd consumed over the years--Madoka had begged Ishida to hold off shooting the familiars for as long as possible. The two Quincy had done the next best thing: they'd erected a giant shield of spiritual particles to ward off the assault on their pillar and keep the familiars inside the radius of the Tenkai Kecchu.

It wasn't the same as fighting by her friends' side, but at least this way she was indirectly protecting her family and classmates by keeping them out of harm's way. That was important, too, Madoka reminded herself. And from their perch atop the pillar, they could keep an eye on the distant battle and warn the others if there was trouble.

"I always thought the White Devil who tricked Quincy girls into terrible fates for the sake of their hearts' desires was a legend my grandfather made up," Ishida said, squinting through binoculars in the direction of Walpurgisnacht. "I never thought I'd ever see one in person, let alone a whole pack of them."

"The White Devil?"

"The Incubator. I assume that's what those white fluffy things are, anyway."

"Kyubey? He's here--?!"

Ishida frowned. "Yeah. One of your friends--the blonde one--is fighting them now. Oof, never mind, she just went down--"

Anything else he said was lost as an agonized scream cut through Madoka's head. She fell to her knees, slapping in vain at her ears as if she could physically beat the terrible sound away. Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop--

Silence.

That was Mami Tomoe just now, Kyubey said. She hadn't heard his voice since that last awful encounter in her room the previous week, and it made her want to claw frantically at her skin, as if her own pain would be enough to drive him out. She knew from experience that didn't help. Are you really going to let her suffer like this?

Madoka's eyes went wide. No. Oh, no. Not Mami--

You have the power to save her, Madoka Kaname. You always have. But of course, if you'd rather let your friends fight and die for you while you watch, then--well, I suppose that's your choice.

The contact broke and she was herself once more, gasping for breath in a vain effort to calm herself. Ishida knelt beside her, his support the only thing keeping her from collapsing completely. "Kaname! What happened? Are you all right?"

"Ishida," she said slowly, the words thick and foreign on her tongue, as if she'd forgotten how to speak. "I have to go."

"What do you mean, you have to go? We're in the middle of a battle, there's nowhere else to go--and you just had a seizure! What are you thinking?"

"My friends are in trouble." It was all so clear now. She knew what she had to do. "I have to help them."

Ishida tightened his grip on her shoulder. "How do you know this isn't a trap?"

It was a trap, but that was besides the point. "Ishida. If your friends were out there and needed your help, you'd go to them, even if it was dangerous."

To his credit, he didn't deny it. "Then I'm going with you."

"No! One of us has to stay and guard the pillar! My family's safety depends on it! Ishida, please--"

Madoka had no qualms about risking herself. That much was a given. But she couldn't chance anything happening to her family and all the other civilians in the civic center--now whisked away to sleep in the safety of another world until the battle was over.

"Please, Ishida," Madoka said. "You've told me over and over again that a Quincy's pride is their most valuable possession. You have your pride as a Quincy--let me have mine. Let me save my friends."

Ishida stared at her for a long moment, searching her face for answers. Then he rose, pulling Madoka along with him, letting go so abruptly she stumbled as she regained her balance. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Madoka nodded, not trusting her voice. Me, too.

"You remember how to do hirenkyaku on your own, right?" He stepped up to the barrier and began tracing a door-shaped outline along the inside. "We're pretty high up here, and I don't want you to get hurt on the way down."

Madoka nodded. Her control over spirit particles wasn't as smooth or as polished as his, but she could generate solid platforms long enough to get to the ground safely and there was no shortage of material to draw on.

"Good," Ishida said. "Move as quickly as you can. I'll cover you for as long as possible."

"Thank you, Ishida!" Madoka said. She wanted to hug him, but didn't dare. Instead, she stepped forward until she was almost touching the doorway, which gleamed like a paper-cut out against the darkened sky beyond. "Don't worry--I'll make the Quincy proud."

He gave a snort of disgust. "You can thank me by surviving this. Ready, set--go--"

The doorway opened and Madoka burst through out into the open, pitching headlong over the edge of the pillar. She careened across the air like a stone skipping across the surface of a lake, nearly colliding with one of the green elephant familiars as she struck the ground.

The elephant reared up on its hind legs, trumpeting wildly, and Madoka froze as death descended from above. A bolt of blue lightning slammed into its body from above seconds before impact, and the creature vanished in a shower of white sparks.

"What did I tell you?!" Ishida shouted above her. He loosed another arrow and one of the fairy familiars crumpled with a screeching hiss before it could get close to her. "Run, you little fool! Run!"

Madoka obeyed, one lone dust mote against the raging tide of familiars, praying with all her might she would be in time.

***

Shielded from Walpurgisnacht's fire by Benihime's protective blood mist, Urahara and Yoruichi emerged from her latest barrage unscathed.

The four magical girls were not so lucky. Miss Sakura and Miss Miki were covered in dust and scratches, but were still gamely fighting familiars, and Miss Akemi was busy extricating herself up from a pile of rubble on the ground. There was no sign of Miss Tomoe, but from the familiar pulse of her reiatsu, she was alive and relatively unharmed, and thus unlikely to require assistance for the time being.

In the distance, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were blasting more familiars out of the sky as they swarmed the western pillar, but the other three had been relatively quiet. The battle was far from over, but there was still forty-five minutes before Urahara needed to take evasive action, and he was beginning to think they might actually get through this without it--

His soul phone rang, but it wasn't any of his expected allies checking in. Instead, it was--

"Akon?!" he said as he hastily took the call.

Yoruichi snorted. "You have gotto be kidding me."

"This had better be important, Akon-pin," Urahara said into the phone.

"Would I have called you if it wasn't?" Akon said, equally exasperated. "I found out who was responsible for the Mitakihara patrols, and believe me, you're not going to like it."

Please don't say Fifth Division, please don't say Fifth Division, please don't say--

"It's a scam, Urahara. The whole thing's a scam. Always has been, from the beginning."

Urahara drew up short. "What do you mean?"

"Mitakihara and the surrounding cities have been under the Twelfth Division's jurisdiction for at least the last fifty years. Maybe longer. But you want to know what's worse? The entire region doesn't exist on any of the internal division patrol lists."

Urahara's mind was already racing to the logical conclusion. "Does Captain Kurotsuchi know?"

"I should hope so." Akon said, unable to control the bitterness in his voice. "You know all that raw data from the monitoring sensors that mysteriously disappears before it can be officially recorded in the main system? Turns out a copy get dumped directly into a special computer file that can only be accessed with Captain Kurotsuchi's personal authorization code."

And with that final piece of information, everything crystallized in Urahara's mind. So that was why Kurotsuchi expressed such disinterest when Akon had initially brought the problem to him, why he'd deliberately pushed the third-seat away and ordered him to cease the investigation. The Incubators hadn't needed to infiltrate Twelfth Division's security to alter the alerts, because it had been an inside job from the beginning.

"So Captain Kurotsuchi is deliberately concealing the true nature of the Mitakihara situation from everyone in Soul Society," he said aloud.

"Yes."

"Fuck."

"How do you think I feel--?!"

Anything else was eclipsed by burst of screaming in Urahara's ear as Akon dropped the phone. Urahara scrambled with the speaker volume control in a vain effort to save his hearing, but it was too late.

"Akon! Akon! Are you there?! What's happening? Akon! Answer me!"

But he already knew.

Akon's scream dragged on for another fifteen excruciating seconds. The gasping sobs and slow, plodding footsteps that followed were worse, as was the distinctive clunk and heavy breathing as someone else picked up the phone.

"Hello, Urahara," a familiar oily voice intoned. "I should have known you were turning my subordinates against me. No one else around here has the brains for this level of interference."

"You've been keeping a lot of secrets of your own, Mayuri-rin." Urahara kept his tone deliberately light, the childish nickname playful and mocking in equal measure. "It was only a matter of time before someone found out. The question is, are you going to come out to play?"

Mayuri hissed in annoyance. "You never know when to leave well enough alone, do you? Such troublesome vermin."

"Oh-ho~~, is that so? Then squash me if you can," Urahara said, and hung up.

He shoved the soul phone roughly into his sleeve, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Mayuri, of all people.

It made sense. He hated it, of course, but it fit all the available facts and he cursed himself for not arriving at the answer sooner. Of course Mayuri had both the power and the motive to set up a private game reserve for the Incubators free from shinigami interference. The only question was what they'd offered him in exchange--

My fault. My fault. Once again, it's all my fault.

"Well, that answers that," Yoruichi said from beside him. "Mayuri, huh?"

"How much did you hear?" he said slowly, hating himself more and more with every moment.

"Enough." Her tail twitched back and forth as she stared up into the darkened sky where Walpurgisnacht swayed in the wind as Miss Sakura and Miss Miki prepared for another attack. "Looks like things just got a lot more interesting than we thought."

"You could say that, yes."

***

Nee-san! Are you all right?

No, she was not all right. Just as she'd never dreamed of a witch like Walpurgisnacht, Mami had never known such pain was possible. Every nerve screamed as if it were on fire, and her internal organs melted into each other, yet her body remained untouched. How was Kyubey doing this to her--?

It was worse than any fight she'd ever experienced--even the ones where she'd almost died--worse than the car accident, even. There, she hadn't been able to feel much of anything after a while, a blessed luxury that Mami couldn't even begin to imagine anymore.

Nothing in Sayaka's account of her own torture--or in Mami's entire life--had prepared her for pain of this magnitude. When Kyubey said that he'd altered their bodies to help them fight, he hadn't been exaggerating. If this was what fighting actually felt like, no magical girl would survive their first battle.

And now Kyubey was deliberately using that against her.

Did you know human beings have a remarkable ability to adapt to any circumstances, no matter how unpleasant? he said, when the pain eased off at last. Short, unpredictable episodes are far more effective than long, sustained ones, regardless of intensity. That way, you can't get used to it.

Nee-san! Castrovalva's pale face hovered in Mami's field of vision like a pale ghost, her hands clenched into fists at her side. Beneath her fear and worry smouldered the burning, itching, witchy wrongness, coupled with the rage and fury of a child demanding justice. Please. Let me handle this.

Ahhh, Mami gasped, as the pain started up again, sending her into convulsions once more. No, you can't, she said when she could think again. It's too much--

I'm used to pain, Nee-san, Castrovalva said. It doesn't hurt me the way it hurts you.

It was true, Mami thought dazedly. Castrovalva hadn't flinched through Kyubey's onslaughts. But--

Castrovalva caught her confusion and snorted. You think *this* is pain? Ugh. You're such a wuss, Nee-san. You don't know anything about real pain. Her voice softened as she knelt by Mami's side, improbably small in her childish smock and pigtails. You've done so much to take care of me. Let *me* be the one to take care of you, this time. After all, like you said, we can't let it end like this.

Fine! Mami managed. She didn't know what she was agreeing to, but short of a miracle, it was their only hope. Do it!

Summoning the last of her strength, she snatched Castrovalva's hands out of the air and pulled them to her chest.

The contact snapped like an electric spark as gray ribbons swirled around them, pushing them together in a complete dissolution of self and boundaries. Mami flung open her mind and body to her younger self, holding nothing back in an intimacy unprecedented since that night in Mr. Urahara's laboratory where they'd met for the first time.

What? Kyubey said, as Mami's body buckled and jerked under Castrovalva's commands. Bones crunched and reformed to gray nothing; organs twisted and dissolved as the full witch rose up in lieu of the usual human hybrid.

To say the transformation hurt was an understatement. Under any other circumstances, Mami would have screamed for Castrovalva to stop. But it wasn't any worse than the torture she'd just endured--and Mami was willing to give Castrovalva anything and everything she needed to make Kyubey pay for what his crimes against them.

Castrovalva screamed, too, as she took control, but it was rage, not pain, that drove her now. Even as the Incubator body still clinging to her soul gem like a limpet sent a fresh wave of pain coursing through her, Castrovalva weaponized it, forcibly re-routing the psychic loop to include her tormentor and flinging the sensations back along the same channels.

The Incubator body was ill-equipped to handle the resulting feedback, collapsing in a limp heap to the ground. Wisely, it chose to cut the connection, but not before sacrificing several more of its connected bodies to the sensory overload.

There, Castrovalva said in satisfaction, tucking her soul gem safely out of reach. That's better.

Incubator bodies fell right and left as the rampage began in earnest, crushed into pulp by well-muscled prehensile arms came down like a thunderbolt from above.

Oh, I see. You've retained the witch inside you after all. Fascinating. The Incubator's scientific curiosity was unbounded, even when its object of study was actively murdering them. No wonder this isn't working anymore. Time for a different approach.

One of the white bodies scrambled up atop a pile of rubble, waving its fluffy tail as if in surrender. The red ring on its back popped open, and a grief seed rose into the air towards Castrovalva, just as Kyubey had done for the Raven Witch in her memory.

Mami froze, numb with horror. That wasn't just a grief seed, or even a girl's soul that Kyubey was offering them. It was power. It was fuel. It was everything that witches were supposed to want, because it made them grow bigger and stronger--strong enough to devour the whole world in a futile effort to ease the pain inside of them.

It was a bribe. A lure. A yoke around their neck. Even now, after everything he'd done to them, Kyubey still thought he could control them.

And the scariest part of all was that it might actually work if Castrovalva's hunger was stronger than her rage.

Castrovalva hesitated. Then, with a delicacy that she had never exhibited before, she reached out with one of her tentacles, stopping just short of the suspended grief seed.

Every single Incubator stared at her, their red eyes gleaming in triumph.

No, Mami thought, silent witness to the encounter, begging, pleading for her other self to stop this worst of all possible betrayals. No, no, no, no--

But she had surrendered all her control and everything she was to Castrovalva, leaving only a fragment of consciousness left to scold and bear witness to what came afterwards. There was nothing holding her younger self back from taking the bait and falling back into Kyubey's trap.

Nee-san, Castrovalva said in disgust. Did you really think I was that stupid?!

She snatched the grief seed out of the air before the Incubator could react. A second tentacle whipped forward, leaving only a mangled body with jagged barbs sticking up out of the corpse.

Are those...stinging cells? Mami said in wonder. I didn't know you could *do* that!

You never asked, Castrovalva said primly. She tucked the grief seed next to their own soul gem in her fleshy trunk before resuming the rampage with gusto.

Mami made a mental note to have a long chat with her younger self when this was all over. What other talents was she holding back on?

You just keep guessing, Nee-san! Castrovalva cackled, flattening more Kyubeys as they fled.

The tide of Incubator bodies rapidly retreated rapidly under the renewed onslaught, surging back up the lip of the crater onto the plain. Castrovalva chased after them in a rush--only to stop short as Walpurgisnacht turned to regard the interloper with interest.

Mami's stomach lurched. Knowing it couldn't win in a fair fight, the Incubator had lured Castrovalva out into the open so Walpurgisnacht could do his dirty work for him. I can't believe we fell for that--

The power imbalance between the two was instantly clear to both combatants. Walpurgisnacht was scorching ray of sunlight channeled through a magnifying glass to warp flesh and tinder into smoke and flame. Castrovalva was a valiant but pitiful candle in comparison, no matter how much she flared up to compensate.

The larger witch giggled in ravenous anticipation, a predator coiling to strike and devour the much smaller witch. Castrovalva bugled back in defiance, refusing to concede an inch, even if it meant their death.

Flames jetted forth as Walpurgisnacht opened her mouth and Mami prepared for the worst--only to blink in astonishment as a familiar red barrier--followed in quick succession by a blue one--sprang into existence to block the blow.

"Hey, watch it!" Kyouko shouted, waving her spear at Walpurgisnacht in irritation from her perch in mid-air.

"Yeah, Mami might be a witch sometimes, but she's our witch, so back off!" Sayaka added from beside her. "Come play with us instead!"

To Mami's utter amazement, the gambit worked. For all his boasting, Kyubey couldn't control witches directly--he could only crudely point them in the right direction and hope for the best. Distracted by the smaller, more mobile magical girls, Walpurgisnacht turned away and chased after them. Mami didn't know how long Kyouko and Sayaka could keep up against their more powerful foe, but at least Castrovalva had more time to deal with Kyubey--

Hmmm, how unusual. Kyubey wasn't at all upset by the latest setback, though only one body remained; the others must have be hiding out of sight. You continue to be truly exceptional, Mami Tomoe. There's never been a witch we haven't been able to control before. But enough is enough.

The red ring on the puppet's back opened once more. Shadows the same deep black of Kyubey's spirit ribbons billowed up like smoke, absorbing all the light that touched them while reflecting none of it back.

You should be flattered. I don't normally show humans this side of myself. But I think we've been through enough that there should be no secrets between us. That's what friends do, right?

This was the Incubator's true body, then, Mami realized in mounting horror--the force manipulating the interchangeable army of cute and fluffy puppets. No wonder it can't be killed so easily, she thought with the kind of dispassionate scientific observation that Kyubey would approve of. No wonder it hides itself. No one would ever make a bargain with this thing if they knew what it truly looked like.

And did the red rings mark the entrance to some kind of physics-defying pocket dimension--or the creature's true mouth?

She was about to find out. With a scraping sound like someone trying to slurp the last dregs of liquid out of a glass with a straw, the Incubator's spiritual pressure ratcheted up. A vacuum centered around the red ring on the puppet's back widened into a localized black hole, dragging Castrovalva against her will towards the waiting maw.

This ends here, Mami Tomoe, Kyubey said in satisfaction. One way or another, you will be useful to us--you will be contained--

Castrovalva fought back with a fury, scrabbling in the rubble for purchase with suction-tipped limbs, but Kyubey was too strong now and she lost ground rapidly. One by one, he peeled away every one of her defenses, no matter how she shifted and mutated to evade him.

With each setback, Castrovalva's confidence dwindled, and her body shrank with it until she lost control entirely. Finally, in a flash of ribbons, Mami was back once more again in her own human body, clinging to a boulder with two hands that were small and weak and pitiful compared to the awesome power of the witch.

Mami cried out and nearly let go in surprise as Castrovalva fled, but she caught herself in time, casting a dense network of ribbons to lash herself to the ground and delay the inevitable for as long as possible. Immediately, they began to fray before her eyes, dissolving under the intense spiritual pressure like acid. Try as she might to reinforce it, she and Castrovalva were on borrowed time.

Even so, Mami's attention was focused less on their impending doom than the defeated child sobbing in her mind, as though her heart had shattered along with her bravado.

Nee-san, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I wasn't good enough, I'm not strong enough, I couldn't protect us--

You did so well, sweetheart, Mami said. She was crying, too, but doing her best not to let Castrovalva see. It's not your fault it didn't work out for us. None of this is your fault. I'm--I'm so proud of you for standing up to Kyubey like this.

Proud of me? Nee-san is proud of me? Castrovalva sat up, her eyes wide, so desperately eager for praise that Mami's heart ached. I did a good job?

You did, Mami assured her. You did your best and I'm so proud of you.

Kyubey was still eroding her ribbons faster than she could cast them. Mami would keep on fighting until the end, but she was so tired. Soon, it would all be over.

At least no matter what came next, she wouldn't be alone...

I love you, Nee-san, Castrovalva said quietly beside her.

I love you, too--

The ribbon snapped. With nothing holding her back, Mami was swept away by the invisible wind towards the gaping maw--

"That's enough, Incubator!"

A bolt of blue lightning slammed into the tail of the puppet-body, and it leapt into the air with an undignified yelp. The suction ceased as the shadows withdrew as quickly as they had emerged, vanishing back through the gateway on the puppet's backs like a snail drawing up into its shell.

What? How??! Impossible--

Mami collapsed to the ground as the force pulling at her evaporated. She was weary beyond belief, and couldn't stop shaking, but she knew she had to get up and keep fighting; she still wasn't safe. Panting, she dragged herself upright and did her best to stand upright as she turned to face her rescuer.

Twenty meters away stood Madoka Kaname with her Quincy bow in hand, small and fragile in the battlefield twilight. She lowered her weapon and began to pick her way towards Kyubey, her gleaming white uniform miraculously unstained by the dust and sweat and blood of combat.

In that moment, Madoka was the eye of a hurricane, the central still point around which all else revolved. Even Walpurgisnacht and her minions paused in their assault, as if they, too were waiting for the outcome.

"Madoka," Mami whispered. "What--"

"It's okay, Mami," Madoka said, though she couldn't have possibly heard her at that distance. "You all have done enough for now. I'll take it from here."

She stopped several meters away from Kyubey, and raised her bow once more, a gleaming blue-white bolt of energy aimed directly at him.

"You know what I am, Incubator," she said. It wasn't a question.

Yes. You are Madoka Kaname.

"And?"

There was a long pause, as if the Incubator was loathe to say the words. A Quincy.

Madoka paused, the gleaming arrow poised and ready on the string. "If you know of the Quincy, then you know what will happen if my arrow strikes you with full strength--the death of your soul with no hope of rebirth. What will you give me in exchange for your continued existence?"

I can't give you anything for free, Kyubey complained. That's not how the system works. Make a contract with me, and anything you wish can be yours.

"I see," Madoka said. The arrow disappeared, and so did the bow in her hands. "Well, it's a good thing I don't actually want to kill you. You and your people are cruel, but you don't even understand why what you did hurt us or why it was wrong. Killing you wouldn't change anything."

I'm glad you, at least, are capable of reason--

"That's why I want you to grant my wish."

You... what?

Madoka laughed. "It's funny, isn't it? I'm doing my best to be strong on the outside, but inside, I'm shaking. But the people I admire most are afraid every time they fight--they just don't let it stop them from doing what's right."

Mami's mouth opened and closed as Madoka's meaning clicked, but no words came out. Her shock and confusion deepened tenfold when Madoka glanced over at her, put a finger to her lips, and winked.

"I've finally found what I want to protect," Madoka continued, turning back to Kyubey. "Something only I can do. So, then--"

A wild-eyed Homura Akemi flash-stepped out of nowhere onto the scene, gasping for breath as if she'd just run a marathon. Blood coursed down her face from a jagged cut on her forehead, and she was still limping from the wound on her leg, to the point where Mami could actually see her between steps instead of the usual blur.

"Madoka!" Homura screamed as she charged at the unfolding tableau. "No, don't--"

A wall of blue light sprung up between them as Madoka cast some sort of Quincy barrier. Unprepared for this maneuver, Homura slammed face-first into the wall, and bounced backward with a sickening crack to land a few meters away from Mami in the dust.

"I'm sorry, Homura," Madoka said with a soft, sad smile, but she didn't drop the barrier. "I know you've worked so hard to try and protect me, but there's something I have to do, even if it means my life will never be the same. I can't hold back now, not when I know what's at stake."

"No!" Homura shouted. Lurching to her feet, she charged the barrier, pounding it with her firsts, as if she meant to rip it apart with her bare hands. "Madoka, don't do this! Don't fall for its trap!"

Madoka ignored the interruption. "You told me I could wish for anything," she said to Kyubey. "You told me I could even become a god of this world. But that's not what I want."

Then what is the wish for which you will sacrifice your soul, Madoka Kaname? Kyubey said, vibrating in anticipation.

Madoka took a deep breath as a hush fell upon their little group. Even Homura ceased her struggles, listening intently.

"I wish that all with Quincy blood in their veins--in the past, present, and future, across every possible world that has or ever will exist--have the same ability to purify and release spirits with their magic as the shinigami."

But that wish-- Kyubey said slowly. That wish will--

Madoka was enveloped in a brilliant pink glow as power filled her, her spirit ribbons billowing like unfurled sails in the rising wind. "Grant me my wish, Incubator!" she demanded.

He did. The tips of ears twitched and a glowing pink sphere emerged from Madoka's heart and all the lines of fate tied to this very moment were brought to bear on the nascent soul gem. The power of hundreds of timelines flowed through them into it, so bright Mami was forced to close her eyes lest she go blind.

"Madoka!" Homura screamed in desperation, as if her soul the one being ripped from her body, as the barrier broke and pushed her away once more. "Noooooooooo--!"

***

"Kisuke! We've got company!" Yoruichi's hoarse shout cut over the rising storm as a Senkaimon opened in the sky above them.

The shoji slid black and two figures stepped through, backlit against what was a blindingly sunny day in Soul Society. Even without the distinctive silhouettes, Urahara would have recognized them instantly from the reiatsu that radiated outward from them like a cloud of poisonous gas.

The taller of the two was draped in the traditional shihakusho and white haori befitting his rank, though he'd added the elaborate golden headdress spilling down his back and shoulders and the artfully applied black and white squares checkering his face. His zanpakutou hung prominently between his legs instead of tucked off to the side. The net effect was that of a predatory wasp crossed with an insane clown.

The analogy was an apt one. Mayuri Kurotsuchi, captain of the Twelfth Division, current president of the SRDI, was an undeniable genius, with a warped and twisted sense of humor--and incredibly dangerous.

I should have left you in the Maggot's Nest, Urahara thought with a sigh. At the time, Mayuri's release had seemed like a mercy--a chance to rehabilitate the young shinigami, whose only crime was--well, being himself. Maybe if Urahara hadn't been exiled not long afterwards, things would turned out differently, but it was now abundantly clear now that Mayuri hadn't been content to limit his travesties to Soul Society.

This is my fault. All this is my fault. Again.

Urahara set his jaw. There would be plenty of time for self-recrimination later. Right now, he had to fix the problem and that meant focus.

Urahara felt only pity for Mayuri's companion, a petite woman in short black kimono, the acorn sigil on the armband on her left sleeve marking her as the Twelfth Division's lieutenant. Her face was cast in the same mold as Ururu's, but where the latter was now free to smile and laugh, this being continued to hide her joys or sorrows behind a carefully crafted blank facade. Though Mayuri claimed this prize experiment as his "daughter," in Urahara's eyes, the relationship was a mockery of any familial bond.

Urahara threw up his fan in an irreverent greeting, playing the fool to the bitter end. "Mayuri-rin! What a surprise to see you here!"

"Don't bother with pleasantries," Mayuri said curtly, surveying the darkened skies and stampede of familiars with distaste. "I'm here to clean up the mess you've made of my research project."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! You should have said something! It wasn't like it was common knowledge or anything--anyone could have made the same mistake--"

Urahara trailed off as something white and fluffy emerged from behind Mayuri's headrest onto his shoulder--an Incubator body. It had been so perfectly camouflaged against the white haori, he hadn't even registered its presence until now.

Red eyes regarded him without blinking. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Kisuke Urahara, a high-pitched neutral voice said in his head. I've heard so much you from Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

He'd never heard one actually speak before, and the--normality--of its voice made his blood run cold. The kind of voice perfectly pitched to lure children into regrettable decisions that would destroy them--and then turn around and blame them for it.

Oh, I see that animal is under your control, the Incubator said, turning its attention to Yoruichi bristling at his side. You appear to have interfered with Mami Tomoe more than I thought possible, but it does explain how she could have grown so strong in such a short time.

Urahara allowed himself a momentary burst of satisfaction at this assessment. I hope she's giving you hell.

"Mayuri-rin, you don't have to keep doing this," he said aloud, ignoring the Incubator entirely. There would be no bargaining with such a creature, but Mayuri still might be salvageable. "Trust me, whatever agreement you've made with that thing isn't worth the price."

"You? Lecturing me about ethics?" Mayuri scoffed. "What a joke! You're hardly an innocent yourself."

"Indeed, I don't deny it," Urahara said. "But I've paid for my mistakes and I've chosen a new path. These days I'm just a humble candy store owner."

"Tcch. What a waste," Mayuri said, dismissing him with a wave. "You really expect me to believe you would have turned down the scientific opportunity of a lifetime--and for what? A bunch of pathetic schoolgirls?"

Indeed, the Incubator agreed. The arrangement here in the Mitakihara Special Exclusionary Zone has been beneficial for all concerned. I see no reason why that has to change.

"Are you offering to negotiate?"

Now he had the Incubator's full attention. What would you like, Kisuke Urahara?

Red eyes swept through him, promising wonders: devices that made the hougyoku resemble a child's toy, that could twist and render souls into never-before-seen configurations, beyond his wildest dreams. Armed with such knowledge, Urahara could dissipate the boundaries between shinigami and hollow--and more. He could be a master of the universe--a god.

All he had to do was stand back and let the Incubator carry out its will here in Mitakihara.

All he had to do was look the other way while Miss Tomoe and the others suffered a fate worse than death.

He'd never be able to look Ichigo Kurosaki in the face again.

No, Benihime snapped. The vision vanished in a sea of blood-red mist as his zanpakutou sliced through the connection. We are not so easily manipulated as that.

Thank you, beloved, Urahara said, blowing her a kiss in the privacy of his mind, even as he shot a meaningful glance at Yoruichi.

"Hmmm, tempting~~," he said aloud. "No wonder Mayuri-rin couldn't resist."

What do you say, Kisuke Urahara? Do we have a deal?

In the next instant, Yoruichi struck, snatching the Incubator from its perch on Mayuri's shoulder. She dropped back at Urahara's side with its neck snapped and broken in her teeth, shaking the limp body once more to ensure it was dead before tossing it aside. It plumeted to the ground, right into the path of one of Walpurgisnacht's spooked elephant familiars, who trampled it into a bloody pulp.

"Right," Urahara said into the sudden silence. "I think that answers that question."

It wasn't a permanent solution, but it would buy him more time to cajole Mayuri--chaotic, self-centered, amoral, but ultimately predictable Mayuri--back to their side. That approach had always worked when Urahara was captain of Twelfth Division.

"Don't waste your efforts. They're much harder to kill than you think," Mayuri said, supremely unconcerned by his ally's fate. "Do you know how many times I've tried?"

That said more about their twisted and toxic relationship than Urahara wanted to think about right now. "Mayuri-rin, this has to stop," he said, as if explaining a self-evident truth to a wilfully disobedient child.

Mayrui raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why. I have broken no laws."

This was almost certainly true, but Urahara always had a knack for loopholes. "We'll see what Captain-Commander Yamamoto and the Central 46 have to say about that."

"You will do nothing of the sort!" Mayuri snapped, reaching for the sword at his waist.

"Excuse me, Mayuri-sama," Nemu Kurotsuchi said, speaking up for the first time. "It appears that there is a rogue unit from one of the hollow-hunting experiments currently active in the vicinity. With your permission, I will dispose of it while we are here."

Urahara froze as her meaning sunk in. His glance flickered up to the western pillar on the horizon, where a clearly visible Ururu was firing away at Walpurgisnacht's familiars with her rocket launcher to keep them in the zone delineated by the Tenkai Kecchu.

No. Oh, no.

Mayuri waved Nemu away irritably. "Fine. But don't get in my way! Can't you see I'm busy here?!"

"Thank you, Mayuri-sama," Nemu said. Bowing respectfully to her 'father,' she turned and flash-stepped away towards the oblivious Ururu--

"OH NO YOU DON'T!"

The Twelfth Division lieutenant tumbled head over heels as the god of flash slammed into her back with an explosive flare of reiatsu. That alone was enough to alert Tessai, who drew the appropriate conclusions, and cast a new series of wards around his pillar to protect the children as they registered the new threat.

"Interesting," Mayuri commented, momentarily distracted by the spectacle as Yoruichi shifted into human form and blocked Nemu's path.

Urahara grinned. Yoruichi in a skin-tight black leotard was a highly enjoyable sight."That's Yoruichi-san's unique touch, all right!"

"Yoruichi Shihouin," Nemu said as she got to her feet, facing down the unexpected obstacle in her path without the slightest hint of fear. "You are interfering with Twelfth Division business that does not concern you. That unit is ours to dispose of." For the first time, she wavered, her eyes flicking to Mayuri as if she was afraid of how he was going to take her next words. "It is a failed experiment. "

"The hell she is," Yoruichi snarled. "You may have made her in your filthy excuse for a lab, but Ururu's ours now, and I won't let you touch her."

Sparks crackled around her, the pressurized kido shimmering in a halo of lightning. Her long purple ponytail streamed away from her body from the force of her reiatsu; her expression was fierce and feral as she defended her family--their family--from harm, and Urahara had never loved her more than in that moment.

"We seem to be at an impasse," Nemu observed.

"That's right," Yoruichi drawled, her arms crossed over her chest with casual disdain. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Nemu flash-stepped around her--or tried to. Yoruichi matched each step, blocking her path every time, like a cat toying with a mouse as she steered Nemu back away from the tower. Even as Nemu lashed out, Yoruichi matched her strike for strike, the blow of each kido attack neutralized with one of opposite speed and energy in a blur of motion too fast for every Urahara's practiced eye to follow.

With anyone but a very short list of opponents, the battle would already be over. Unfortunately, Mayuri had deliberately engineered Nemu with the ability push herself beyond the usual limits--skirting the threshhold at which her cells would begin to collapse. There was no place in his world for failures, and Nemu had no choice but to keep at a fight she couldn't possibly win or suffer even worse at his hands.

Yoruichi was clearly thinking the same thing. "All your miserable excuse for a creator cares about is how much use he can wring out of you. What kind of father is that?" Yoruichi shouted over the crackle of lightning.

Nemu stoically ignored her taunts, searching in vain for a way past Yoruichi's guard. She wasn't breathing hard yet, but it was only a matter of time. All Yoruichi had to do was to delay Nemu until her reserves ran out, and she would win without striking a blow.

"Well, guess what. Ururu's not going to grow up to be anything like you," Yoruichi continued. "She's going to have a life beyond hunting hollows or churning out designer drugs on command--! She has a real family now, with people who love and care for her for who she is, and you'll never take her away from us--"

Nemu fired a blast of energy from her fingertips, though Yoruichi was fast enough to dodge. Still, she wasn't laughing anymore and Urahara knew why: that wasn't any kido spell either of them had ever seen before. So what--?

"Ah, the Gikon Jurinju in action!" Mayuri clapped his hands in delight. "One of my favorite innovations, and a direct result of our collaboration with the Incubators. Using a soul slicer to shear off approximately six percent of her soul, Nemu can attack without the need for incantation or additional power source unlike more conventional techniques."

"Soul slicer?" Urahara repeated as Nemu continued to fire away. So far she hadn't managed to clip Yoruichi, but the latter was on the defensive now--no small feat. "Seems it would be of limited use once the user runs out of soul to sacrifice to their cause."

"What does it matter?" Mayuri snapped. "I'll just rebuild her later if her soul doesn't regenerate on its own."

"Enough!" Yoruichi shouted, having lost her patience with this game. Zipping into Nemu's blind spot, she jabbed at a pressure point along her opponent's chest with one hand, and reached another along her shoulder with the other. Electricity arced between her hands and Nemu screamed, convulsing in a seizure-like frenzy before going limp in mid-air.

Urahara smiled. Of course. Hit just the right spots with a bolt of lightning, and you could disrupt the entire nervous system and circulatory system--especially potent if the victim was an artificial soul. One of those useful quirks Mayuri still hadn't worked out in his units.

"Mayuri-sama--I'm sorry--" Nemu managed to gasped, before Yoruichi let go of her and she tumbled out of the sky.

In the distance, a wide-eyed Jinta and Ururu stood stunned, one of Tessai's massive hands on each of their shoulders, as all three took in the unfolding tableau, the larger battle temporarily forgotten.

"I'll remember to fix that weakness in the next upgrade," Mayuri remarked absently, glancing down at the unconscious body below them.

"She's your daughter, you sick freak!" Urahara said, incensed on Nemu's behalf. "Aren't you going to help her?"

Mayuri shrugged. "I don't tolerate failures. If she's weak enough to be so easily defeated, then she deserves to die. As long as her brain's intact, I should be able to re-start the experiment more or less where I left off. Now where were we?" He brightened as he remembered his purpose, and tugged his zanpakutou free at last. "Oh, yes. Ceasing your meddling entirely. Rip, Ashisogi Jizo!"

The sword twisted and glowed as it emerged from its cloth sheath, snapping into a mangled trident, with a baby's head on its guard. The baby's mouth yawned open, vomiting up a sickly pink cloud in all directions--

"Yoruichi-san! Catch!"

Yoruichi snagged his phone out of the air seconds before a four-sided kido barrier erupted around Urahara and Mayuri, trapping the two of them inside. She made a face, mouthed the words, "Really, Kisuke?" in his direction, and turned away without waiting for a response, the device held up to her ear.

It had been a trifle presumptuous of him to hand off command of the battle like that, but it couldn't be helped. Mayuri's zanpakutou specialized in poison attacks, and it was of vital importance to keep the noxious vapors contained with Walpurgisnacht kicking up such strong winds around them. Of the two of them, Urahara was the one best equipped to handle the rogue captain, and they both knew it.

Besides, it was fitting penance, given the role Urahara had played in this whole debale. He'd laid the groundwork for this mess over a century ago, and it was past time now to clean it up. In the meantime, it was a race to see whether Mayuri was faster at making poisons than Urahara was breaking them down.

A race he intended to win.

With a feral grin, he and Benihime set to work.

***

"Madoka."

Madoka gasped in wonder as the battlefield disappeared around her. She floated in a world of soft, pink clouds that wrapped around her in a cotton-candy version of heaven.

She wasn't alone. A woman stood before her, shining so brightly in glory that Madoka had to squint and shield her eyes to get a better look at her. Even so, there was no mistaking the massive white wings that sprouted from her back, the long unbound hair streaming behind her, or the halo of spiritual energy the same pale pink as the soul gem centered over her heart--quartered, Madoka realized, with the same Quincy cross as her own uniform.

If Madoka's Quincy outfit was Ishida's interpretation of her dreams, this woman's costume was straight out of her most florid fantasies. The long train of her white lacy gown and the tips of her short sleeves were edged with luxurous pink ruffles; the shadowy underside streaked with stars like the night sky. White thigh-high stockings, heels, and long gloves that stretched to her elbows--all edged with matching feathers--completed the ensemble.

But the most startling feature of all was the woman's face--older and wiser, but still instantly recognizable as Madoka's own.

"Madoka," the figure said again and smiled at her in genuine greeting as if they had known each other for entire lifetimes instead of meeting here for the first time. Her voice was a deep alto welcoming Madoka home, and she carried herself with the strength and purpose Madoka had always admired from Mama and Mami, but had only dreamed of for herself.

Everything Madoka had ever wanted to be as a magical girl, this woman was-She wasn't playacting or pretending. She was simply herself, and the universe itself bent to accommodate her.

Is that really me? She's so beautiful... Madoka thought in a daze.

The woman spread her arms, palms open wide as she beckoned Madoka closer. "Do you know me, Madoka?"

Madoka opened her mouth, fully intending to answer no, but--

"Kriemhild Gretchen!" she burst out all at once, the name spilling off her tongue--somehow, incomprehensibly, right.

Gretchen clapped her hands in delight, her joy a mirror of Madoka's own. "That's right! I admit I was worried you wouldn't recognize me, but I should never have doubted you. We've been together our whole lives, but up until now, I've never had a chance to speak to you directly. "

"Where are we?"

"Inside your--our--heart. Madoka, it's truly wonderful to see you, but I'm afraid our time here is brief, and you have a choice to make.

"Your wish is indeed within your power, but at a cost beyond what you may have imagined. To gift all Quincy throughout time and space with the ability to purify souls will require you to leave your body, your family, your world, and your entire existence behind. You must become a concept--a goddess of sorts--bringing light and hope to your chosen people. Are you truly willing to pay that price?"

"L-eave?" Madoka stuttered. "You mean I would never see Mama, Papa, or Tatsuya again? Sayaka, Kyouko, Mami--Homura--?"

"That's right," Gretchen agreed soberly.

"That's horrible! But--" Madoka caught her breath, recalling Homura Akemi's cryptic warning on the way to the nurse's office the day they met, urging her to remain herself if she truly valued the people around her.

Somehow, Homura had known what Madoka would do, had seen it coming, and done everything in her power to stop her. Now here she was, torn between her dream and the price of seeing it through, and the realization left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She hadn't imagined it would be like this. She'd thought--naively, it seemed--she could wish to save the Quincy, and fight beside her friends armed with the new power her wish would grant her as well. She thought she'd figured out a way where everyone could be happy.

But she couldn't back out now. The lost generations of the Quincy, the parents and children slaughtered by the armies of the shinigami, Ishida's poor grandfather--they all needed her. So did every troubled spirit utterly destroyed by Quincy arrows over millennia. They needed her, too--and if she didn't help them, who would?

Madoka took a deep breath and forced herself to finish her sentence. "--if that's what it takes, then I'll do it."

Gretchen stared at her for a long moment. "Such compassion and self-sacrifice in one so young," she said at last. "But there is another way."

"There is?"

"Yes. Surrender your power to me, and I will become an independent entity in my own right, carrying out your wish through eternity long after you have ceased to exist."

"You?" Gretchen "But what about--"

"You needn't fear me becoming a witch," Gretchen said, as if she had read Madoka's mind. "As long as the Quincy continue to exist, I shall never have reason to fall into despair."

"So I can save everyone and still be with my family, but I'll lose my powers? And"--Madoka paused as a thought struck her--"I'll lose you, too, won't I, Gretchen?"

"One way or another, you must pay for the price of such a world-altering wish," Gretchen said soberly. "What path do you choose, Madoka Kaname? What will you give up for the sake of your wish?"

Madoka blinked. Losing Gretchen--this piece of herself she hadn't known existed until now, this vision of everything she'd ever wanted--hurt more than she thought possible. So did the idea of giving up her spiritual powers, accepting the dull, helpless life of an ordinary human while her friends went on magical adventures without her. But the thought of walking away from everyone else she loved was equally heartbreaking.

"I'm sorry, Gretchen," she said at last. "Everyone in Mitakihara needs me here. I'll miss you very much, but if you're out there, supporting the Quincy in order to make my wish come true, then that would make so happy--"

Gretchen opened her arms and Madoka threw herself into the embrace, squeezing her close as if she would never let go. There was a burning, tearing sensation in her chest, as if a piece of her heart was ripped out of her chest, but Madoka didn't scream, just let the tears roll down her cheek as Kriemhild Gretchen gently released her, lifting something white and shining from Madoka's heart to her own.

"Thank you, Madoka," the goddess said, cupping that glowing light to her own chest and it was absorbed into her glory. "Thank you for setting me free."

Light streamed forth from Gretchen's body, her wings expanding in every direction, as if to encompass the entire universe. Translucent orbs, each one representing a Quincy soul, popped into existence around her--only handful at first, but growing exponentially in number as fate bent under the weight of the wish, the repercussions spilling forward faster and faster as it gained momentum.

The goddess of the Quincy attended to each soul personally with her own hands, blessing them with a fragment of the holy light that they would use to purify and pass on spirits, just like the shinigami. She would never age, tire, or die, and no matter how many Quincy existed across space and time, they could never exhaust her blessings.

As quickly as it had come, the vision faded. The souls of the Quincy departed, and once more there was only Kriemhild Gretchen, bending down to lightly kiss Madoka's forehead.

You may have given me all your power as a magical girl, Gretchen said softly as Madoka herself was enveloped in a halo of light. But you are more than that--you always were. You are a Quincy, too, and thus I grant you the birthright your blood demands. Go forth, child, and know that no matter where you go that you are loved and blessed by the light--

***

When the glow faded and Mami opened her eyes at last, the barrier was gone and there were two Madokas, overlayed on top of each other. Mami blinked, wondering if something was wrong with her vision, but the double didn't vanish.

One was dressed in the same Quincy uniform that Ishida had made for her--except that now the blue cross was definitely pink. Standing behind her was an older version of Madoka, a woman with massive white wings in a long, pale gown--not the frilly pink costume Mami had expected from Madoka's drawings.

"Madoka," whispered Homura, crumpled in the dust a few meters away at Mami's feet.

What? Kyubey said. I don't understand. The contact isn't supposed to work like this--

"It worked," the older Madoka said gravely. "Just not in the way you hoped for." She turned to her companion. "Shall we, dear one?"

The other Madoka nodded. Summoning her bow, the two of them drew back a shining pink arrow of light and aimed it at the sky.

Wait, Madoka! What are you doing--? Kyubey called.

The arrow arced into the air, forming a netted dome overhead. Thousands of bright pink bolts exploded like fireworks in the form of the Quincy cross, descending down upon Walpurgisnacht and her army of familiars.

The witch had time for one last shriek before she collapsed in on herself, disintegrating into thousands of individual grief seeds and shadows floating in mid-air. Each one glowed white as the Quincy magic purified them before vanishing with a distinct pop.

Then the two Madokas turned and drew their bow again--this time aimed at Kyubey.

I don't understand you, Madoka Kaname, Kyubey said. I thought there was no desire to kill me in your heart. Why are you doing this?

"Do you think I would let you continue as you are after all you've done?" the two Madokas said, their voices in unison. "Now that my wish has been granted, I will purify the darkness within your soul and set you on the road to rebirth. Perhaps in your next life, you will be capable of compassion for others, instead of using them as tools for your own ends."

Madoka, wait! Surely we can work out a compromise--!

"What is there to compromise, Incubator? One way or another, you will leave this world, and never return--"

Kyubey turned and fled, but her shining arrow was faster. He collapsed as the bolt struck home--and so did every Incubator body scattered across the field, collapsing and dissolving into white light with the same distinctive pop. As the puppets fell right and left, the grief seeds they had consumed appeared in mid-air like a sea of floating stars, before they, too, were purified.

Her work complete, Madoka lowered her bow. After one final embrace, the goddess-Madoka disappeared, leaving the ordinary Madoka standing alone once more.

But not for long.

"MADOKA! YOU DID IT!" Sayaka shouted as she swooped in out of nowhere, wrapping a stunned Madoka in her embrace as she babbled in her excitement. Seconds later, Kyouko slammed in from the other side, whooping and hollering with equal fervor for a three-way embrace.

She did it, Mami thought in a daze, dizzy from shock and adrenaline and the realization that they weren't going to die after all. Her wish was granted, and she saved us all, just like that. Incredible.

Homura Akemi was far less impressed.

"Madoka!" she screamed, her voice cracking and breaking as she collapsed at Mami's feet, sobbing uncontrollably.

Mami placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she bent over her, seeking for any wounds she could heal. "Homura? Are you all right?"

Homura shook her head, her gaze fixed on Madoka. Blood trailed down her face and dripped in her eyes, but she didn't bother to wipe it away.

Head wounds bleed freely, but aren't fatal, Mami reminded herself, turning to examine the larger gash on Homura's leg.

"Madoka--" Homura whispered.

"Madoka is fine," Mami said firmly. "She saved us, Homura. Walpurgisnacht is gone for good, and so is Incubator. We won. It's over."

"No. No, it's not." Homura lurched to her feet, her shield dangling awkwardly on her arm. "I can't let it end like this."

"Homura--?" Mami started after her--only to stop short as the other girl pulled an ordinary handgun from behind her shield and leveled it at her. "What are you talking about?"

"How could I have let this happen?" Homura wheezed. "Madoka--shouldn't be a magical girl. Any moment now, she'll turn into a witch and devour the whole world like she did the last time. You say we won, but this is all wrong, Mami! It isn't supposed to be like this. I won't allow it to continue and I won't let anyone stop me!"

"It's okay, Homura," Mami said more calmly than she felt as she raised her hands above her head in the universal gesture of surrender. The diamond-shaped purple soul gem on the back of Homura's hand was smeared with black, roiling along with her turbulent emotions. The last thing anyone needed was for Homura to break down on them now.

The other girls were completely oblivious to the unfolding drama, and Mami couldn't think of any way alerting them to the situation that didn't involve being shot. Nor was she certain that backup would help in a fight against a girl who could stop time.

But if Homura truly wanted to kill her, Mami would already be dead. That meant there was still a chance Mami could reach her.

"It's okay, Homura," Mami repeated, in the same reassuring voice she used on Castrovalva at her worst. "You've fought so hard for so long, but you don't have to keep fighting anymore. She won't become a witch thanks to Mr. Urahara's artificial grief seeds, and even if she does, she can come back--just look at me! We won. It's over. Everything's going to be okay."

"You're wrong!" Homura said. "It isn't supposed to be like this. I will protect Madoka no matter what it takes!"

She raisedup her shield, which clicked and whirred as its protective covering opened, exposing the gears inside. Mami stared in numb horror. The red bulb at the top was now entirely empty, and the one at the bottom completely full.

"Homura, no--"

Homura fired as Mami lunged. The bullet zipped centimeters away from Mami's soul gem as she dodged--but Homura wasn't aiming to kill her. All she wanted was to distract Mami long enough to activate her shield, let the gears turn, and--

Even with a magical girl's enhanced speed, there was no way Mami could close the gap between them in time. Knowing that she would fall short, she tossed a ribbon for Homura's ankle anyway--one last desperate attempt to stop her friend before she undid their hard-won victory and Mami lost everything--

Click.

Chapter Text

Everything stopped.

Well, almost everything.

Blue light flashed around them as Mami fell forward, barely catching herself before she faceplanted. The ribbon that stretched from her wrist to Homura's ankle went taut, and instead it was Homura who sprawled backwards into the earth. Homura fired reflexively as she went down, and Mami flinched and twisted away--only for the spray of bullets to unexpectedly grind to a halt in mid-air.

But only for a moment. Then they vanished, reappearing a few seconds later as they recreated their arc in disjointed jerks, never reaching Mami at all. Gasping for breath, the two girls stared--first at the bullets and then at each other--as the bizarre loop continued to repeat itself.

With an irritated grunt, Homura flung her useless weapon aside in disgust. Her frown deepened as it, too, hovered as it left her hand, and was swept up in a loop of its own. The arcs of its passage traced out in the air like a television clip endlessly repeating itself while the bullets winked out like fireflies around them.

"What is this place?" Mami whispered, taking in their surroundings for the first time.

"I don't know," Homura said shakily at her feet.

It was an absurd question, and an even more absurd answer, given they were exactly where they had been a few seconds earlier. Just as with Homura's time stop in the study chamber the day before, the two magical girls and the golden ribbon that connected them were the only spots of vivid color in an otherwise washed-out landscape.

But everything else was wrong.

Just as before, Madoka, Sayaka, and Kyouko were locked in a tight embrace a few meters away--or were they? Like the gun and the bullets, the trio kept fritzing out, their static forms blinking in and out of existence with no apparent pattern. Their movements were piecemeal and disjointed, a jerking stutter-stop dance as if a film reel had been spliced improperly with its contents out of order, cycling the footage at random.

Behind the trio, the goddess-Madoka hovered, overlaid by a resurrected shadow-Kyubey before both vanished. A washed-out Homura raised her shield and was confronted by an equally faded Mami as the drama played out over and over again. A thousand Walpurgisnachts flicked above them as if filtered through an endless row of mirrors--then they, too, were gone. Skyscrapers and street lights warred with forests and floodplains beyond them, and the speed and incongruity of the transitions was dizzying.

But the sky beyond was worse. A dark abyss of nothing cut across the sky, devoid of any light or substance that would allow Mami to process what she was seeing. She flinched and looked away from the searing rip, unwilling to examine it too closely.

Despite the sheer visual chaos, the entire tableau was eerily silent, save for a low buzzing crackle emanating from everywhere and nowhere at once. The static was simultaneously devoid of any meaning or melody, but too deep and penetrating to completely ignore.

Is this a labyrinth? was Mami’s first thought. She glanced down at Homura’s hand, almost disappointed to find the soul gem still intact--darker than was preferable, but still functional. Becoming a witch was a fate Mami wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy, but labyrinths were familiar ground and she would have known what to do next. A labyrinth would mean there was a real world to go back to, something solid and stable and sane outside of this place where the normal rules didn’t apply.

If this wasn’t a labyrinth, it meant that whatever Homura had intended with her shield had gone horribly wrong. That in itself was more frightening than any labyrinth, especially since her only companion was the same person who had dragged her into this mess in the first place.

Homura's earlier panic was rapidly subsumed beneath the old icy facade--the leaden detachment somehow worse than any possible outburst. She shifted her weight, and Mami tensed in anticipation of another attack, but Homura ignored her, bending over her shield with such fierce intensity Mami couldn't resist leaning over to see for herself.

Unlike the demonstration the night before, the two glass bulbs were still locked in the upright position, which was odd even to Mami's novice eye. More worrying was that the stream of sand that usually fell between them was locked in a chaotic dance mirroring the ghostly flickers in the larger landscape.

Undeterred by this poor omen, Homura fumbled for the control mechanism. The exposed gears creaked and groaned under her manipulations, but stubbornly refused to budge. The ground beneath their feet, however, shifted and rumbled as if from an earthquake, which subsided as Homura let go and sat back on her heels with a frown. After a moment, she dug into her shield for a screwdriver and attempted to manually turn the gears, with the same results.

"This has never happened before," she said after carefully stowing the screwdriver away, confirming Mami's worst fears. "Whenever I turn the gears, a tunnel of blue light appears and I walk through it until I black out. Then I wake up in the hospital and everything starts over again--"

She broke off, struck by a sudden thought as she considered the ribbon binding her to Mami with academic interest. "I've never tried to bring anyone back with me before. Do you think you broke it by tagging along?"

"Me?" Mami drew back, outraged by the idea she was somehow responsible for this. "Why would that make any difference? Mr. Urahara told you that time and space were fragile here because you did so many loops, and you tried to go back anyway. This is your fault!"

"Yes. Yes, it is," Homura agreed with that same eerie calm as she rose to her feet. "If I had been able to protect Madoka from becoming a magical girl, none of this would have happened in the first place."

"What about what Madoka wanted?" Mami snapped. "Oh, wait! You completely ignored it because of a promise you made to a dead girl! A girl who doesn't exist anymore, because you killed her--"

She clapped her hands over her mouth far too late to take the words back. Even if it was true, she'd definitely crossed a line.

Homura didn't even bat an eye. "Yes, I killed her. I deserve all your censure and more. Nevertheless, I will save her in the end."

"Madoka didn't need to be saved this time!" Mami shouted. "I told you, Mr. Urahara made the artificial grief seeds and she's not likely to become a witch any more than you are!"

She paused and took a deep breath, aware she was on the edge of losing her temper and she couldn't afford that right now. As satisfying as it might be to tell Homura off, it wouldn't help get them out of this--

But anything else she might have said was cut off with a snarl as Castrovalva yanked Mami out of the way, seizing control of her body in a flash of gray ribbons. She rushed at Homura, and knocked her backwards into the dust, punching and kicking as if this were a schoolyard brawl as she straddled Homura’s chest.

Even as Homura brought up her shield to block the blows to her face, a many-armed tentacle shot out of Castrovalva's back and latched onto Homura's wrist, pinning her shield arm above her head. A second one did the same for the other wrist, leaving Castrovalva's nominally human arms free to keep pummeling Homura with a vengeance.

"You selfish BITCH!" she roared with Mami's voice, punctuating each word with another blow. "Nee-san is too much of a goody two-shoes to say what she's really thinking, so *I* have to say it for her! The Incubator was GONE and so was Walpurgisnacht, and everyone was ALIVE, and we were going to have CAKE, and everything was just FINE, until YOU ruined it! And for WHAT--?!"

Not content to pause her assault, a third arm popped out of her back to gesture to their surroundings as Castrovalva’s tirade continued unabated. "Do you think THIS is a world where your precious Madoka will be happy? Do you think she wanted THIS?"

The thick, meaty arm slapped across her prisoner’s face with a sickening crunch to emphasize the point. With a cry, Homura collapsed, though it was Castrovalva's words that had done the most damage.

Trivia Castrovalva, that was uncalled for,, Mami said with quiet fury, wrestling control back before her younger self could lash out any further. You and I are going to have a long talk about boundaries later, young lady.

I’m not sorry. *Someone* had to say it, Castrovalva countered. Her self-appointed task accomplished, she was all too willing to cede control back to Mami, radiating smug satisfaction as she retreated.

Mami took a deep breath as the grey ribbons swirled around her once more and the additional limbs vanished with a painful crunch back into her body. This wasn't the way she would have chosen to handle the situation. But here they were, and she was going to make the best of it, especially since maybe--just maybe--Homura might actually listen to her now.

She just wished she wasn't so tired.

"Sorry about that," Mami said with as much cheerfulness as she could muster under the circumstances. She eased herself off Homura's chest and waved her hands over Homura's broken nose to heal it. "I'd say Castrovalva got carried away, except in this case, I happen to agree with her. What were you thinking?"

Blood dripped down Homura's face and her nose was still crooked; there was only so much Mami could manage right now. "I promised Madoka I--"

"I know you promised to protect her. But you can't remain stuck in the past forever, Homura," Mami said quietly. "Trust me on this."

At their core, the endless spirals of Castrovalva's labyrinth were eerily similar to Homura's loops in time. Both were self-imposed hells with no apparent escape, as their creators relived the nightmare over and over again. Driven by her loss, Homura kept returning over and over again to the worst day of their lives without ever once retracing their steps, just as Mami had done in her guilt over her parents’ death.

We're not so different, are we? Mami thought, her anger tempered with growing sympathy.

"Look, I know you’re scared and confused and it hurts a lot right now," she went on. "I know this wasn't the future you hoped for. But it was a future--a future where we won, which you say never happened before, because we all worked together to make it happen. It was a future where everything was going to be okay, even if some of the details were different from what you expected. Madoka hadn’t become a witch just from making her wish, and you don’t know if she would have. You assumed you knew what was going to happen, and you didn’t ask any of us what we thought before you took that future away from us.

“That future might not be perfect, but at least it was real, Homura. It was a future where you didn’t have to keep fighting anymore. You told me last night that every time you go back in time, you keep slipping further and further away from Madoka. So let's not go any further, then. Let's find our way back to that future somehow, so we can enjoy it together. All of us."

There was a long pause. Mami waited it out patiently, focusing on slowing her own racing heartbeat as Homura processed this. She refused to believe that this couldn't be fixed. Somehow, they’d find a way out of this place, return to where they left off. Somehow, they’d find their way home.

"So I was wrong to keep going back?" Homura said, a challenge in her voice.

Mami sighed. "Your wish wasn't a bad thing, Homura--more noble than mine, really. The only reason we were able to win today was the direct result of all your efforts. None of it would have ever happened without you.

"But at some point, you have to accept that the Madoka you knew from before is gone, and embrace the Madoka that's here instead. That Madoka is just as real as the one you loved--perhaps even more so, because she's here right now in front of you and the other only exists in your memory. You won't be able to truly be with the Madoka in the present until you let go of the one that's already gone."

"But--I--I--"

Homura broke down completely, burying her face in her hands as she sobbed. Mami put a hand on her shoulder, expecting the other girl to push her away, but to her surprise, Homura pulled her in and sobbed into her shoulder, clinging to Mami as if she was afraid to let go.

Mami did her best to make herself comfortable and settled in for the long haul, stroking Homura's hair and murmuring soothing words, lullabies, and anything that came into her head as she had learned to do for Castrovalva's outbursts. Unlike her younger self, who wasn't shy about expressing her feelings, Homura had kept her emotions buried for a long time, and now the floodgates had opened in earnest as years of repressed feelings bubbled to the surface.

At least she doesn't have to cry alone anymore, Mami thought with a sigh. At least I can do that much.

When the flow finally subsided, she summoned a ribbon of the appropriate dimensions for use as a handkerchief for Homura, who regarded the offering blankly for a moment before using it to blow her nose.

"Do you feel better now?”

"A-a little," Homura said. There was a childlike shake in her voice that hadn't been there before; Mami guessed this was what Homura had been like before the trauma of her endless loops had driven her to emotional numbness. Without the purpose that had driven her for so long, she was strangely adrift and uncertain. It was unsettling to Mami to witness her so off balance, to no longer be fighting against her.

I called her a bullied child once. I may have been right about that, though not for the reasons I thought.

"Good," Mami said aloud, determined to focus on the positive. "Now let's see about cleaning your soul gem."

Out of long habit, she dug in the little pouch at her waist where she kept spare grief seeds. To her surprise, her fingers brushed against something cold and solid: the grief seed that Castrovalva had snatched from Kyubey earlier. Mami caught her breath, and pulled it out into the light, studying the design etched in silver filigree along the surface.

It was the Dessert Witch's grief seed--the same one that Homura had used to heal Mami two weeks and half a lifetime ago. With everything else that had happened over the last few days, she'd completely forgotten about that fight. Now their positions were reversed, and Mami was the one healing an injured Homura. Ironic, that--especially since the grief seed was now completely full and therefore useless for this purpose.

"Do you have any grief seeds on you?" Mami said, stuffing it back into her pouch for safekeeping.

"Y-yes, of course." Homura dug through her shield and extracted one of Mr. Urahara's artificial constructs to Mami.

Grief seeds were a double-edged sword, but as the darkness leached out of Homura's soul gem, Mami wished that she, too, could use that magic to restore herself so easily. For better or worse, she had moved beyond such a simple solution--and that freedom came with its own drawbacks.

"There, that's more like it," Mami said, when the amethyst soul gem was clear and sparkling once more. "Feeling better now?"

Homura nodded. "Thank you... Mami."

The earth rumbled beneath them--a longer, more intense quake than before. The two girls huddled in the dirt, unable to move until it was over. Once she was sure there would be no aftershocks, Mami took a deep breath, and stood up.

"Don't worry, Homura, it's not over yet. We can still fix this," she said, projecting a confidence she didn't entirely feel. She had to believe that, or else she would break down, and they couldn’t afford that right now.

"W-what? H-how? My shield is broken!" Homura glanced over at their faded doppelgangers, still fighting each other a few meters away, then at the rift in the sky, and shuddered. "I don't know how to get back to where we were. Or forward. Or anywhere, really."

"I don't know either," Mami admitted. She honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. "But we'll figure something out. Together."

"But--" Homura said, even as she let Mami pull her to her feet.

"Don't we have all the time in the world?" Mami intended it as a joke, but Homura didn't laugh. "Never mind, then. That said, I do have one idea."

"What?"

"Mr. Urahara has to be somewhere in all of this mess. What do you want to bet he can help?”

***

It was child's play for Urahara to break down the first round of Ashisogi Jizo's poison, which bought him precious time before Mayuri's next assault for some serious thinking. How did he want to handle this? His relationship with Mayuri had been fraught with tension even at the best of times--a childhood spent in the Maggot’s Nest was not one that fostered a positive relationship with authority.

The Maggot's Nest was a heavily guarded secret in Soul Society even by Onmitsukido standards, and with good reason. It was an open secret that the secret police were always watching; what even most captains didn't know was that anyone who was judged to be a potential danger to their fellows--at any time, for any reason, with no warning whatsoever--was "transferred" or forcibly "retired" and brought to the underground detention facility on the Second Division grounds. Not only were the prisoners extremely dangerous in and of themselves, it would be a heavy blow to morale at best and an invitation to outright mutiny at worst if the rank and file troops of the Thirteen Court Guardian Divisions learned of its existence.

Though the facility was nominally concerned with inmate rehabilitation, the Detention Heads historically focused  on maintaining the status quo rather than any kind of healing. Urahara’s tenure marked numerous reforms and improvements, and even a work-release program of sorts, funneling talented individuals into the newly formed SRDI. Two of them--Mayuri and Akon--had quickly risen in the ranks thanks to talent, drive, and (in Mayuri's case) a complete disregard for ethics. But as long as these antisocial urges were channeled into more productive arenas, Mayuri was a creative problem-solver and a truly dedicated scientist, which Urahara judged well worth the risk.

In retrospect, not one of my better ideas.

It was not a coincidence that Mayuri's zanpakutou took the form of a writhing, child-like caterpillar. Despite Urahara's best efforts, decades chained to a wall in the Maggot's Nest ran deep and Mayuri projected this blatant self-hatred onto Urahara along with his own jealousy and scientific ambitions. Urahara’s calm acceptance of this one-sided rivalry only made Mayuri hate him more, but Urahara had survived multiple assassination attempts while a seated officer in the Second Division, and it took more than a little personal danger to faze him.

Now over a century later, the two of them stood openly at odds, the student attempting to surpass the master yet again. That was the problem with disciples, of course, as Yoruichi could attest with her own protegee Soi Fon--sooner or later they grew up and lashed out in a misguided effort to prove themselves superior. Now it was Mayuri’s turn at open rebellion and the stakes were far higher than Urahara’s ego.

"Before we get started, there's one thing I want to know, Mayuri-rin," Urahara said, the old nickname falling easily off his lips. "How could you let the Incubators take human souls for their own purposes for so long? No matter how you fudged the numbers on your reports, eventually the permanent loss of so many souls would cause Soul Society itself to crumble. Nothing the Incubators offered you in return would be worth the Captain-Commander's ire once he learned of your deception."

All shinigami were sworn to protect the balance between life and death. For the sake of this vow, the Quincy genocide had been committed, and a war had been fought against Aizen. Mayuri, of all people, ought to understand the importance of such stability, if only out of pragmatic self-interest.

"Oh, that," Mayuri said with a dismissive wave. "You know very well that ‘balance' isn't about the total number of souls in existence, but their arrangement across worlds. If souls are removed from the world of the living in mass quantities, all that's necessary is to kill off the same number of souls in the Rukongai. I did the same thing that the shinigami did to stabilize reality during the Quincy War--though the Incubators' take is much more manageable."

A chill went down Urahara's spine. Terrible things happened in the outer slums of Soul Society, and he knew from grim experience that it was the best place to hide illegal activities from the watchful eye of the Thirteen Court Guardian Divisions and the Onmitsukido. And since Mayuri hadn't confided in Akon or any of his subordinates in Twelfth Division, that meant--

"You killed them all yourself?"

"Of course I did. I always need new research subjects. They’re so fragile. But who cares about such petty beings? The balance certainly doesn't." Mayuri leaned in close, as if sharing a secret. "To be brutally honest, we could have dispensed with this charade decades ago if the Incubator hadn't been so fussy about artificial souls. Can you believe it actually prefers this silly magical girl system over my superior creations?"

Urahara had wondered the same thing ever since he’d come up with the artificial grief seeds in the first place. There was no reason for the Incubator to continue ensnaring human souls when alternatives were so readily available, and the Incubator had to be aware of this. That it had chosen to continue the current system anyway was damning.

"I see," Urahara said slowly. "Even so, you've continued to work with it, and you don't regret it."

Mayuri raised an eyebrow. "I would be a fool to turn down such an opportunity. Besides, I’ve learned so much this way."

Urahara shook his head, disappointed--in himself, in Mayuri, in the vagaries of fate that had brought them to this point. But the seeds of this tragedy had been sown a long time ago, and there was no help for it now but to reap the bitter harvest.

"Very well, then, Mayuri-rin. Show me what it is you've learned for the price of so many souls."

Urahara braced himself for more poisons and sneak attacks, implanted bombs and inventive kido spells. Instead, Mayuri reached for a pouch on his waist and drew out a single unpolished diamond the size of his fist, laying it out on his outstretched palm.

"You--didn't--" Urahara started as he realized exactly what he was looking at. "You didn't make a contract with the Incubator--"

"What kind of naive fool do you take me for?" Mayuri sneered. "The Incubators pride themselves as masters of unbiased observation, but they have no idea what I am truly capable of. It took decades of patient observation, and thousands of test subjects, but I eventually succeeded in reverse-engineering the conversion technology of the contracting process. To use the regrettably crude expression, this is my own personal soul gem--hougyoku, if you prefer--minus the obnoxious side effects and control mechanisms, and with a few innovations of my own."

A few minutes earlier, the Incubator had promised Urahara the insights needed for a hougyoku. Now the end result was before him, perfectly balanced in Mayuri's hand. Had the Incubator been aware of Mayuri's efforts? Or did it not care as long as it got what it needed from him? Who was really playing whom in that relationship?

"Don't act so surprised, Urahara," Mayuri said, misinterpreting his silence for shock. "You made something very much like this yourself, even if it was entirely by accident. Your problem was that you could neither control nor destroy it, thus allowing that fool Aizen to get his hands on it and combine it with his own imperfect construct. He had the right idea to incorporate shinigami souls into his version, which made it more compliant to his whims, but he didn't go far enough. His hogyoku was pieces of souls all fragmented into one, without coherent unity. It was only by melding it with yours that he was able to realize its true potential.

"But Aizen was a short-sighted fool, not a true scientist. He stumbled across something truly wondrous and squandered it! He claimed his true wish was to step upon the heavens, dislodge the Soul King, and set himself up as the ultimate arbiter between life and death, but he didn't even understand himself. Instead, his deepest yearning was to be as pathetic as everyone so he wouldn't be lonely. If the hougyoku hadn't stupidly obliged him, you and Ichigo Kurosaki never would have been able to defeat him. What a joke!"

"You're remarkably informed for someone who wasn't even there," Urahara observed.

Mayuri shrugged. "I make it my business to know what happens in my absence. It's amusing to speculate what Aizen might have become if he'd ever encountered the Incubator, but it never reached out to him--only to me. Just as well. Who wants to be associated with that level of failure?

"Aizen achieved his goal of immortality by merging with the hougyoku, thus freeing himself from the cycle of death and rebirth. That deluded fool truly believes he has attained perfection, when he's really an evolutionary dead end, unable to grow or change or move beyond what he has become."

"And you believed you learned from his mistake."

"The hougyoku you and Aizen made were sloppy and unrefined--granting the desires of everyone in the vicinity, whether they expressed them openly or not," Mayuri said. "Whatever their other flaws, the Incubators had one key insight: emotions, unwieldy as they are, are capable of overcoming entropy itself. Paradoxically, the most power is generated through the focused intent of a single soul, rather than cobbling a bunch of unrelated souls together as Aizen did.

"Of course, the Incubator sabotages the process for its own purposes, resulting in inherently unstable ‘magical girls’ and ‘witches’ that are easy to control and manipulate. It collects the end results--the so-called ‘grief seeds’-- as fuel, all while self-righteously congratulating itself on its magnanimity.

"The Incubator claims to only select adolescent girls for this process because they are more emotional and therefore powerful, but my own research reveals this to be demonstrably false. While it's true their power outlets are impressive, their true reasons are entirely practical--as a group, the schoolgirls are naive and stupid enough to believe their promises, and no one asks too many questions when they inevitably disappear.”

Mayuri smiled fondly, exposing rigid rows of filed teeth that were far too long for the size of his mouth. "Where was I? Oh, yes. It took decades of patient observation and clandestine experimentation on various subjects, but I was eventually able to duplicate the process for myself. I had everything I needed to unlock the power inside me, to go where no shinigami--not even you--has ever gone before, to create something entirely unique."

Was it Urahara's imagination or did Ashisogi Jizo whimper at that? Mayuri had never been one to treat others well, and his zanpakutou was no exception. Urahara had earned Mayuri's grudging respect for his scientific accomplishments, and had deliberately channeled that frustration for his own purposes--the result of which was now coming back around to bite him on the ass.

Mayuri's fist closed around the gem with a possessive grip, the long black nail on his middle finger especially visible from this angle. "So, you want to see what I can do, eh, Urahara? Well, that is one wish I am more than willing to oblige."

What happened next was a transformation of a totally different caliber than the contracted magical girls. Where their shifts were elegant and polished, this was coarse and rough and twisted--yet oddly beautiful in its own way, tapping into a darker side beyond the gleaming lights and sparkles.

Enveloped by a phosphorescent green light, Mayuri's limbs drew up to his chest, curling inward as he hovered in mid-air, drawing together as a bone-white cocoon stretched over him. The contours of his skull gleaming like a grinning death's head beneath the surface, as Mayuri's innards dissolved into glowing green goo inside the chrysalis. Coalescing and reforming back into human shape once more, the new creature burst forth from its prison, drenched in glistening slime that dried rapidly once exposed to air.

"I don't see any difference," Urahara said.

That wasn’t strictly true--the rough diamond soul gem was now on a silver collar around Mayuri’s neck--but there was no obvious costume change to accompany it. The headdress, shihakusho, zanpakutou, and captain’s haori were all still there, along with the ubiquitous makeup.

"You imbecile!" Mayuri snapped. "Just because you can't see any difference on the surface doesn't mean you should jump to conclusions like that!”

He tugged at his mouth with both hands and drew out his lips and teeth in a grotesquely exaggerated smile before he smashed them back to normal proportions. Then he slashed his long black nail across his cheeks, pulling the flesh of his face away to reveal vivid patterns continued down to the bone without a hint of blood. The skin sealed up with a sickening slurp behind him, leaving no trace of a scar.

Urahara got it then: from his earliest days in the Maggot's Nest, Mayuri spent hours each day obsessively applying make-up to hide his true face from the world. Each elaborate costume was a facade meant to hide his true self, an alternate persona through which to navigate the world. Now he didn't have to. Now he was as he had always envisioned himself--the deepest wish of his heart granted by the energy released from condensing his soul down to its essence.

"I admit I'm surprised, Mayuri-rin. I thought your wish would be to know everything."

"Pssh. Boring," Mayuri spat in disgust. "What would I do with myself if there was nothing left to discover? I might as well kill myself. This way, I no longer need to waste my time going to all that trouble to shape my body to my needs with crude modifications. I can be whatever I want to be, with a single thought--and with my soul in this form, I can live forever while continuing to evolve and change."

He held up his right hand to demonstrate, the black nails warping and shifting into identical razor claws. "In this state, I am the perfect organism, Urahara. Completely plastic, completely adaptable to every possible situation I find myself in and instantly regenerative."

Oh, like Miss Castrovalva, then. Yes, this was going to be tedious if he tried to go about this the usual way.

"I've had a long time to think about how I would fight you, Urahara," Mayuri crooned. "This wasn't how I planned it, but you were the one who taught me the importance of improvisation--fitting, don't you think?"

Mayuri was a talker, not a fighter. For all his enhanced endurance, he was physically weak, and terrible at shunpo, relying on technology, augmentation, and a great deal of advance planning, though he preferred sneak attacks and treachery over all else. He'd never bested Urahara in an open fight, and hadn't tried after one memorable encounter in the Maggot's Nest.

He wouldn’t get the opportunity now. Even with this new wrinkle, Urahara knew exactly how to beat him--but it meant getting up close and personal, right in Mayuri's blind spot. And it was going to hurt.

"Oh, really, Mayuri-rin?" he taunted, pitching his voice in that calm tone he knew would send his opponent into a rage as he waved his still-sheathed sword to and fro. "I'm flattered by your attention, but I just don't think you have it in you--"

"SHUT UP!"

Mayuri's right arm extended with rapid speed, seizing Urahara by the throat. Poison seeped into Urahara's skin as the razor-sharp nails dug into his neck, paralyzing him instantly with Benihime’s sword cane dangling impotently from his clenched fist. His zanpakutou was already breaking the compounds down into their component molecules as quickly as possible, but Mayuri hadn't bothered to blunt the pain sensors, meaning every second was exquisite agony.

"I hate you," Mayuri said, reeling Urahara in like a fish on a line until their faces were almost touching. "You and your smug superiority, so convinced you had everything figured out. But I bided my time, and I bested you. Admit it, Urahara--I accomplished what you never could have!"

Graciously, the paralysis receded of its own accord, enough for Urahara to move his mouth while the rest of him remained pinned in place. "It's true you've done something truly remarkable, Mayuri-rin," he said, offering praise where it was due. "But you made one miscalculation."

Despite his brilliance, Mayuri would always be held back by his failure to understand and make peace with his own soul, no matter what form it took. His forced subjugation of his own zanpakutou and his unwillingness to truly surrender control would always be his undoing--

"Spare me the cliche by not lecturing about the power of 'love' or 'friendship'," Mayuri sneered.

Urahara smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Blue light flashed in his peripheral vision and the world froze around them as Miss Akemi’s time magic unexpectedly took hold. It was too bad there hadn’t been any advance warning, or else he would have prepared a better one-liner.

Ashisogi Jizo chirped in alarm, but his efforts to alert his master were in vain--Mayuri was too focused on his prisoner to notice. Thus distracted, neither of them registered Benihime’s strings drawing up Urahara’s frozen limbs like a puppet until it was too late.

The tip of the sword cane slammed into Mayuri’s chest, the blue and white skull seal on the bottom severing the connection to his soul gem as Benihime’s strings snatched it from him. Mayuri’s mouth popped open in an O of surprise as his eyes rolled in his head, and he would have fallen out of the air if more of Benihime’s strings hadn’t arisen to support him.

Even unconscious, Mayuri didn’t release his death grip on Urahara’s throat. It took longer than he liked to break down the lingering traces of the poisons so he could move under his own power once more. This gave him plenty of time to study his surroundings, and a few moments’ inspection made it clear this wasn’t the usual time stop as he’d initially assumed.

"Huh," Urahara said as he surveyed his surroundings, his voice unexpectedly loud over the crackling background buzz rattling his skull. "So Miss Akemi did try to go back after all."

He was disappointed but not surprised. While he'd been distracted with Mayuri, something--many things, probably--had gone wrong, and Miss Akemi had decided to bolt, dragging them along with her courtesy of the invisible rope he'd left in place precisely for this purpose. Now there was nothing to do except salvage the situation as best they could, though Miss Akemi would not be pleased with his presence here or his proposed solutions.

But it couldn't be helped. Granting Miss Akemi the freedom to make her own choices had been a calculated risk, even with the leash that kept the two of them in contact. The consequences would be worth it in the long run, assuming Urahara could stave off the destruction of the universe that loomed over their heads in the form of that unsettling rift in the sky.

But first there was this unfortunate business with Mayuri to clear up.

Urahara eased Mayuri’s hands off his throat, careful not to fully break contact in the process. He got to his feet, grateful that the sheath he'd constructed for Benihime wasn't merely for show. Mayuri hadn't expected Urahara to be carrying a tool to break the bonds between body and soul on his person--it certainly wasn't standard shinigami issue--which had been a mistake. Then again, everyone had their blind spots,and the fact that Mayuri had even made it this far spoke volumes about Urahara's own, which took the fun out of the whole business.

"Well, Mayuri-rin, I can't fault your audacity, but I don't think you thought this through," he said, as he eased the soul gem free and held it up to examine it in the light. "If you’d merged with this completely, the way Aizen did, I wouldn’t have been able to separate this from your body like that. But you couldn’t bear to give up control and give it that kind of power over you, could you?"

There was no answer, but a familiar reiatsu beat down on him, pulsing with anger and malice like a trapped wasp buzzing in a jar--which wasn’t a bad analogy, come to think of it.

Urahara regarded Mayuri dispassionately for a long moment, mulling over his options. Killing him was one possibility; so was tying him up and leaving him to what passed for a justice system in Soul Society once normality was restored.

Mayuri was technically correct in that he'd broken no laws, but Captain-Commander Yamamoto and the Central 46 would likely view the situation differently. They'd either send him to the Central Underground Prison for the rest of his life, conveniently out of the way while still available for consultations, or reinstate him as captain of the Twelfth Division and let him carry on as usual. Alternatively, they might split the difference and give him access to a secure and private lab in prison. Given the erratic and volatile nature of the Soul Society justice system, there was no way to know what the verdict would be in advance.

There was, however, a third option for consideration, that left all of these possibilities open while committing Urahara to none of them. Wrapping the soul gem in a kido shield, he tucked it into his sleeve for safekeeping.

With impeccable timing, Tessai arrived as Urahara took down the kido box, having followed the long chain of spirit particles connecting them back to their source. "So, boss," he said, surveying the rift in the sky with professional distaste. "Looks like it came to that plan after all."

"I'm afraid so," Urahara agreed.

"We'd better find Miss Akemi quickly, then. What are you going to do with Captain Kurotsuchi?" Tessai asked.

Urahara shrugged. "I suppose it would be too cruel to just leave him here, huh?"

Tessai shot Urahara a dirty look. Muttering a quick spell to bind Mayuri’s limbs, he grabbed their prisoner and tossed him over his broad shoulders like a sack of rice. Urahara let Benihime’s strings fall away, confident that Tessai would keep his charge safe and secure for the time being.

If Tessai noticed that the limp body was missing a soul, he didn't comment, which was just as well. Urahara still hadn't decided what to do about the soul gem currently up his sleeve, and they had far bigger problems on their hands right now.

On the bright side, Urahara thought, as the two men followed Benihime’s binding cord back to its source, if he had to be stuck in a space-time rift with the angry, traumatized, and quite possibly homicidal teenage girl who had triggered it, there was nobody better than Tessai to have at his back.

***

To Urahara's surprise and delight, Miss Akemi wasn't alone when they found her. Miss Tomoe was there too, supporting her as they stumbled across the erratically frozen battlefield.

Both girls looked like they'd been through hell, but of the two, Miss Akemi was the worse for wear. She limped from a wound on her leg, and her nose was oddly crooked, as if it hadn't healed right after being broken. Her usual hauteur was notably absent, replaced by a skittishness that implied something about their current circumstances had greatly spooked her.

Judging by the golden ribbon connecting them, either Miss Akemi had confided the secret of her powers with Miss Tomoe before the attempted reset or else the latter was extremely lucky. Either way, Urahara could use her right now--especially since she was clearly aiding in Miss Akemi’s recovery from whatever trauma that had brought them all to this point.

"Mr. Urahara! Mr. Tsubakishi!" Miss Tomoe called, brightening as she caught sight of them. "You're--"

"YOU! What are you doing here?!" Miss Akemi shouted, rocketing from dull exhaustion to irritation in seconds. If looks could kill, both newcomers would have dropped dead in their tracks.

"Well, Miss Akemi, this is quite a conundrum you've put us in, I'm afraid," Urahara said, sidestepping the question. "I did warn you there would be unpleasant side effects if you reset the timeline. You must have been truly desperate if you were willing to risk it."

His equanimity only made her temper worse. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! You shouldn't--" She took a deep breath and swallowed, visibly mastering herself.

"It's good you both are, um, active!” Miss Tomoe interjected quickly. “We were hoping you could help us fix this!”

Miss Tomoe’s efforts at diplomacy were in vain; Miss Akemi was in no mood to be trifled with. "What happened? How did you get here? What is this place? Who is that?" she added, pointing to the disorderly heap of robes flung over Tessai's shoulder.

Urahara answered the last and least important question first. "Allow me to introduce Twelfth Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, my successor at the Shinigami Research and Development Institute in Soul Society. He made a bargain with the Incubator to keep the shinigami out of Mitakihara with no one the wiser, turned up this morning to see how his experiment was turning out--poorly, I might add--and came along with us for the ride."

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi?" Miss Tomoe repeated, her eyes wide. The name obviously meant something to her--Hiyori's doing, probably. Another mess to clean up later. "He was helping the Incubator?"

"Unfortunately, yes, though as you can see, he's no longer our primary concern for the moment." Urahara cracked his knuckles before turning to the more pressing question. "As for what happened, Miss Akemi’s magic has ripped quite a large hole in the fabric of space-time, which is rapidly spreading. We are currently inside a bubble--an eddy, if you will--perfectly positioned to watch the universe collapse before we go down along with it."

"But how? I didn't--" Miss Akemi sputtered. "Nothing like this has ever happened before!"

"Space-time was already extremely fragile at this particular point given the number of earlier resets,” Tessai said, speaking for the first time. “This one proved to be the tipping point, especially as you weren’t alone.”

Miss Akemi’s eyes flicked back to Urahara, who smiled winningly back at her. She may not know how Urahara had arranged to come along and interfere with her plans, but she knew it had to be on purpose, and she wasn’t happy about it.

(To be fair, Urahara hadn't been entirely sure what would happen if she attempted to reset by tying himself and Tessai to her in this way. It wasn't like he'd had the opportunity to test his theories out in advance!)

Still, he was surprised when instead of arguing with them, she turned to Miss Tomoe with a wry grin. "I told you this was your fault for tagging along.”

Miss Tomoe opened her mouth to protest her innocence, only to be cut off by a low rumble as the earth rattled beneath their feet--significantly more intense than before. Even more ominously, the background shifting sped up, flickering through their uncertain states even faster than before.

"What was that?" Miss Tomoe ventured once the shaking subsided.

Urahara tipped his hat at her. "Let's just say that space-time bubbles are notoriously unstable at the best of times. Even Miss Akemi's prodigious powers won't be enough to sustain its existence forever, and we don't want to be here when it fails."

"So what do we do?" Miss Akemi said.

"The good news is the damage is completely reversible at this juncture," Urahara announced in his most reassuring voice. "Tessai has most of the spells already prepared and ready to go."

"Spells?" Miss Tomoe repeated.

"Wait. You planned for this?" Miss Akemi said.

Urahara kept his face carefully neutral. He didn't need to rebuke her openly and they all knew it. "Under the circumstances, it would have been foolish not to, don't you think?"

Miss Akemi blanched at that, crossing her arms over her chest in what was definitely a sulk. "Why don't you get on with it, then?"

"Unfortunately, it’s not so simple," Urahara explained. "Fixing the rift is the first step, but your powers have taken us out of time, and we’ll have to rejoin the flow again once it’s functioning normally again. Your shield is the mechanism that brought us here; it will have to be what gets us out again."

"But my shield is broken," Miss Akemi protested.

"It's not broken, Miss Akemi," Tessai said after a moment’s inspection. "It reflects the confused state of the universe. Once we patch the rift, it will function once more."

"It's like jump-starting a car--" Urahara added. "Oh, wait, you're too young to know about something that--"

Miss Akemi was in no mood for playfulness. "I know how cars work," she ground out.

"I don't," Miss Tomoe said. "What are you talking about’?"

"Glad to explain~~~!" Urahara sang, ignoring Miss Akemi's eye roll. "Cars won't start if the batteries that start the motor are discharged or depleted, but it's easy to fix by connecting them to another power source that recharges the battery long enough to get the engine running. In our case, once we close the rift, Tessai and I will supply you with the power necessary to kick-start your shield control mechanism, allowing us to move again in time once more. The real question is, where--or when, rather--will we go from there?"

"I thought you had everything all worked out," Miss Akemi said.

Urahara raised an eyebrow. "Under the circumstances, returning to where we left off would be ideal, but there's no point in fixing space-time if you’re just going to keep breaking it. What were you in such a desperate hurry to get away from, anyway?"

“I--” She stopped short, choosing her words with care. “Madoka made a contract with the Incubator, wishing for all those of Quincy blood to have the power to purify spirits like the shinigami. She then used that power to defeat both Walpurgisnacht and the Incubator.”

Oh, that was interesting. “And?”

“That’s all I saw,” Miss Akemi admitted. “Based on my previous experiences, I assumed that she would soon turn into a witch powerful enough to destroy the entire world. I couldn’t bear to watch it happen yet again. But”--she shared a significant glance with Miss Tomoe, who nodded in encouragement--”I may have been too hasty.”

Oh, that was even more interesting. What had Miss Tomoe said to change her mind?

“That said, I don’t know if it’s possible for us to return to that point again,” Miss Akemi continued. “My shield only allows me to travel away from the battle, to one very specific moment a few weeks earlier. I know this kind of magic is forbidden by your laws, but perhaps your kido allows for more flexibility in that regard?”

Urahara glanced over at Tessai, content to let him field this one.

"Time travel, at least as the Kido Corps understands it, is only feasible in one direction--into the past of the user," Tessai explained. "While it requires a great deal of magical power, it is not overly complicated because the destination is already a fixed point in the mind of the caster. Right now the point we originally came from still technically exists, at least until Miss Akemi reaches her reset point and erases it fully, but I do not know of any way to access it from our current position.”

“How do you know this if time magic is forbidden?" Miss Tomoe asked.

Tessai pushed his glasses up his nose. "Knowing how to do something and actually doing it are two separate matters, Miss Tomoe."

Urahara coughed.

"So in other words, we have no choice but to go back to Homura’s reset point and live the last few weeks over again?" Miss Tomoe said. "All of it?"

Miss Akemi eyed her wearily. "Welcome to my life."

"I'll admit this was not my preferred solution," Urahara agreed

For some reason, this simple statement had both girls glaring at him, which was totally unfair. None of this was his fault this time!

....Not directly, anyway.

***

Mami's relief at finding both Mr. Urahara and Mr. Tsubakishi alive and well was short-lived, especially once it became clear they likely wouldn’t be able to return to where they’d left off. She knew she ought to take her own advice and make the best of their situation instead of bemoaning the past, but it wasn’t fair. Everyone had worked so hard to save Mitakihara and each other from Walpurgisnacht--and they’d won, which hadn’t happened in any of Homura’s previous timelines--and they stilll had to do it all over again?

There had to be something they were missing. There had to be!

Of course there is.

Gold flashed in Mami’s peripheral vision--Castrovalva sat cross-legged off to one side, amusing herself with a game of cat’s-cradle. Not content with the usual two hands, an extra pair of tentacles emerging from her shoulders darted in and out, looping the yellow band into a dizzying array of patterns.

Mami was sufficiently intrigued by the spectacle to forget she wasn’t on speaking terms with her younger self. Isn’t it cheating to use four hands like that?

You’re so focused on the rules and how things ought to be that you forget what else might be possible. You always limit yourself that way, Nee-san. The golden web between Castrovalva’s fingertips dissolved into an unwieldy tangle of knots, only to expand back outward again into a net. But I see what you don’t. I always have.

Hope flared in Mami’s chest and she struggled to catch her breath. Do you know how to get us back home, then?

Of course! That’s simple. If we’re right here--Castrovalva pinched one of the loops extending over her left hand with a secondary arm, and drew it over to her right with a hooked tendril-- and we can only move in one direction towards a single fixed point, then all we have to do is flip our path back on itself. The ribbon curved and slid easily around her original hand once more in a way that defied Mami’s sense of logic, forming a crude but recognizable lemniscate centered around the remaining strands in the process. Like I said, simple.

Mami stared, unable to believe her eyes. How does that even *work*?

Forwards and backwards are products of our perception, with no intrinsic reality of their own, especially in an in-between space like this, Castrovalva said, acutely bored by the question. And it’s only a *little* twist. Even you could do that much.

Not with *time*!"

Why not? It's just another ribbon, isn't it?

Mami stopped short, her mouth open. She wasn't sure which astounded her more: the suggestion itself or the sheer audacity if it were true.

Then again, why wouldn’t it be true? Hadn’t Mr. Urahara used a tangled string to demonstrate the space-time anomalies he was searching for? The more she thought about it, the more sense it made--

"I recognize that look," Mr. Urahara said dryly. "Care to share your epiphany with the rest of us, Miss Tomoe?"

Trembling with barely repressed excitement, Mami related Castrovalva’s insight as best she could, though it was harder to explain coherently without the visual aid.

“That could work,” Mr. Urahara said thoughtfully when she finished. “Your ribbon powers and Miss Akemi’s command of time could easily be combined to shape space-time in unusual directions. With the two of you working together, you could potentially take us anywhere.”

"You can't possibly be serious!" Homura said in disbelief. ”Time doesn’t work like that.”

Mr. Urahara shot her the same disappointed look he gave Mami every time she missed something he considered obvious. “We’ve already established that your powers defy our ordinary understanding of the world, and are largely driven by your emotions and beliefs. Why not use that to our advantage?”

"Miss Castrovalva’s theory is sound, anyway," Mr. Tsubakishi agreed. “If we returned to where we left off by always going in the same direction, there would be little risk of further temporospatial anomalies.”

“What do you think, Miss Akemi? Willing to try it?” Mr. Urahara asked.

“You mean you’re actually asking my opinion about something?”

“It seems only fair, given your vested interest in certain outcomes.”

Mami held her breath as Homura hesitated.

“We came from the only timeline where Walpurgisnacht has ever been defeated with everyone still alive,” she said at last. “If Madoka’s contract with the Incubator no longer means her suffering and death--then I am willing to give that future a chance.”

“HOMURA!” Mami shrieked in delight, throwing her arms around the other girl and nearly knocking her over the process.

Homura bore the unexpected display of affection with unexpected patience, a sheepish grin toying at her face. “I reserve the right to reset and try again if this one doesn’t work out,” she warned when Mami finally pulled away.

“If it comes to that, Tessai and I will help you go back ourselves,” Mr. Urahara said soberly.

Miss Akemi raised an eyebrow. “And come along to keep me from breaking the universe any further in the process?”

“There is that,” he admitted.

Thus decided on a course of action, the four of them--five if Mami counted the unconscious Captain Kurotsuchi still draped awkwardly over Mr. Tsuabkishi’s shoulder-- stood at the center of an intricate mandala, facing down that awful rift in the sky. Was it her imagination or was it noticeably larger now--?

“Think of it like the Big Bang in the opposite direction,” Mr. Urahara said from beside her, following Mami’s gaze. “A whole lot of nothing, then all the action at once.”

“Is that supposed to be reassuring?”

He shrugged. “Well, we’re not dead yet, so….”

Mr. Tsubakishi cleared his throat, power swirling through his fingertips as he brought them together. For such a big man, he had an uncanny knack for fading into the background, but now he was impossible to miss with so much channeled energy electrifying his body with living lightning. The phrase Still water runs deep had never been so vividly demonstrated than in that moment.

"The wheel of the year, the pull of the stars, the absolute relativity of all things," he chanted. "A spreading stain, erased; a fraying edge, removed. The abyss recedes as a barrier seals the void, and order and chaos seek their proper balance."

Mr. Urahara stepped forward from his place beside Mami, picking up where his partner left off. "Released from its chains, the dharma wheel turns freely. Heaven and earth retain their essence and do not merge. No lacunae remain to trap the unwary, no abyss gazes back to ensnare the wise."

Kido incantations were a focus, a method to center the caster’s intention and resolve--Mami tapped into that same power every time she named her attacks in battle. What was said was less important than saying something--if words alone were all it took, non-verbal spellcasting would be impossible.

Nevertheless, words came with a power of their own, and repetition and tradition were powerful cues. One could shape a spell with multiple incantations simultaneously, or chanted after the spell itself was formally initiated. The more complex chants were laden with esoteric references, which served as both hidden cipher and mnemonic to those versed in their subtleties.

Wheels within wheels popped into existence around them as Mr. Urahara finished speaking, glowing with the same unearthly light still streaming from Mr. Tsubakishi’s hands. Each mandala was mind-bending in complexity spanning three--four--no, more--dimensions, and Castrovala perked up, intrigued by the dizzying spirals that made Mami’s head ache.

Mami knew Mr. Urahara was capable of tremendous feats, though she had experienced very little personally outside of his manipulation of her soul gem. Now he took what Mr. Tsubakishi channeled, and projected it outward towards the rift, weaving countless crimson strings of light from one side to the other to form a complex mesh bridging the gap. All the while, Mr. Tsubakishi droned a low, monotonous chant in the background, channeling immense quantities of spiritual energy through his body to support his partner in the dance.

“There! That ought to do it,” Mr. Urahara said at last, wiping a trickle of sweat from his forehead.

As the unearthly rift was pulled together by the glowing threads, the world around them froze and the background buzzing ceased. Once more, the sand in Homura's shield settled in the bottom of the timer--but the gears themselves remained stuck, refusing to move when she attempted to turn them.

“It’s not working!” Homura shouted, the shield bucking on her arm like a wild thing even as she brought down all her strength against it. “Whatever you did, it’s not enough--”

Mr. Tsubakishi’s chanting rose to a crescendo as he seized Homura’s free hand and raised it high, the blue-white energy arcing through his body into hers. "TEMPORAL--RESTART!"

With an ear-piercing squeal, the gears moved at last, flipping the sand timer backwards. The world picked up around them at the same moment their surroundings vanished, replaced by a tunnel of shifting blue light, ferrying them against the flow.

“Go, go, go, go, go!” Homura shrieked as she dropped Mr. Tsubakishi’s hand and broke into a run. “Whatever you do, don't stop--!”

Mami didn't need to be told twice. Even if she hadn’t been physically bound to Homura by one of her ribbons, the tunnel was literally unraveling behind them. Adrenaline gave her the burst of speed she needed to catch up and keep pace with Homura as they pelted side by side down the tunnel.

Even in the battle against Walpurgisnacht, she and the others had fought as atomized individuals in a team--never two of them joining to combine their powers directly like this. It was only Mr. Urahara’s assurances that such a feat was possible, her odd partnership with Castrovalva, and their desperate circumstances that gave her the courage to try it now.

Today has been full of all kinds of impossible things, so what’s one more on top of that if it brings us home?

“Ready?” Mami called, extending a hand to her companion.

Homura’s face was set as she reached back. “Ready.”

Magic flared around them as their hands met, not unlike Mami’s mergers with Castrovalva, except that this was an opening outward, rather than inward, with each of them retaining their discrete identities and personhood in the process. It was their powers--not their personalities--that joined. Even so, if either party had held back, there was no way it would have worked. United by a common purpose, they brought their energy to bear on their goal, two wills aligned to become a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Mami had no idea how Homura experienced their connection, but for her, it was as if her spirit hovered above her physical body, watching everything unfold around them from some omniscient viewpoint.

And what she saw was beautiful.

From this perspective, the world was a shifting, twisting matrix where time was another dimension, no different from any other. Past, present, and future streamed out before her, extending infinitely in all directions, like north or south in ordinary space. The tunnel that Homura had summoned was an arching tube connecting two discrete points in the continuum--the one the “future” where they had come from, the other the “past” where they were going, even though “past” and “future” were products of Mami’s own thinking rather than any inherent qualities within the points themselves.

What did I tell you? Castrovalva crowed. It’s just a big ribbon, isn’t it?

It was far from the only one. Beside them, Mr. Urahara and Mr. Tsubakishi were shining points of light, connected to Homura and each other by a thin streak of red invisible to the naked eye but glaringly obvious to her in this state. So that was how they did it, Mami thought, wondering if Homura had noticed yet.

Even more dazzling were the threads weaving in and out through the fabric of reality itself--which was nothing but threads, Mami realized as she looked more closely. Not only did the threads connect everything in the universe to everything else, but the threads themselves were composed of threads, an endless fractal chain spiraling down into infinity--her own life among them.

Mami gasped in wonder. She thought she'd been alone all this time, but it wasn’t true. No matter how it felt in her worst moments, she was connected to everything else in the universe, and always had been. She simply hadn’t been in a position to see it before--

Homura's path was even more complicated, zigzagging backwards and forwards across space-time like a drunkard as her anger and determination and persistence and the desire to protect Madoka unraveled and rewove the same stretch of space-time over and over again. Without conscious awareness of what she was doing, she had created and destroyed entire universes, dragging those doomed timelines that now only existed because of their connection to her like some psychic ball-and-chain behind her. The still-unfolding result was a palimpsest perpetually erased and rewritten until she’d finally torn a whole in the parchment that had to be stitched up again with yet more threads, all of which swirled around her in a dense cloud. No wonder her spirit ribbons were so tangled!

The only person with more connections was Madoka, who was responsible for Homura’s wish and all that had followed. She, too, bore the weight of all her selves across those vanished timelines--and now her most recent wish to save the Quincy complicated matters even further, rippling out in all directions, connecting to thousands--no, millions of other lives in the process.

Mami blinked. Was that the goddess-Madoka at work in all these new threads? And was it her imagination or did the shining figure turn and wink at them--?

Homura yanked at Mami’s arm, jolting her out of her reverie. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it now!”

I'm trying! Mami wanted to shout back, but she had neither the breath nor the time to argue. Instead, she focused on the key part of her vision: the blue tunnel carrying them through space-time, strung out between two points on the continuum before one was completely erased forever save for the smattering of strings weighing down on her companion.

Mami could do anything with ribbons, if only she could visualize her designs in sufficient detail to impose them upon reality. Now she imagined the tunnel curving and flipping back on itself to form a Moebius loop as Castrovalva had shown her, crying out the words she had chosen to bring them all home without retracing their steps.

”CHI HA TEMPO--NON ASPETTI TEMPO!” There’s no time like the present!

Castrovalva was right. It was only a small twist--though it would perhaps be more accurate to say that the world twisted around their path than the path itself did. Either way, the tunnel turned beneath their feet with a shower of fiery golden sparks, and it curved up and around in an impossible geometry inextricably bound in its own inherent logic, plunging them right back to where they’d begun.

We did it, Mami thought, seconds before the world dissolved around them in an explosion of blue--

***

For a moment, everything hung frozen and still as Mami and Homura stumbled onto the ruined battlefield, still holding hands. There was no sign of Mr. Tsubakishi or Mr. Urahara, but Madoka, Sayaka, and Kyouko were locked in celebration, still completely oblivious to everything that had (and hadn't?) just happened around them. Mami flinched at the terrible thought that something else had gone horribly wrong, and their ordeal wasn’t over yet--

Then Madoka glanced up and broke off with a cry, her layered skirts bouncing wildly with every step as she ran to meet them, screaming their names.

"MADOKA!" Homura was back on her feet in an instant, all restraint abandoned as she rushed towards her, and Mami--afraid to release the ribbon around her ankle--had to rapidly reel it out like a fish on a line to keep her from falling. The two girls met in the middle in a tangle of arms and legs as they embraced each other, leaving Mami standing awkwardly off to one side.

She didn’t mind, though. Let those two have a moment together, given everything they’d been through this morning. It was enough for Mami to be back on solid ground in her own proper time, without the destruction of the universe--or any other disaster--hanging over their head.

Mami didn’t think Homura would ever let Madoka go, but eventually, the latter drew back, tracing the dried blood caking Homura's face and her still-crooked nose with obvious concern. "Are you all right, Homura?"

"I'm--I'm fine," Homura gasped, gazing at Madoka in wide-eyed wonder.

Mami sympathized--it was impossible to find words when faced with such a luminous glow. Hadn't Mami experienced that herself in the Dessert Witch's labyrinth when Madoka had volunteered to stay by her side?

Madoka had taken down both Walpurgisnacht and Incubator with a single shot apiece, purifying their souls for rebirth through the power granted by her wish. Not content with that, she had extended that blessing to everyone with Quincy blood in their veins throughout space and time. She was at the core of everything leading up to and including their victory today, without which it wouldn’t have been possible. No wonder Kyubey wanted her to contract.

"I'm sorry, Homura." Madoka’s voice cut through Mami’s dazed reverie. "I knew my wish would make you mad, but I couldn’t stand by and watch you fight, not when I could save you.. Surely you understand?"

"I do understand!” Homura burst out in a rush. “I wished for the same thing--to protect you! You don’t know it, but I’ve been fighting for so long to keep you safe--”

"Sssh, it’s all right, Homura,” Madoka said. “When I made my wish, I saw what you did for me, across so many timelines and possibilities.”

“You did?”

“Yes,” Madoka smiled, pulling her close once more. “All this time, you’ve been my very best friend--”

Sayaka and Kyouko chose that moment to tackle Mami, having decided it was unfair for her to be left out any longer.

"Mami, that was so awesome what you did with your witch back there!" Kyouko shouted, clapping her on the back. “I didn’t even know you could go all-out like that!”

“Of course she can!” Sayaka said with obvious pride. “That’s our Mami for you!”

"Thank you, you two," Mami said, as she hugged them back, tears flaring up unexpectedly in her eyes. “I don’t know what I would have done if you two hadn’t dropped in when you did--”

Sayaka was having none of it. “You’d think we’d let you have all the fun? We're a team, right?"

"No way we were going to let Walpurgisnacht get you. Not after everything you've done for us," Kyouko affirmed.

"Idiot," Sayaka said as Mami lost the battle and sobbed openly into her friend’s shoulder. "You made Mami cry!"

"Who ya calling idiot? I didn't--!"

As usual, the nascent fight was interrupted by Madoka, who chose that moment to crash into the pile and throw her arms around Mami. Behind her, Homura hung back on the fringes, awkward and shy once more.

"I'm so glad you're safe, Mami!" Madoka said. “Kyubey showed me what he did to you, and I couldn’t just stand by and watch--”

"Thank you, Madoka," Mami whispered. “You saved me when I’d lost all hope. I'm--I’m so glad you were here with us, and you found something to wish for after all."

In the Dessert Witch’s labyrinth, she’d envied and pitied such hesitation in equal measures. But by holding back, until the time was right, Madoka had been able to make the wish that was right for her--and judging from the spring in her step, she had no regrets.

"Even knowing the risks, you became a magical girl for all our sake--” Mami started, but Madoka shook her head.

“No, I didn’t,” she said, shifting in sudden embarrassment. “It--it’s not what it looks like. I'm not really a magical girl at all, Mami.”

"What?" Homura said before Mami could even get the words out, pushing forward into the conversation. “What are you talking about? We all saw you make a wish just now that came true--”

"Wait a minute," Kyouko said, looking Madoka up and down in puzzlement. "Where's your soul gem, Madoka?"

Kyouko was right. There was no soul gem anywhere in sight--no jeweled ring on Madoka’s finger, no gold-wrapped gem in her hand or tucked away in her hair. There was, in fact, nothing to indicate that the immense display of power they had just witnessed from her had ever happened at all.

“Eh-heh-heh,” Madoka laughed nervously under their confused stares. "It’s kinda hard to explain, but I gave away all the potential I had as a magical girl to another part of me, so she could save all the Quincy through space and time for me. Otherwise, I would have disappeared from this universe--”

“No--” Homura started.

“--and I didn’t want that,” Madoka finished. “I love my life and I cherish my family and my friends. So I gave her what would have been my soul gem so that she could carry out my wish for me.”

Mami started. She had never heard of such a thing, but--as today’s events increasingly demonstrated--the world was far more complex and malleable than she had ever dreamed. It sounded far too good to be true, but if anyone could pull it off, it would be Madoka--

“I think I get it,” Kyouko said slowly. “The two of you broke off from each other the same way a familiar breaks off from the witch--except you’re the familiar now.”

“That’s right!” Madoka said.

That’s *terrible*! Castrovalva wailed in dismay. She’s all *alone* now! Nee-san, I’ll be good! I’ll do whatever you want from now on! Just promise you won’t ever do that to me~~~!

Silly girl. Didn’t I tell you I would never leave you? Mami said, ruffling her younger self’s hair with a mental hand. That doesn’t mean you can run wild and take over whenever you want, though, she added after a moment. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that.

Madoka’s voice cut through Castrovalva’s moans. “We can still have cake together, right, Mami? Even though I’m not a real magical girl?"

Cake. After all this time, after everything she’d done for them, Madoka was still worried about that stupid cake. Mami opened her mouth to speak, but only sobs came out.

"You're making Mami cry again, Madoka," Sayaka warned, patting her mentor’s shoulders in reassurance.

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to--”

Mami wiped her eyes and forced herself back to some semblance of composure. "No, it's fine, truly. It's just I've... I've never been so happy, that’s all."

It was true. She was so grateful to be here with all her friends in this moment, on the far side of all the fear and doubt and struggle, with the harrowing battle, the collapse of space-time, and several genuine miracles safely behind her. But despite everything she’d done to make their victory possible, Madoka still hung back from the group, uncertain as to whether she belonged. That wouldn't do at all.

Mami shook herself and strode forward, wrapping the younger girl in a fierce hug. "Of course we can have cake together! Being a magical girl isn't the only way to be a hero of justice. You finally found your own path today, Madoka and I'm so proud of you."

She took a deep breath, drawing in the others ringing them in a tight circle. "I'm so proud of everyone."

No one spoke for a moment as all five of them savored the moment. Then Homura squeaked, "Uh--Madoka--your outfit-- Was it always pink like that?"

Mami blinked and drew back to study the garmet in question. Sure enough, the blue cross on Madoka's uniform was now a beautiful pale shade of pink that matched her hair. But that couldn't possibly be right--

"Of course it's pink," a familiar voice called out from behind them. "Pink has always been the traditional Quincy color in honor of Our Lady Kriemhild Gretchen."

Everyone in their little cluster jumped as Uryu Ishida skated across the air on a platform of hardened spiritual particles to land beside Madoka. He pushed his glasses up his nose with all-too-familiar annoyance as all five girls stared at him with varying degrees of perplexity.

"You know Gretchen, Ishida?" Madoka managed after a moment.

"Of course I do! Every Quincy receives their powers from her own hands. I know you're still new to all of this, Kaname, but surely you know that much! Didn’t she appear just now on the battlefield to aid you when you called?"

"O-oh," Madoka said slowly into the sudden silence. "Yes. That's right. Of course she did."

"Honestly, you look so much like her, it's a little unsettling," Ishida continued. "As my grandfather always likes to say--"

"Grandfather?!" Madoka interrupted in confusion. "But I thought you said the shinigami killed--"

Ishida laughed. "What are you talking about, Kaname? My grandfather is best friends with the Captain-Commander of the Thirteen Court Guardian Divisions, and has been for decades!"

He doesn’t remember it any other way, Mami thought in a daze. Madoka’s wish had rewritten history and the shift from blue to pink was the least of it. Since the Quincy now possessed the ability to purify spirits from the beginning--and thus no reason to quarrel with the shinigami--the genocide… had never happened at all, at least from the perspective of someone who hadn’t stepped out of the ordinary flow of time and traced the lines of cause and effect back to their source.

Judging from the stunned looks on their faces, Homura and Madoka had arrived at more or less same conclusion. Kyouko and Sayaka, on the other hand, shifted from foot to foot in obvious boredom.

"Meh, I'm hungry," the former announced, cutting the discussion short. "Mami promised there would be cake if we won--the sooner we clean this place up, the sooner we can chow down. Who's with me?"

“I think that can be arranged,” Mr. Urahara said, striding through the air over the ruined battlefield to join them, much to Mami’s relief. Beside him was Mr. Tsubakishi, with a petite woman Mami didn't recognize dangling unconscious over his shoulder alongside Captain Kurotsuchi.

A cheer sprung up from the assembled teenagers as they flash-stepped into the impossibly blue sky to meet them.

Soon enough, Mr. Urahara would withdraw the Tenkai Kecchu from the Precipice World and everything in Mitakihara would return to normal. All the people sheltering in the Civic Center would never know how close they had come to the end of the world, but that was part of life as a magical girl, and Mami was used to her victories going unnoticed.

The difference was that this time, she was no longer alone. She had people to celebrate with now, people who cared about her, and who knew the horrors she had been through, even when no one else understood. Best of all, there was a future out there for all of them now, so they could finally move beyond the traumas and mistakes of the past, and become something new.

The future that lay before them wouldn’t be perfect, Mami knew. Nothing ever was. But in this moment, right now--she trusted it would be good enough. 

Judging by Homura’s stunned expression when Mami caught her eye, the other girl thought so, too. A future in which Madoka couldn’t become a magical girl or a witch was exactly what she’d fought so long and hard for. She would not risk that precious future by further meddling in the past.

Thus reassured, Mami let the ribbon around Homura’s ankle dissolve at last. It had served its purpose.

***

As Urahara scanned the cratered battlefield for any sign of Yoruichi and his soul phone so he could call Ishin to release the Tenaki Kecchu, a Senkaimon gate opened in the sky for the second time that day. This time, a dozen white-coated figures emerged, led by an elderly man with a long white beard neatly wrapped with ribbons that dangled all the way down his massive chest and a distinctive x-shaped scar adorning his bald head, radiating fury so fierce that the hair on Urahara’s neck started to singe even at this distance.

"KISUKE URAHARA, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

Oh, dear. Busted.

Captain-Commander Genryuusai Yamamoto, leader of the Thirteen Court Guardian Divisions, glowered down at Urahara with a fiery--and familiar--disapproval that was not entirely unwarranted under the circumstances. Flanking him was his lieutenant Sasakibe and every active captain apart from Mayuri, most of whom had brought their lieutenants and a handful of trusted retainers along for the ride. The sole representative of the Twelfth Division was Akon, wrapped in a coarse blanket and shepherded by Lieutenant Kotetsu of the Fourth Division, but otherwise none the worse for whatever torments Mayuri had thrown at him. His only reaction when Urahara caught his eye was a desultory shrug, as if to disavow all responsibility for the hullabaloo.

"What the--" Miss Sakura started. "Who the hell are these guys, anyway?"

Urahara shot her a measured look. The last thing he needed was one of the girls getting smart and dressing down the Captain-Commander, even if (especially if) he richly deserved it.

"Captain Soi Fon came to us with an incredible story of a traitor in our ranks that merited our full attention," the Captain-Commander rumbled. "Many of the details were confirmed by testimony from the Twelfth Division's third seat. That said, I am withholding judgement until I hear from all parties involved, as it seems the circumstances are far more...complex than I was initially led to believe."

When in doubt, refuge in audacity. Urahara smiled at his unexpected audience and fluttered his fan at them. "Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to drop by. As you can see, it was touch and go for a while, but the situation is now completely under control."

"What have you done with Captain Kurotsuchi and his lieutenant?" Captain Byakuya Kuchiki called in disapproval, frowning as he studied the unconscious bodies dangling from Tessai’s shoulders.

"They’re fine,” Urahara said. “Just a little tied up at the moment.”

Someone in the crowd--probably Lieutenant Matsumoto of the Tenth Division, judging from the glare her captain shot at her--tittered at his pun. Ever the showman, Urahara smiled and bowed in her direction in courtly acknowledgement.

"Of course, we'd be happy to release them into official custody for trial,” Urahara continued smoothly as if there had been no interruption.

"We will deal with those two later,” Yamamoto said. “Now, Kisuke Urahara, I would like an explanation of what you and your allies were doing here.”

Urahara obliged, outlining how Akon had asked him to investigate unusual happenings in Mitakihara, which had lead to the discovery of Walpurgisnacht’s impending arrival and the necessity of invoking a Tenkai Kecchu to protect innocent lives.

”I see,” Yamamoto said when he was winding down, his eyes narrowed. “Tell me why you thought it necessary to perform forbidden kido here."

Damn. He'd really been hoping that particular detail would slip through the cracks. Aware of the five girls behind him, and his own promise to keep them out of Soul Society politics, Urahara opened his mouth and prepared to spin a story--

"Mr. Urahara had nothing to do with it," Homura Akemi said, tossing her hair back with a dramatic flourish as she flash-stepped beside him. "That was entirely my responsibility."

Once again, Miss Akemi managed to completely blindside him. Urahara's only consolation was that Yamamoto was even more off-guard than he was.

"You?!" he sputtered.

"That's right," Miss Akemi said coolly, raising her shield to demonstrate. "This is a magical artifact gifted to me by an alien creature at great personal cost, and its use is not regulated by any laws I am aware of.”

Yamamoto eyed her with obvious distaste. "Ignorance is no excuse. Regardless of the methodology, the penalty for any form of time manipulation is life in prison at best. We are lucky your meddling didn’t destroy the universe.”

Miss Akemi didn't concede a centimeter. "Luck had nothing to do with it. And with all due respect, sir, I am not under your jurisdiction."

"I'll be the judge of that," Yamamoto snapped. "Captain Soifon!"

The current captain of the Second Division didn't need to be told twice. She vaulted forwards towards Miss Akemi so fast Urahara didn’t even see her move--only to be sent sprawling by a well-timed punch at the same moment a soul phone dropped out of the sky onto Urahara’s head.

"Just where do you think you're going, Soifon?" Yoruichi chided, her hands on her hips as she stared down at her old student with idle curiosity.

"I--" Soifon stammered, turning a very unprofessional bright red. "Yoruichi-sama, get back! I must arrest the criminal--"

Her words were drowned out in a cascade of gasps from all five girls as they registered the interloper’s identity for the first time. Ishida, who was in on the secret, radiated a smugness to mirror Urahara’s own.

“Yoruichi-san?!” sputtered Miss Akemi in a decent imitation of Soifon.

"That's Yoruichi?!" Miss Miki said. "She's a person?!"

"Huh. That explains an awful lot," the remarkably unflappable Miss Sakura said after a moment.

"I can't believe you'd be so rude as to treat my adopted daughter this way, little bee,” Yoruichi said. “What is the world coming to when a representative of the Omnitsukido so casually lays a hand on a member of the Four Great Noble Families without definitive proof of deliberate treason?"

It was hard to say who in the crowd was more startled by this announcement, though Soifon and Miss Akemi had the most entertaining reactions by far. Even Urahara drew back in momentary surprise, as Yoruichi caught Urahara’s eye and winked.

Oh, she was good. Oh, she was very good. She’d been planning this for a while, hadn’t she?

"You can't do that, Yoruichi-sama!" Soifon shouted, struggling in vain to regain her composure.

Yoruichi tsked in disappointment. "Soifon, as the twenty-second hereditary head of the Shihouin Clan, we both know I can do whatever I want--up to and including adopting this girl as my heir."

"Lady Shihouin is right," an unexpected voice cut in as though the admission pained him. A gasp went through the crowd as Byakuya Kuchiki stepped forward. "The laws and traditions of Soul Society do not allow a person of Lady Shihouin's stature as a True First--or any wards she may claim as under her protection--to be sentenced without a judgement to that extent from Central 46. There is no evidence that this girl's actions were aimed at undermining Soul Society. If anything, she appeared to be defending this town to make up for Captain Kurotsuchi's lapses,” he added, eyeing the fallen captain on Tessai’s shoulder with contemptuous glare.

"I thought Lady Shihouin was disinherited a hundred years ago," Soifon's lieutenant Omaeda piped up in defense of his captain. Not too bright, that one.

"I received a blanket pardon for our assistance with the Sousuke Aizen affair," Yoruichi said primly, wagging her finger at him. "Is there some alternate interpretation of the term that I wasn't aware of?"

Given that more than half of the assembled captains were Vizored who had received similar pardons, Omaeda’s objections were quickly shot down. Soifon still wasn’t convinced.

"Yoruichi-sama! I would never question your judgment, but surely this--person--is not worthy of the privilege of such a relationship-- Yoruichi-sama, are you listening to me?!"

She wasn’t. Like everybody else, Yoruichi was staring at Homura Akemi as the latter calmly extricated a hammer from her shield with her usual flair for dramatic gestures.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto. In honor of my formal adoption into the Shihouin clan, may I present a sign of my good faith?”

The gears inside her shield clicked and whirred, exposing the clockwork and sand timer inside as she raised it up without waiting for an answer. Urahara tensed, grateful he hadn’t yet removed Benihime’s leash from her ankle.

He wasn’t the only one. Several captains reached for their zanpakutou, and the ambient temperature noticeably increased as Yamamoto was instantly on guard. "What is this?" he demanded.

Her answer was to bring the hammer down on the shield, smashing the intricate mechanism with blow after blow, until the clockwork was a jumbled mess, and both bulbs of the sand timer shattered.

“No more going back," Miss Akemi said into the stunned silence that followed, a half-smile on her lips as she glanced back at her friends. The hammer conveniently vanished back into whatever pocket dimension had spawned it. "This future is good enough. I won't let anyone threaten it. Not even myself."

Urahara wanted to burst into applause, but somehow managed to restrain himself. She’d completely undermined the Captain-Commander’s position, and he hadn’t a leg to stand on now that she was under Shihouin protection. He might not yet believe that, but--

“Very well,” Yamoto sighed, bowing to the inevitable. “There will be a hearing about this with Central 46, you know.”

It was an empty threat, uttered solely to save face, and everybody knew it. The outcome was a foregone conclusion, especially with the new, less conservative government trying to keep its reputation as reformist. There would be no end of paperwork and affidavits to sign in front of notaries, and Yoruichi would hate every second of the legal and social niceties it would entail--but that was her fault for choosing this particular gambit in the first place.

"Ken-chan, this is so boring," Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi of the Eleventh Division piped up from her perch on her captain's shoulder. "I thought there was gonna be a fight or something."

“Me, too,” Zaraki Kenpachi declared loudly, lobbing a ball of spittle towards the ground. "The rest of you can stand around jawing at each other all you like, but there’s no point sticking around if there's not going to be any action."

The crowd parted silently for him as he headed for the Senkaimon, his pink lieutenant cheering him on as they departed. The other captains and lieutenants began to shift and whisper behind their hands at each other, clearly pondering their own next move.

Akon took advantage of Lieutenant Kotetsu’s distraction to dig through the pockets of his lab coat for a cigarette, only for her to snatch it out of his hands before he could light it. The ensuing scuffle was broken up by a single head-tilt from Captain Unohana, and Akon instantly backed down in a sulk.

Now that Miss Akemi was officially someone’s else’s problem, Yamamoto decided to ignore Urahara in favor of the two Quincy. "Thank you so much for your assistance today, Mr. Ishida. As always, we in Soul Society are grateful to your people for your quick response in times of crisis. My regards to your family and my best to your grandfather, and--” His gaze flicked past Ishida to study Miss Kaname intently. "I don't believe I've met your companion."

“Captain-Commander Yamamoto, this is Madoka Kaname, a newly invoked Quincy,” Ishida said, by way of introduction. “Kaname, this is the shinigami commander I mentioned earlier.”

If Miss Kaname was startled by either the sudden attention or the dramatic shift in shinigami-Quincy relations, it didn't show on her face for long. "Pleased to meet you,” she said, the now-definitely-pink cross stark on her white uniform as she bowed politely in Yamamoto’s direction.

Say whatever else you would about Ishida, but he certainly had a flair for fabric, Urahara thought. That costume was masterfully done, and all without a trace of magic. He couldn’t have done it better himself.

Meanwhile, desperate to have someone to punish for the day’s affairs, Soifon had turned her attention to the two Kurotsuchi, whom Tessai graciously released into her custody. As Mayuri’s soulless body was carried out through the Senkaimon back to Soul Society by two black-clad Omnitsukido agents, with Nemu’s not far behind, Ishida cleared his throat. “Captain-Commander. In honor of the deep friendship between our peoples, might I request a boon?"

"What did you have in mind, Souken’s grandson?" Yamamoto rumbled, clearly intrigued by the Quincy’s boldness.

"Whatever treason her so-called 'father' may have committed here today, I don’t believe Lieutenant Kurotsuchi was a willing accomplice. Please take that into account in your judgment of her.

Yamamoto raised a bushy eyebrow. "I didn't know you had such strong feelings about this, Mr. Ishida."

"She--Lieutenant Kurotsuchi saved my life once, when she didn't have to,” Ishida stammered, unable to hide the blush spreading across his cheeks. “I owe her a great deal for that. Now it's my turn to repay the favor."

"I see." Yamamoto thought for a moment, then decided to take this statement at face value. "I will take that request under due consideration."

"Thank you, sir,” Ishida said, his usual composure quickly returning.

Well, well, well, what an unexpected twist to round off a morning full of them. A Quincy falling for a shinigami…. well, there was certainly precedent for it, even before Miss Kaname’s wish had altered history. At this rate, Ryuken Ishida might be getting a daughter-in-law sooner rather than later--

His business completed, Yamamoto turned and vanished through the Senkaimon. One by one, the other captains and lieutenants did the same--some, like Captain Hirako, shooting backwards glances over their shoulders and pointed looks in Urahara's direction that said 'you owe me a drink and a story later', while others, like Captain Kuchiki, who couldn't see the back of them soon enough.

“You see, Kaname?” Ishida said once they had all departed. “The Quincy and the shinigami get along splendidly, just like I told you!”

He doesn’t remember, Urahara thought, even as Miss Kaname's smile slipped for a second. Miss Kaname remembers because it was her wish in the first place, and Miss Akemi, Miss Kaname, Miss Tomoe, Tessai, and I remember what happened because of all the mucking about with time that followed. For everyone else, this is the way that it’s always been.

And yet--was it really so bad that way? The Quincy lineage was restored, the genocide erased as though it had never been. The balance between life and death would be maintained by both sides, and the ancient feud ended before it could begin. With no reason to go to war, the Quincy and the shinigami could live in peace. Had lived in peace. Would live in peace forever.

Yet another reason to ban time travel--all the mucking about with tenses was so confusing.

Yoruichi finished whispering to Miss Akemi and flash-stepped over to join him, and Urahara set aside his musings to congratulate her.  "Yoruichi-san brought another member of the family to us~~~? I am not worthy!"

"Damn right you're not," Yoruichi agreed. "At least this one's old enough to look after herself most of the time!”

The object of their discussion rolled her eyes as if she were only humoring them with their delusions, and went back to her friends.

“Interesting choice to bring out the cavalry like that, though,” Urahara commented. “I wouldn’t have thought it necessary to kick the hornet’s nest quite so strongly.”

Yoruichi shrugged. “I told Soifon to investigate the Twelfth Division and get a medic to poor Akon, and she got carried away. You know how it is with her.”

“Indeed.” Given Soifon’s intense hatred of Urahara for slights both real and imagined, he imagined she had jumped on the possibility of getting him locked up forever on some charge or other. She must be furious that he had gotten off without so much as a reprimand from the Captain-Commander.

“Now let's get this city back where it's supposed to be before poor Isshin's strength gives out, shall we?" Yoruichi said, wagging her finger at him.

Urahara grinned and reached for his soul phone. According to the clock, they still had ten minutes left of the original hour he’d budgeted for the battle. "Yes, ma'am!"

Chapter Text

There was no question of anyone attending school that day, though Sayaka and Madoka both fielded frantic phone calls from their parents once Mr. Urahara and the others dismantled the Tenkai Kecchu. Everyone else spent the journey back to the Urahara Candy Store pestering Yoruichi with questions, most of which she coyly refused to answer. It wasn't even noon by the time the bedraggled but triumphant party reached their destination, leaving the entire afternoon for for rest, food, and celebration--not in that order, of course.

Despite Mami's flippant promises earlier, all the shops remained closed in the aftermath of the storm and there were no cakes to be had. However, once she explained the situation to Mr. Tsubakishi, he brought out three giant multi-tiered cakes from the kitchen with such alacrity it was clear he'd planned for that very eventuality from the start. With so many people jostling for portions, even three cakes wasn't sufficient to satisfy the appetite of the crowd--though judging from the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, Mr. Tsubakishi was hard at work rectifying the situation.

Mami knew she ought to volunteer to help with the dishes, but despite her best intentions, she ended up jammed into a corner in the foyer with a cup of tea and a heaping slice of cake while everyone else bustled around her. A giddy Jinta staged a dramatic re-enactment of his triumphs against Walpurgisnacht's familiars--nearly walloping poor Ururu in the head at regular intervals--for anyone who would listen in a futile effort to one-up Kyouko, who was having none of it. The now-human Yoruichi exchanged the latest Soul Society gossip with the four Visored, with occasional "help" from Mr. Urahara that neither Yoruichi nor Ms. Sarugaki appreciated. Ishida had cornered Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura and was lecturing them on the latest fashion trends, though only the latter two were paying any attention--Homura still clung to Madoka's arm in a daze, as if Madoka would vanish if she slipped and let go.

Eventually, the noise and celebratory exuberance became too much to bear as the adrenaline and sugar coursing through Mami's system faded, with the inevitable post-battle crash hard on its heels. Picking her way through the raucous crowd, she retreated to the relative quiet of the engawa to clear her head as best she could. Castrovalva had settled in for for a well-deserved rest after savoring every bite of the promised cake, and was snoring quietly in the back of her mind, leaving Mami free to contemplate the courtyard garden in relative peace.

It was soothing to sit out in the open once more, the natural beauty of the carefully balanced rocks and evergreen shrubs amplified by the bright sunlight that made the morning's battle seem like a distant dream. As with the kitchen and the shop, the garden was orderly, tidy, and clearly Mr. Tsubakishi's domain. Having witnessed the riotous jungle in his lab, Mami couldn't imagine anyone trusting Mr. Urahara with pruning shears.

For the last week, the shop and its grounds had been her entire world, shielding her from the malevolent red eyes of the Incubator. Now the threat had passed, and there was no reason for Mami to stay here any longer. It would be strange to go back to her apartment again, but what other choice did she have? Soon enough the denizens of the Urahara Candy Store--presumably now including Homura and maybe even Kyouko--would pack up and retire to Karakura, leaving Mami on her own once more.

Kyubey had emptied Mitakihara of witches before his unlamented departure; there might be a few hiding away somewhere, but without new ones to replenish their numbers, they would quickly go extinct. Mami would have a normal life again, like she'd always secretly wanted. Instead of patrolling the city every day after school, she could focus on her schoolwork--maybe even join an after-school club!

But to her surprise, the prospect of giving up her daily patrols was unsettling. Life as a magical girl hadn't been easy, and it wasn't always fun, but it had been such an integral part of Mami's life for so long she wasn't sure who she was without it.

Homura Akemi wasn't the only one who had to accept a future different from the one she'd envisioned--Mami was now in the same boat. She'd been so busy fighting for her life, and never given much thought about what her future might look like. Now here she was with no idea what to do next in a vastly different world than anything she could have imagined for herself.

Maybe I should take Ms. Saguraki up on her offer, and move in with the Visored. At least that way I could still visit everyone in Karakura, and Mr. Hachigen could teach me kido if Mr. Urahara is too busy now--

But she couldn't just pack up and switch schools in the middle of the year like that, could she? And even if Homura and Kyouko moved to Karakura, Madoka and Sayaka would remain behind in Mitakihara. Neither of them would need a mentor anymore, but--

The shoji rattled behind her as Mr. Urahara stepped out onto the engawa. "I saw you slip away a few minutes ago, and thought I'd come out to see if you could use some company," he said by way of greeting. "Unless you'd rather be alone right now, that is."

"Please stay," Mami said. She gestured for him to sit down beside her, touched by his thoughtfulness.

She had no idea what to say, and he didn't press her. They sat together in silence for several minutes, listening to the soothing peal of the little waterfall at the center of the garden and their own thoughts.

"So that was the leadership of the Thirteen Court Guardian Divisions," she said at last. "Thank you for not telling them about us, especially given what they tried to do to Homura."

Mr. Urahara tipped his hat at her. "Unfortunately, the cat's out of the bag now--hah! Yoruichi-san is so clever like that--and I can't avoid it for much longer. That said, I expect the Captain-Commander will accept a live-and-let-live approach to magical girls once he's had time to think it over. In the short term, he'll be too busy dealing with Kurotsuchi's lapses to bother anyone else."

"Ms. Sarugaki said you were the one who released Kurotsuchi from prison in the first place," Mami said, lest he thought she'd forgotten that particular detail.

At the time, she'd assumed Ms. Sarugaki's rants about Mr. Urahara's shady past were exaggerated, but the tiny Visored had been spot-on in her analysis. Urahara's mistake had warped Mami's entire life, all while leaving him and the people he cared about untouched.

Mami knew she was being unfair. It wasn't Mr. Urahara's fault that her parents were dead--not in the way that it was Kyubey's fault, or the witch he'd summoned to hurt them. But the karmic threads that bound their lives together were far more complex than Mami had ever dreamed possible, and she still wasn't sure how to process that tangle.

"That's right, and for that, you have my sincerest apologies," Mr. Urahara said with his usual forthrightness. "What else did Hiyori-san say about me?"

"She said you imprisoned people for life without trial. That you use people for your own ends, and discard them when you're done."

"All unfortunately true," Mr. Urahara said. "In the past, I was... more focused on effectiveness than kindness. My deepest regret is that other people continue to pay the price for my bad judgement, even after I turned over a new leaf."

"Mrs. Sarugaki invited me to come and live with the Visored in Karakura," Mami said, watching his reaction closely.

"Did she now?" Mr. Urahara said casually, refusing to take the bait. "Hiyori-san wouldn't issue such an invitation lightly. You must have impressed her."

"She thinks you're dangerous. She said if I'm not careful, you'll do to me what you did to Ichigo Kurosaki."

If she'd hoped to get a rise out of him, it didn't work. "All I can say is I did what I thought I had to do at the time. The fact that I would choose a different route now doesn't excuse me." A faint ghost of a smile teased at his lips. "Rather like our Miss Akemi, don't you think? Though in the end, she gave up her powers for love, not because of anything I said or did."

"I suppose," Mami said diplomatically. She was still angry at Homura--not so much for her little time-travel stunt, but for an entirely different reason, one that wasn't fair, and she didn't want to think about. Luckily for everyone, Castrovalva was fast asleep right now--her younger self had a proven knack for revealing all the thoughts Mami would prefer remain unspoken.

"Miss Kaname mentioned you went through quite a lot yourself this morning," Mr. Urahara said, changing the subject. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Mami meant to keep her account brief and to the point, in keeping with her standard approach for documenting witch fights, but the story quickly meandered in a dozen different directions as it unfolded. Even so, it was good to give voice to the experience, now that she was removed from the action. More distance and perspective would no doubt come with time--for now, it was enough not to be alone in the aftermath.

Mr. Urahara was acutely interested in her encounter in the Incubator, from the anatomy of the puppets to its shadowy true form, though he shook his head when she recounted what Kyubey had said about transferred memories.

"With all due respect to the Incubator's considerable telepathic abilities, I didn't find any traces of foreign reiatsu mixed in with yours that would support such a theory," he said. "What you saw in your soul gem was consistent with an out-of-body experience common in near-death experiences, one you didn't fully remember until recently."

Mami blinked. She was so used to deferring to Kyubey as the authority on magical matters that it was a relief to learn he was once again full of shit. "Oh. Good."

Mr. Urahara was also intrigued by her vision of the interconnected cosmos on their journey through space-time, though he accepted her description of the binding threads with remarkable aplomb: "Of course. Why do you think it's called string theory?"

"You can see them, too?" Mami said.

"Not the way you did, but I know that they exist from the way they interact with visible matter. That's partly how we detected Miss Akemi's interference here in the first place. But never mind that for now. You and your friends went above and beyond my wildest expectations for today--which begs the question of what you'll do for an encore, doesn't it?"

"I don't know," Mami admitted. "I was wondering that myself."

"What do you want to do?"

"Well, I guess I have to go back to school, right?" Mami laughed. "I'm so used to hunting witches-- I don't know what I'm going to be doing with myself. Life's going to be so... quiet after all this."

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Kyouko shouted from the other side of the shoji as if determined to prove her wrong.

"HAHAHAHA, SUCK IT, FREELOADER!" Jinta retorted, matching her for volume.

The engawa shook beneath them as Kyouko charged at him, the argument rapidly moved out of earshot as Jinta fled.

"It's true there won't be witches any longer, but we will need someone reach out the other magical girls in the area, and inform them of the situation," Mr. Urahara said without missing a beat. "Of course, I will be happy to provide them with all the artificial grief seeds they need at extremely affordable prices!"

"Oh. So you won't be going back to Karakura, then?"

"We're still working on the details," he admitted. "Right now I'm leaning towards keeping both shops open, though that comes with an entirely different set of challenges."

Mami decided there was no point in beating around the bush. "You mean like the fact that no one ever buys anything here?"

"Exactly! Now that the Mitakihara Special Exclusionary Zone is no longer so, ah, exclusionary, the market is wide open for anyone with the boldness and vision to take advantage of this unique opportunity! Any shinigami assigned to patrol the area will need of an all-purpose little convenience store that sees to their needs--not to mention the brand-new magical girl market!

"We will need to shift our marketing strategy, though," he continued, leaning into his subject. "Right now, I'm thinking of rebranding the Mitakihara shop as 'Black Magic Sweets' and offering the regular line of artificial grief seeds marketed at twenty yen apiece with the chance to win a free one with every purchase. What do you think?"

Mami thought the concept was patently ridiculous, but it was infinitely better than jacking the prices up and taking advantage of the poor girls. Speaking of which--

"Oh! I forgot!" She dug into her pocket for the Dessert Witch's grief seed and handed it over to Mr. Urahara. "Kyubey tried to use this to lure Castrovalva over to his side. She... ah, didn't take it well."

"No, I imagine not," he said, holding it up to the light. "This is from the witch that tried to kill you after we first met? The candy-themed one?"

"Yes," Mami admitted. "Even though she almost killed me, I know she's just a scared little girl like--like I was. Can we--is there any chance we can bring her back?"

"It's certainly worth a shot." The grief seed disappeared up his sleeve as he steepled his fingers on his chin in contemplation. "I should warn you it won't be as simple as your case. She doesn't trust me the way you did, and even if we can restore her spirit, her original body is long gone. I'll have to make her a custom gigai."

"But you can do it?" Mami pressed.

"Oh, yes, no question about that. The question is, what does she want for herself? Depending on her circumstances, she might decide it's better to go onto to Soul Society instead."

"You didn't ask me what I wanted," Mami said before she could stop herself.

Mr. Urahara stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, with a soft smile, he dropped the cutesy facade entirely. "Forgive me. I thought your wish was to live."

It was as if he'd punched her in the gut. "No," she whispered, fighting back the tears building in the corners of her eyes. "No. You were right. My wish didn't change. I just--"

--didn't expect you to remember, that's all.

"I have to admit, my motives weren't entirely altruistic," he said. "I didn't want to lose you so soon, knowing all that you are--and all you might become if you had the chance."

"Like what?" Mami demanded.

"Well, now that there are no more witches around to eat them, ghosts, hollows and other spirits that haven't yet gone gently into that good night will begin to make their presence known here in Mitakihara. I assume that the Captain-Commander will assign regular patrols here, but the shinigami have accepted help from the living in the past, and I think they'd be open to your assistance in these matters. Miss Akemi certainly will be doing something of that nature now that she'll be working with us more closely."

"So you were serious about the adoption business. I thought--"

"--it was only a legal formality to keep Soul Society from imprisoning her? No, indeed. Yoruichi-san doesn't joke about such things. Miss Akemi will be joining our little family in truth."

"Oh," Mami said slowly. "I guess--I guess that's good, then."

Homura had suffered so much, been alone for so long, it made sense for her to find a place she belonged at last. Even so, watching the other girl be accepted into the fold while Mami remained an outsider was a hard pill to swallow.

To make matters worse, Castrovalva woke up, zeroing in on Mami's unhappiness. Oh! Oh! Nee-san! Are we gonna fight that stuck-up Homura chick again? *Please~~~* let me punch in her in the face some more! It was so much fun the first time--!

The worst part was that even Mami was sorely tempted to let Castrovalva wreak havoc, it wouldn't help. It wasn't Homura's fault Mami was left out, and quarreling would do nothing to raise Mr. Urahara's or Yoruichi's opinion of her. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Something wrong, Miss Tomoe?"

How could she even begin to explain to him what the problem was? She couldn't even explain it to herself. You listened to me. You cared. However crazy you and your insane family are, this place had become my home. Now you're moving on without me, and I don't want to go--

"Why does Homura get a family and not me?!" Mami burst out in a rush. "Why can't I be the one who never has to leave?!"

"Who says you have to leave?"

Mami's mouth flapped open. "What?"

"'Mami Urahara' has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"WHAT?!"

"Now, I don't mean to presume, of course--"

"Kisuke!" The shoji slammed open and Yoruichi flash-stepped onto the engawa, grabbed him by his collar, and shook him, dislodging his hat in the process. "What did I tell you?! No more surprise adoptions without consulting me first!"

"Of course, if you'd rather be a 'Lady Shihouin,' that's fine with me," Mr. Urahara added hastily, switching back to his usual cutesy mode without missing a beat. "It is far more advantageous to be a member of good standing in one of the Four Noble Families, instead of the adopted daughter of an impoverished but handsome shopkeeper like myself--"

"This isn't a zero-sum game, Kisuke," Yoruichi said, sagging back on her heels with a sigh as she let go. "We can both adopt her, you know."

Mr. Urahara snapped his fan at her playfully. "What is this? What's happened to the Yoruichi-san I know and love to get her so domestic all of the sudden? Next thing you know, she'll be asking for my hand in marriage--"

His tone was light, but the sudden pause made it very clear the conversation had just pivoted into serious territory.

Mami's mouth, already open, sagged even wider. Not only was Yoruichi actually human, and not a cat, but she and Mr. Urahara were... like that?

Seemingly oblivious to the rising tension, Yoruichi shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

For a moment, Mr. Urahara was as stunned as Mami--but he recovered faster, rocketing from faux innocence to heart eyes in record time. "REH~~~~?!! YORUICHI-SAN'S FINALLY GOING TO MAKE AN HONEST MAN OF ME?!!!"

"You? Honest? Please," Yoruichi said with a dismissive wave as she wrapped an arm around him. "What am I, a miracle worker? But I'm already committed to so much paperwork with Homura and now this one, so we might as well go all the way. Plus, it'll annoy the hell out of Great-Grandma once she finds out," she added with a wink at Mami.

Mr. Urahara snapped his fan shut with a clatter and leaned into Yoruichi's shoulder, letting her dig her fingers through his hair in what Mami realized abruptly was a reversal of their usual roles when Yoruichi was in cat form. Mr. Urahara flopped back and closed his eyes, a surrender somehow far more intimate than a kiss would have been.

Mami shifted uncomfortably, wondering if they'd been teasing her about the whole adoption business and whether she ought to make a discreet exit when the shoji snapped open once more. This time, it was Kyouko who thrust her head out--followed in quick succession by Jinta, Ururu, and Mr. Tsubakishi at varying heights above and below her that indicated all of them had been guilty of eavesdropping.

"All this lovey-dovey stuff is making me sick, but if everyone else is getting a family, you're not leaving me out," Kyouko announced, accompanied by Ururu and Mr. Tsubakishi's vigorous nods.

"Yeah! No more house guests or freeloaders!" Jinta said, pumping his fists up in down in excitement. "Siblings are way better, even if they are girls--"

Kyouko flicked him with her fingers. "You take that back right now."

"Oh, yeah? Make me!"

Yoruichi's laughter carried over the ensuing scuffle, halting it in its tracks. "Why not?" she asked rhetorically. "What's one more on top of everything else?"

***

One of the hazards of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows in Madoka's house was a steady stream of songbirds mistaking them for open sky. Every time she heard a thump during the daytime, her first thought was to poke through the shrubbery outside to see where the stunned bird had landed, and if there was anything she could do to help it.

Most of the time, the poor birds recovered quickly from their ordeal and and had vanished by the time she arrived on the scene. Every now and then, however, she'd find one quivering and still on the ground, and she'd run to get the cardboard box and the towel she reserved for this specific purpose. Carefully scooping the bird into the box, she'd set it in the corner of her room for an hour or so to let it recover in peace before taking it outside and letting it fly free.

Eventually, after a flock of overeager sparrows hit the windows so hard they died on impact, a tearful Madoka convinced her parents to invest in special UV films so that birds could safely avoid the glass, which solved the problem. Even so, she kept the box and towel remained tucked away under her bed, just in case.

Something about Homura now reminded Madoka of one of those stunned birds, and it occurred to her that going someplace quiet might help. "Hey, Homura," she said, tugging at her friend's elbow. "Let's go outside for a few minutes, okay?"

Her first thought was the little garden behind the shop, but Mami and Mr. Urahara had beaten them to it, so they ended up in the far less picturesque front courtyard. Despite the lack of amenities, it was a beautiful day, without a single cloud blocking the brilliant blue sky and Madoka's heart lifted as Homura gradually relaxed.

"Thank you," Homura said at length. "I needed that."

"Of course!" Madoka said. "You've done so much for me for so long, Homura, and I never understood how much until just now." She sighed, the memories swirling within her--bits and pieces from all the lives she carried within her thanks to her companion's interventions. "It's like I've been asleep for so long, I didn't realize I was dreaming until I woke up."

"I... know the feeling," Homura agreed.

"Is it all right if I see your shield?" Madoka asked.

Homura transformed into her magical girl costume in a shower of purple sparkles, her shield in its usual position on her arm. With the protective lids in place, it appeared more or less normal--it was only when Homura opened them at Madoka's insistence that the true extent of the damage was visible. Not only were the intricate gears warped beyond easy repair, there was no sand left in any of the cracked glass bulbs of the hourglass.

"First you made your wish for me, and worked so hard to protect me--and then you gave up those same powers for me," Madoka said at last, aware she was treading on a delicate topic. "I--I want to give something back if I can."

Homura leaned back against the courtyard wall, and smiled as she closed the shield once more. "Just being here with you, with both of us alive and well, is enough. I've wanted this for so long, I can't believe it's really happening--"

"Even though I'm a Quincy now?"

"Yes, well--" Homura clenched her eyes shut as a hint of the old pain resurfaced. "I--was jealous of Ishida, and how much you admired him, even though you hadn't known him for very long. I wanted you to look at me the way you looked at him. You were so excited and happy, and it felt like you were leaving me behind to go down a path I couldn't follow, and I didn't want you to go--"

"It's all right, Homura," Madoka said quietly, reaching out to take her hands. "You don't have to worry about being left behind anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Homura, do you trust me?"

"What?" Homura blinked, startled, as Madoka stared her down.

"Do you. Trust me?"

Homura nodded.

"Do you have a knife?"

"A knife?"

"Just do it!"

Homura obeyed without further protest, eventually extracting a wicked-looking knife from inside her shield, which she passed along gingerly to Madoka. "What are you--?"

"Ssh," Madoka said and sliced a diagonal slash across her palm. "I'm sorry if this stings a little." Seconds later, a similar gash stretched across Homura's own hand, a thin line of blood welling up in its wake.

"It's the fate line," Madoka said by way of explanation as she returned the knife. "You know, because fate brought us together. We're always going to be together, okay, Homura? Promise?"

"I--I promise," Homura said.

"Good." Thus satisfied, Madoka pressed their bleeding palms together and prayed.

It didn't take long. A few heartbeats later, a familiar warmth built around them as Kriemhild Gretchen manifested in all her glory. Homura yelped, but didn't break contact, standing with Madoka as they endured the goddess's scrutiny.

'All those with Quincy blood in their veins', hmmm? Gretchen said to Madoka at last, more amused than angry.

"That's right!" Madoka agreed, drunk on her own daring. Up until this moment, she hadn't been entirely sure this would work. "Please, Gretchen. For Homura's sake. She's sacrificed so much for us, I thought--"

Very well. Just this once, I'll allow it. Gretchen shook her head, sending a cascade of pink hair in every direction. You're lucky I like you both.

Focusing her attention on Homura, she pulled a shining pink orb from the air and handed it to her. Homura's eyes rolled backwards in her head as she accepted the offering and she would have fallen had the goddess not extended a hand to catch her, leaning down to whisper something in her ear as she did.

Whatever she said made Homura blush, and Gretchen laughed, though not unkindly, and kissed Homura's forehead before pulling back. After one last wink at Madoka, she drew her shining wings around her and the two girls were alone in the courtyard once more.

"Madoka," Homura said, clutching Madoka's arm for support. "What--was that about?"

"Kriemhild Gretchen, the goddess of the Quincy, came to bless you! Look, I'll show you!" Careful to avoid smearing any blood on her uniform, Madoka put a hand on Homura's shoulder, just as Ishida had done for her the first time. "Okay, put away your shield and close your eyes. Spread your feet shoulder-width apart, and imagine the spiritual particles in the air condensing around you as you draw your arm back--"

"Kaname? Akemi? Is everything all right?" Ishida emerged from the shop just in time to witness the pink bow of light manifest in Homura's hands, complete with a shining arrow to match. "What the hell--"

Startled, Homura swung towards him, still gripping the drawn bow without realizing it.

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing--" Ishida started.

Too late. Homura panicked and let go the instant she opened her eyes, sending the bolt careening towards his face. Fortunately, Ishida threw up a shield at the last possible second and the Heilig Pfeil bounced off, blasting a smoking hole in the passenger side rear view mirror of the unmarked white van in the driveway.

Homura was gasping as if she'd run a marathon as she lowered her arms. "Madoka, was that really me? I did that?!"

"Oh, don't look so shocked, Kriemhild Gretchen comes to each of us at the time of Her choosing," Ishida scolded, having recovered his wits once more. He pushed his glasses up his nose and drew himself up to his full height. "Better get used to calling me 'sempai', Akemi. Looks like I'll be training you, too."

Having delivered this parting shot, he retreated back inside, leaving a stunned Homura clutching Madoka's hand for support.

"What? I--I--" she stammered. The dazed bird look was back in force. "This is too much. This can't be happening. I'm not special, I don't deserve this, I just--"

"It doesn't matter," Madoka said. "Kriemhild Gretchen loves you just as you are."

"How--how do you know that?"

Madoka grinned. "Because I do."

***

Between Walpurgisnacht's defeat, the latest additions to the extended Urahara Candy Store family, Mr. Urahara and Yoruichi's engagement, and Homura's unexpected invocation as as a Quincy, there was no shortage of excuses for the adults to break out the sake, which culminated in a drinking contest between Yoruichi and three out of four Visored. Abstaining on the grouns that "kido and alchohol don't mix" and "I know better than to compete with Yoruichi-san", Mr. Hachigen, Mr. Tsubakishi, and Mr. Urahara were content to watch from the sidelines, the latter recklessly cheering on all parties involved.

Meanwhile, Mami and the younger folk retreated to the living room for an equally raucous Mario Kart tournament. As the afternoon wore on, however, the Urahara Candy Store gradually quieted as everyone collapsed from exhaustion or alcohol, sprawling out on the tatami in disorderly heaps.

Home, Mami thought sleepily as she dozed off, wedged as she was between Madoka, Kyouko, and a pile of pillows.

She awoke early that evening to find Madoka and Sayaka had already departed, and the Visored stumbling to their feet on the other side of the shoji as they prepared for departure. Mami wasn't sure how they expected to get back to Karakura at this hour--the trains wouldn't have been running even if this were a normal day, which it definitely wasn't.

"Oh, we're not taking the train," Mr. Aikawa said, when Mami asked what was going on.

Ms. Sarugaki snorted. "Urahara didn't fill you in on the whole secret passageway business, huh? Typical. Let me show you."

She marched up to an unassuming sliding door in the hallway that Mami had walked by a thousand times and never thought to investigate. Instead of the closet she expected, it opened up into a hallway identical to the one they stood in.

"What is this place?" Mami breathed in wonder as she followed the quartet into this new realm, which appeared to be the mirror image of the Mitakihara shop. Closer inspection revealed certain details differed--there was a porcelain vase on display in a corner, and a handful of ornate dishes by the tokonoma that she didn't recognize. Even so, Mr. Urahara's earlier remarks about maintaining two shops made a lot more sense now.

"Something to keep in mind if you can't stand life in this madhouse," Ms. Sarugaki said. "Don't hesitate to drop in if things get bad. My offer stands--you're welcome at our place anytime."

"Thank you," Mami said as they filed into the genkan, where Mr. Tsubakishi presided over an eerily identical array of merchandise and shelving. "I'd like to visit you all once things have settled a bit. Maybe you can show me some kido spells?" she added hopefully to Mr. Hachigen with a polite bow.

"Of course," Mr. Hachigen said, returning the gesture.

"Stay cool out there, okay, kid?" Mr. Aikawa said, tossing her a salute. Of all the Visored, Mami knew him the least, but maybe that would change with a passageway to Karakura so easily at hand.

"Tell Kyouko she can have my manga," Ms. Yadomaru said. "I hope she enjoys them!"

"Trust me, those volumes are very...educational," Mr. Aikawa added. The two of them dissolved into fits of laughter at Mami's red-faced embarrassment until Ms. Sarugaki grabbed them by the shoulders and dragged them through the doorway after her.

"I don't understand how this is possible," Mami said to Mr. Tsubakishi after the Visored had departed.

"Doppelganger," he explained. "Two non-contiguous points linked together by kido to form a mirror image of each other. Much easier to manage that way."

"So changing something on one side automatically affects the other?" Mami said, wondering what Castrovalva would make of it.

He shook his head mournfully. "Depends. Large scale, structural alterations, yes. Daily cleaning, not so much."

Still pondering this new development, Mami retreated back to the closet to return to the Mitakihara side, only to run into Homura and Ishida exchanging surprisingly cordial farewells on the other side of the door. Mami wasn't used to those two being on such good terms now--let alone Homura calmly addressing him as "Ishida-sempai"--but she was glad all parties were happy, even if she didn't understand it in the slightest.

Ishida bowed politely to Mami and vanished through the doorway to Karakura, leaving her alone with Homura for the first time since the battle. The two girls stared at each other for a long moment before Homura bowed deeply.

"Thank you for not letting me give on up this future," she said. "To think I came so close to selfishly throwing all this away--"

"Thank you for not giving up on us," Mami said firmly. "We did it together. All of us."

No, no, let her grovel, said Castrovalva. I'm here for it.

Sshhhh.

Homura may have softened considerably over the last few hours, but she was still the master of the impenetrable stare. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

See, Nee-san? Isn't that exactly what I've been saying--

"Thank you," Mami said over the confusion that came with Homura and Castrovalva agreeing on something. So, are you going to move in now? Looks like there's plenty of room."

Homura shrugged, her old standoffishness momentarily returning. "I have to go back to my apartment to take care of a few things, but... a room of my own here would be useful if I'm going to spend so much time here," she admitted.

Translation: yes. "We made a good team today," Mami said. "I hope we can continue working together in the future. After all, we're sisters now, right?"

Homura raised an eyebrow. "I'm not calling you 'Big Sis,' if that's what you're asking."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Mami agreed, doing her best to hide her smile. "But what a team the five of us are going to make! I can't wait!"

"You've already picked a name for us, haven't you?"

"Of course! That's the most important part! How does 'Holy Quintet' sound?"

"Holy Quintet," Homura said slowly. She rolled the English phrase over her tongue as if trying it on for size. "I... I like it. You never gave us all a name before."

"Good! I hope I can keep surprising you," Mami said.

Homura laughed. "If today is any indication, the surprises will never stop."

"Now you know how the rest of us feel."

"It will certainly take some getting used to," Homura said. "But... for the first time in a long time, I have no regrets."

"Me, too," Mami said. "Me, too."

***

Mami expected to be peppered with questions on her return to school the next day, but instead her absence was overshadowed by non-stop discussion of the previous day's bizarre weather and its aftermath. The remainder of the week went by in a blur, the staid normality of her classes in sharp contrast to her tumultuous new life, and it was a relief when school let out for the weekend at last.

"Hey, Mami!" Sayaka called, jumping up and down as she waved her sempai over to their usual meeting place at the school's front gates. "You'll never guess what I got!"

"What?"

"Tickets to Kyousuke's recital next month! I can't wait! It's going to be so good--and I have extra if you want to come with us!"

"Us" in this case referred to Madoka and Homura, both of whom were nodding along with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Of course!" Mami said automatically. Classical music was not her forte, but she was happy just being part of the group, and it would be a wonderful opportunity to dress up. "I'd love to! Thank you for thinking of me, Sayaka!"

"Excellent!" Sayaka said. She launched into a lecture on the merits of various violin etudes--most of which went over Mami's head--as the four of them set off for the Urahara Candy Store.

Now that Sayaka had accepted her crush's lack of romantic interest towards her, she'd pivoted to becoming his biggest cheerleader of both his renewed musical career and the burgeoning relationship between him and their mutual friend Hitomi. Mami was relieved that the situation had worked out well for everyone, instead of escalating into a life-shattering disaster. Thank goodness for Kyouko's intervention--

"Maybe we'll get Kyouko to come with us, too," Madoka said, echoing Mami's own thoughts.

"Are you kidding? We can't even get her to come to school with us," Sayaka said. "Maybe when she gets tired of lazing around and decides to be cultured like a normal person--"

"Uhhh, where are you going, Mami?" Madoka asked, as Mami turned down a side alleyway away from the group. "Aren't you coming to the shop with us?"

"I'm going to visit my parents' grave today, remember?" Mami reminded her.

"Oh, right!" Madoka said.

"You want us to come with you this time?" Sayaka asked as Homura nodded over her shoulder.

"No, it's all right," Mami assured them, touched by their thoughtfulness. "I won't be long. I'll meet up with you when I'm finished."

She waved as they split up and set off at a brisk pace towards the cemetery, pausing now and then to savor the crisp May afternoon before the heat and humidity sunk of true summer sunk in. She bowed to the elderly Buddhist priest out sweeping his temple's steps, who bowed gravely back at her, then turned into the cemetery proper. All the while, she kept her eyes peeled for any of the stray ghosts that had started popping up in Mitakihara now that there were no longer any witches to feed on them, but a cursory search revealed that the place to be empty.

Once she reached the family tomb, Mami drew the box of incense out of her school bag and lit three sticks. One by one, she offered them to her parents' spirits, the smoke wafting away to whatever world they might reside in.

"Mom, Dad," she began. "So much has happened since I last came to visit. I don't know if you're watching over me from Soul Society or not, so maybe you know all this already. But if not..."

She launched into an abbreviated account of the last two weeks, skimming over the scary parts wherever possible in favor of the good bits, like eating lunch with her new friends on the school rooftop, and their renewed patrols with Yoruichi in what Sayaka jokingly referred to as 'the after school exorcism club'.

"I miss you both so much, but I'm sure you'd be glad to know I've found such happiness," she concluded when she'd finished her tale. "I still can't believe it. I'm not alone anymore. I have so many friends now. We stopped the Incubator from hurting anybody else. There aren't any more witches now. I--"

She broke off, remembering the raven witch's laughter, the dark feathers adrift on the fog-shrouded highway--the one witch she regretted not being able to fight.

"I wish you hadn't died, but I'm glad that I lived," she said at last. "You sheltered me for so long, and I'll pay it forward by protecting others so no more families are parted the way we were. We won this battle, but there are still terrible things out there, and I'll keep fighting them for as long as I can. Now that I'm not alone anymore, anything is possible.

"Even if I can't see or hear or feel you where you are, we are connected, and always will be. I know you'll be there watching over me for as long as you can, and I hope--I hope you're proud of me."

She took a deep breath, half-expecting a reply, but when it came, it wasn't what she thought it would be. Her phone beeped, revealing a text message--from Kyouko of all people.

did u forget we're taking family photos today

Beep. u did forget, didn't u

As much as Mami hated to admit it, Kyouko was absolutely right. Hang on, I'm coming, she sent back hastily with a flush of embarrassment.

But she wasn't finished yet. Reaching out to Castrovalva, she poked at her younger self dozing in the back of her mind. Hey, sleepyhead. Is there anything you want to say to Mom and Dad while we're here?

Castrovalva thought for a moment. Not right now. It still--it still hurts too much to think about that day. Maybe someday, though...

That's all right, Mami said. We can come back when you're ready.

Nee-san--

Yes?

Thank you.

Of course! Mami said, tenderly patting her head as Castrovalva faded back into the darkness. Sweet dreams.

"All right, Mom, Dad, I've got to go," she said aloud, bowing farewell to the stone pillar raised in their memory. "I love you so much. Be well."

Grabbing her bag, she turned and sprinted the familiar route back to the Urahara Candy Shop, her pigtails bouncing behind her all the way home.

***

It was a beautiful May afternoon, although it wasn't immediately obvious due to the lack of windows in the lab. Urahara spent most of the day at his workbench, constructing yet another batch of artificial grief seeds to replenish their dwindling inventory, but he was all too happy to set them aside and answer the phone when it rang.

"Hello~~~, Akon-pin," he cooed into the speakers. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your dulcet tones this time?"

The acting head of the Twelfth Division and the President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute sighed wearily on the other end of the line, and cut straight to business. "Are you going to accept Captain-Commander Yamamoto's offer of your old position?"

"Do you have a better candidate in mind?" Urahara said coyly. "If so, don't hold out on me! I won't be offended!"

"I know he reached out to Sarugaki, and she told him where they could shove it."

"She's not the type to forgive easily," Urahara agreed.

"Her people skills need work, but she wouldn't be any worse than the previous captains on that front," Akon said with a pointed cough. "The captains of the other divisions have been combing through their ranks for suitable candidates, but so far, there's no one I'd trust to handle things here right now outside of Lieutenant Kurotsuchi."

"She was acquitted already? My, my, that was fast!"

"Her name has come up more than once since her pardon, but finding six captains willing to make personal recommendations has been a challenge, especially since she hasn't mastered bankai yet. Uryu Ishida's calls for leniency saved her life, but there's a strong contingent for a scapegoat--any scapegoat--since Captain Kurotsuchi remains... unresponsive."

Urahara glanced up at the rough-cut soul gem--currently in a glass jam jar with several layers of kido seals on the shelf above him--and hummed thoughtfully to himself. "He still hasn't woken up, huh?"

"No. What the hell did you do to him, anyway?"

"Technically, he did it to himself," Urahara said with a straight face. "What about you, Akon-pin? Don't you want to be captain yourself?"

"Hell no," Akon snapped. "I already have enough paperwork as it is without being in charge of this madhouse. How would I ever get anything done if I had to attend all those stupid meetings?"

"Believe me, I sympathize. So how can I be of assistance?"

Akon cleared his throat. "Ichigo Kurosaki achieved bankai in three days thanks to you and Shihouin. I'm hoping you can do the same for Lieutenant Kurotsuchi."

"You trust her with such responsibility after all this?"

"I've literally watched her grow up," Akon said. "She's always lived under Captain Kurotsuchi's shadow, but now that he's... gone, she has the chance to become her own person. I want to give that to her."

"Oh, oh!" Urahara's eyes went wide. "You're so cool and mature now, Akon-pin~~~! I'm so proud of you!"

"Yes, yes," Akon said hurriedly. "Will you help her?"

"Of course! I love training! Tell Lieutenant Kurotsuchi that Yoruichi and I will be there in Soul Society tomorrow." That would give him time to pull the Teshintai out of storage and dust it off. Oh, this was going to be such fun after their last encounter--though given Nemu's tolerance for Mayuri's abuse, she probably wasn't the type to hold a grudge.

Probably.

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "Fine. Whatever. Just... thank you, all right?"

"Of course. I'm always happy to help!" It was the least he could do after abandoning the Twelfth to Mayuri's tender mercies, after all.

"I know I'm going to regret asking about this, but..." Akon said. "Is it true you and Shihouin are finally tying the knot after all this time?"

Urahara grinned. "Of course it is! We're still negotiating all the details, but rest assured, you'll be invited to whatever event we end up hosting. After all, none of this would have happened without you!"

"Don't I know it," Akon grumbled. "I'm in the process of decrypting all of Captain Kurotsuchi's files, but it's slow going--meanwhile, the Captain-Commander keeps breathing down my neck about the whole Ichigo Kurosaki business. I didn't realize that was so important to him--I've never gotten so many passive-aggressive hell butterflies in my life!"

Ichigo Kurosaki had lost his powers after unleashing his Final Getsuga Tenshou against Aizen even in this new timeline that Miss Kaname had forged. Some things, it seemed, were not so easily changed. And yet--

"Actually, I have a few ideas about that," Urahara said. Ironically, it was all the work with soul gems that had triggered the breakthrough. "We'll discuss them tomorrow when I'm in Soul Society."

"Tomorrow? Why not now?"

"It's a very important day here, Akon-pin--family portrait day! I couldn't possibly be late for that! Bye-bye~~~!"

"Ah, yes, the day we finally get back at Isshin for all the photos he's spammed us with over the years," Yoruichi said, strolling into the lab as he hung up the phone.

In a world where the Quincy had always been able to purify spirits, Masaki Kurosaki had never fallen to a hollow, and Isshin had never, ever shut up about how much he loved her and their three children. Now Urahara was determined to make up for lost time and return the favor.

"I still can't really believe it wasn't always like this," Yoruichi went on thoughtfully. She reached out and kneaded his shoulders with only slightly duller nails than her cat form. "I mean, intellectually, I believe it was possible for Madoka Kaname's wish to change the world and that you and Tessai are serious when you claim that's what happened, even if that's not how I remember it. But you have to admit it's a bizarre story, even by your standards."

"But that's all right," Urahara said, leaning back into her touch. "Whether we believe in it or not, the miracle is that this is the way things are now. Like you agreeing to marry me."

She swatted his face playfully. "Unless I change my mind."

"Ack, no, Yoruichi-san, you couldn't possibly be so cruel~~~!"

"Well, then. Let's go take these photos so we can show Isshin exactly what he's missing out on, shall we?"

***

"Sorry, I'm late!" Mami said as she reached the group milling in front of the Urahara Candy Store. "I completely forgot we were taking pictures today!"

"It's okay, we forgot, too, or else we would have reminded you," Madoka said.

"Yeah, what is the world coming to when I'm the only responsible one?" Kyouko said, waving her finger in Mami's face. "That's supposed to be your job!'

Sayaka was having none of it. "You were only here first because you don't go to school!"

"You're just jealous, 'cause I get to have fun all day without you," Kyouko said. "Where is Hat-and-Clogs, anyway? This whole thing was his idea."

"Hello~~~, everybody!" Mr. Urahara said, popping out from the side of the store with Yoruichi on his arm. "Let's get started, shall we?"

They ended up staging the photo outside because the courtyard was the only space big enough to cram all ten people together long enough to get the shot. The shop--now boasting a sign in oozing calligraphy announcing it as "THE HOME OF THE FAMOUS BLACK MAGIC SWEETS!!!"--was not a particularly inspiring background, Mami thought, but it was a fitting one, given its role as a central hub in each of their lives.

Everyone wore their usual clothes instead of dressing up, though Homura now sported a pair of bright red ribbons in her hair, which she had worn them religiously ever since Madoka had given them to her earlier in the week. The two of them also had matching Quincy five-pointed crosses now, courtesy of Uryu Ishida--Madoka's dangled around her neck, while Homura's was wrapped around her left arm like a rosary.

Getting everyone together long enough to take the photo was like herding cats--or maybe not, given that Yoruichi ended up taking charge and corralling everybody into their positions. Despite being the tallest of the group, Mr. Tsubakishi ended up kneeling in the front row, Jinta and Ururu pressed up on either side and Kyouko leaning in over his shoulder. Homura ended up in the middle, with Mami and Madoka on either side, and Sayaka standing behind them, beaming proudly. Yoruichi and Mr. Urahara stood together on Sayaka's other side, the latter armed with an extendable selfie stick to capture the precarious tableau.

"All right, everyone," he said. "Ready, set..."

Everyone flashed the peace sign as the camera clicked.

"Hold that smile! One more time!" Click. "Okay! Now a serious one!" Click.

"Can we hurry up?" Jinta muttered through gritted teeth. "My face hurts."

"Okay, now a silly one!"

"Now that's more like it!" Jinta pretended to barf on Ururu, who stoically ignored him.

"All right, that's a wrap!" Mr. Urahara sang, retrieving his phone from the selfie stick. "We'll do another one in full costume later, but for now, the first portrait session of the Urahara Candy Store Extended Family and After School Training Program is complete! Results will be sent to everyone shortly!"

Everyone burst forth from their poses with varying degrees of relief, yawning, stretching, and chattering at high volume amongst themselves as they broke off into smaller groups.

"E-excuse me," a timid voice called from off to one side. "Is this--is this the place where we can get grief seeds now?"

The speaker was a young girl with rumpled blonde hair huddled at the courtyard entrance--who, though she put on a brave face, was terrified out of her wits by the rambunctious chaos that was business as usual at the Urahara Candy Store. From her green sailor fuku and plaid skirt, she had come here directly from one of the private middle schools schools in Kamihama City.

"That's right!" Mami said, springing into action. Flashing her most reassuring smile, she grabbed the girl's hand and led her through the crowd into the shop right to the tray of artificial grief seeds prominently display by the cash register. "You just look around and Mr. Tsubakishi will ring up your order when you decide what you want, okay?"

Mr. Tsubakishi, already lurking behind the counter in hopes of a sale, flashed her a thumb's up and nodded vigorously.

"T-thank you!" the girl stammered, blushing fiercely from all the attention. "Now that the witches have all but disappeared, it's been so hard to find grief seeds anywhere! I'm so glad this place is real after all and not some cruel rumor--"

"It's real, all right," Mami agreed. "This is the place where wishes come true-- though usually not the way you expect them to."

As if to prove her point, her phone beeped, and she excused herself to check her messages outside the shop. True to Mr. Urahara's promise, her inbox was now overflowing with hundreds of nearly identical shots. Mami selected one at random to be the new background for her phone, then went back outside to see what the others were up to.

"Excellent customer service!" Mr. Urahara said as she emerged from the shop. "At this rate, you'll be running the place in no time! Just kidding!" he added quickly at Mami's expression. "Well, mostly kidding. You do have a talent for it."

"You think so?" Mami said, intrigued in spite of herself.

"Hmmm, we'll see, won't we?" he said. "It's a bit early to be discussing career plans, after all. But whatever path you choose, we'll always be here for you." He reached out and gave her a quick hug before pushing her towards the others. "All right then, off with you before Yoruichi-san scolds me to let the future take care of itself, hmmm?"

For one brief moment as she and Homura struggled to return home when they were stranded out of time, Mami had glimpsed the future--a intricate geometric figure full of twists and turns beyond even Castrovalva's ability to comprehend. But even though the way forward from was unknowable from an ordinary human perspective, she had no fear of whatever surprises it might hold for her anymore.

Not only did she have her family, friends, and her own younger self to draw on, she was intimately connected to everything else in the universe. As long as she remembered that, she'd never be alone again.

Meanwhile, the other members of the Holy Quintet had re-grouped around Yoruichi and were waiting for Mami more or less patiently. Sayaka and Kyouko were bickering with each other again, much to their mentor's amusement, and even Homura was smiling from her usual place at Madoka's side.

"Mami!" Madoka said, waving her over. "Aren't you coming?"

"Be right there!" Mami called back, and went to join them.