Chapter Text
The next morning, Megumi and Haruka met at the Misumi household and sat with their legs crossed on the bedroom floor for one final purification. "Focus on your positive energy," said Megumi, holding hands with Haruka to rid the last of the Bad Energy within Nagisa and Mepple's souls.
"To dwell on the enemy is to let them win." Haruka squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a warm gentleness radiating from her body.
Nagisa breathed deeply, feeling the Bad Energy seep away, dissipating once it left her body, like it no longer had power over even the tiniest ant. "Are we almost done, mepo?" Mepple asked. "I need a nap, mepo..."
A little twinkle lit up the room, prompting all three of the girls to open their eyes. Sparkles sprinkled down onto the floor. "I think that means the Bad Energy is gone," mused Megumi.
"Thank you for that," said Nagisa. "You wanna go get some lunch at Nagomi Diner?"
"Really?" Haruka asked. "Your mind went from rituals to lunch real fast."
"Duh," said Nagisa. "I haven't been anywhere but my house and the doctor's for like a week. I need something to eat that isn't bland as plain rice!"
"I can work with that!" Megumi hopped up from the floor and tugged on Nagisa's arm. "Race you!"
"Hang on, let her get dressed first!" Haruka yelped.
At Nagomi Diner, Yui was stirring some ramen as the hard noodles softened from the boiling water. Next to her, Rosemary was slicing up some fried ham, Hitomu was blinking rapidly as he chopped up some green onion, and Akiho was preparing some hard boiled eggs. Haruka pushed open the doors to the diner as wide as they would go, so everyone would see when she and her posse came inside. "Oh, HaruHaru, it's nice to see you, yade!" Tarte, perched at a table watching over Chiho, yelped.
"Nagisa!" Yui chirped. "You're looking a lot better!"
"We've got delicious ramen on the menu today," said Akiho. "I showed the movie Ponyo to Chiho recently, and we all loved it, so we wanted to recreate the recipe."
"Umai!" Chiho, waiting patiently in her high chair, bounced when she saw the friends enter.
"Sit with us!" Aoi, sitting with Madoka, waved the trio down.
In the kitchen, Candy and Lulun pushed bowls towards Yui to begin serving food. "Here we go, kuru!" Candy chirped. "This purple bowl is Madoka's favourite; it has stars on it, kuru!"
Yui poured the soft noodles into each bowl, with her family adding the other ingredients after her. Soon enough, everyone had a bowl of ramen with ham. "Amazing, isn't it?" Hitomu mused.
Chiho, who was not a fan of green onions, picked them out of her bowl as the girls continued talking. "I'm just happy everything feels normal again," said Megumi softly.
Mai walked into the diner just as Madoka began her speech. "Although Yamiko now poses a threat to us, we shall not allow her to hold us hostage in our own lives. We must heal and carry on, just as we have against every other foe who has come our way. We may never understand where she came from, or why she wishes for the destruction of our elite, but all the while, we must continue as we always have; with love and determination in our hearts."
The other girls all gave a cheer of "Amen!" with their glasses raised in the air. Mai just watched in silent thought. She knew exactly where Yamiko came from, but she didn't dare tell anyone. After all, it wouldn't be fair to drag them all down after they had just recovered the first time.
...Would it?