First thing in the morning, Kari received a LINE message from Jade asking to meet at the Tokyo Tower again. It seemed she had been staying in the outskirts of Tokyo to be ready anytime the apocalypse hit. That could only mean the same for Flare, whose face has been on TV for three days straight, reassuring the public of their safety in the wake of constant monster attacks.

She certainly was the face of Japan's magical girls. If only people knew how batshit crazy she actually was and the danger they were in.

Jade flew in from above, sipping on iced coffee amidst the blistering heat.

"Seeing your messages first thing in the morning doesn't contribute to a good day for me," Kari remarked.

She scoffed. "If I could sew your mouth shut… Maybe a surprise will turn that resting bitch face upside down."

Something glistened in the distance behind her.

"Is that who I think it is?" Rocky asked, bouncing with excitement.

"Kari!"

The bubbly voice was immediately recognizable, but Kari had little time to react.

"I'm back!" Rie declared, slamming into Kari with such force that they were sent flying across the sky. She was back in shape and without all the bandages mummifying her. Yuyu was with her, too, all smiles to see them reunited.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you back in action." Kari grinned.

"Now we can really start fighting together!" she said. "Tsubasa filled me in on Minato City being ground zero. I'm staying with her at a place in Shinagawa for now."

[Candy: Including Flare, the other two magical girls and… our souls. It's all so crazy to me...]

[Jade: We got something up our sleeves that Flare doesn't know— the ring from Aiko.]

[Kari: You're thinking about giving it to someone? Wouldn't it be bad if we start splitting experience even further?]

[Jade: Having an unknown factor is our only shot at tripping up Flare, but you're right. It's too much of a risk, and we can't afford to lose xp to another rookie. No offense.]

"Give that a rest already! Kari's going to catch up to me soon. She might be hot on your tail," Candy teased Jade, who merely folded her arms in response.

If Kari remembered correctly, Candy's total level was five— three in her main class, and two in her subclass. She was only one subclass level away from catching up. In fact, after inadvertently killing Aiko and receiving points for her death, she could level up. Though that might draw some suspicions if she wasn't careful.

Kari was beginning to understand why Flare made it a point for them to keep their stats a private matter.

"Did you give the autographed wasabi peas to your friend yet? Or are you hogging it to yourself?" Candy whispered, snapping her from her thoughts.

"If you're going to pressure me about it, I guess I have no other choice huh?" Kari answered.

The three of them decided to split from there. Jade and Candy still had things to take care of from their respective home cities.

On the way back to Shuu's apartment, Kari caught sight of Sachi sitting alone on a bench in the city park. A dog passing by sniffed at her feet, but she didn't so much as react. The owner had to pull their pet away to leave her alone.

Kari landed in front Sachi without [Incognito], startling her and passersby. She transformed out of magical girl form and, after resisting enough pictures, people started leaving her alone.

"It's been a while, Sachi. Wanna take a walk?"

Out of the park and into the crowds of the city, Kari was practically invisible to a public that had business and pleasure on their minds. There was less of a chance of being recognized than in places with sparse people. When shoulder to shoulder with the masses, no one cared who was who.

Sachi looked to be at her breaking point. Bags under her eyes, make up partially undone, and nothing like the cocky girl who threatened Kari with her nails.

"So… you were a magical girl this whole time?" Sachi swallowed hard and glanced down at her feet as she walked. "Even while Ena and I were… doing all that? Explains how you caved in the wall. If we had known—"

"You wouldn't have done it?" Kari said, finishing her sentence.

As far as anyone was concerned, Ena was just as guilty as Principal Nishida and Tetsuo. There would be no rest until that bitch was humiliated.

"I know you want to get back at Ena, but… she hasn't been doing well lately. She hasn't even been answering my texts. I tried to visit her house yesterday, but her parents wouldn't let me see her. I think she's afraid of you."

Their eyes met, and Kari had only one thing to say. "Good."

Sachi stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, causing people to gripe at the impediment and walk around her.

"What's it going to take? I'll do anything. Buy whatever you want! I'll get on my knees and scrape my head on the ground if I have to," she said on the verge of tears.

Kari pulled her aside before she could draw too much attention to them. What would people think if they suddenly saw a regular person groveling in front of a magical girl?

"You're going to make a scene, quit it!" She sighed. "Fine. If you're so desperate to be forgiven, then how about this: you bring Ena to Makina's house and apologize directly to her."

"Really…?"

Not really. As if this would be enough. Kari nodded nonetheless.

It was enough to placate Sachi, and she was beginning to look better.

As they waited at a major crosswalk for the pedestrian light, Kari wondered if forgiveness was really as simple as a verbal exchange. Makina surely would. That's just how kind she was.

Sorry, Sachi. All you are to me is someone to get back at Ena, Kari thought to herself.

The pedestrian light turned green and played the Toryanse tune, but just as she was about to cross—

"Wait, Kari!"

She was yanked back and tumbled onto Sachi as a semi-truck sped past, blaring its horn. Another step and she would have been hit.

"You just… saved my life," Kari mumbled in disbelief. She continued to stare across the street, the sound of the horn still ringing in her ears.

Many people passed by them, not paying any mind that someone was almost struck or that a truck ran a red light.

"Ow… Can a truck really kill someone like you though?" Sachi asked, rubbing her backside.

Maybe if she was in her magical girl form. As a human, she might have some strength and resilience bleeding over, but a 50 ton semi would have turned her into a ketchup stain on the asphalt.

Even as Sachi helped her up, wobbly legs threatened to put her back to the ground.

Kari couldn't understand it. Maybe it was because of their circumstances that prevented her from understanding. Sachi could have stayed silent and let her get hit. If it was the other way around, Kari might not have done the same.

"Hey," Sachi began. "I'm going to try and talk to Ena again, hopefully convince her to come with me to apologize to Makina. For what my apology is worth… I really am sorry…"

She took off down the crosswalk just as the pedestrian light turned red. The flow of traffic flowed again like nothing had changed.

While hovering above Makina's house, Kari could hear the muffled piano music through the walls. Each note was filled with such warmth and kindness, much like her touch which she dearly missed but would never admit to. She could sit out here all day just listening to it if Makina continued playing.

"Are you sure you don't want to say hi?" Rocky asked.

It didn't take a telepath to read her mind. Of course she wanted to. But after all that had happened, could she face Makina with a clear conscience? This soulless husk of a girl that was once Kari?

"Let's just drop this by the door and leave," she said.

However, as she landed in front of the door to leave a bouquet of flowers, Makina's mother exited with a cigarette in her mouth. The two of them gawked at each other in surprise.

"Kari? I'm flattered," the woman joked as the cigarette fell from her lips.

"I, uh… was about to leave," Kari said, turning away but a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Makina has been trying to reach you for days. Come in and talk to her," she insisted. When it looked like Kari wasn't going to budge, the woman had another ace up her sleeves. "I can tell you're hungry, and you stink. I'll run a bath and make you something to eat in the meantime. How's that?"

She relented and transformed out of her magical girl outfit into casual street clothes. Coming through the door, Makina was already standing at the end of the hallway, choking back tears as their eyes met. Her mother stepped out of the way as the daughter tackled Kari into the wall with a hug.

After a much needed hot bath, Kari and Rocky joined Makina in her room where tea and porridge awaited them.

"I can't believe you got me flowers." Makina giggled.

"Shut up… I was hoping to just put it by the door and leave…" Kari buried her face in her hands.

"So much has been going on in the city I thought you just didn't have the time of day to visit me. Is it getting that bad out there?" she asked.

"I don't want to downplay it. Something big is coming to the city. You and your parents should definitely leave for a while."

It was a difficult decision for her, especially with the music arts festival coming up. Telling anyone to suddenly leave the city was too much to ask for to begin with. Preparations were needed, like a new place to stay or remote work to consider.

"I believe you," she said.

"Y-You do?"

A welcome and refreshing surprise after Shuu reacted in the opposite manner.

Makina continued. "I can convince my family to visit grandpa down in Okinawa on the pretense of vacation. But we probably won't be leaving until after my recital at the music arts festival."

Kari suspected as much. Good news nonetheless. The only person left she had to tell was Minato.

"How are you doing, Rocky? Keeping an eye on Kari to make sure she stays out of trouble?" Makina stroked the anthem on his head while he ate, but the question spooked him more than anything.

"Y-Yeah! Definitely! It's more like Kari keeps me out of trouble. Haha!" He continued to drone on, making it more suspicious than if he had just shut up.

Rocky aside, Kari was glad that little had changed between her and Makina. They were able to talk again like normal. All this paranoia was just in her head. She just needed to stop overthinking things—

"By the way, I heard on the news the other day about Tetsuo…" Makina began. "Weird that you and Minato just happened to be there."

The porridge seared Kari's throat on the way down as she swallowed a spoonful without blowing on it. Despite the hot food in her stomach, the blood in her veins turned to ice. She wasn't sure how to approach the topic without knowing if Minato talked to her about it. Given how close they all were, it was unfathomable that they hadn't already talked

If Makina were to learn that she had let Tetsuo die, would the illusion of a hero in her friend's eyes vanish in a blink of an eye?

She was about to answer until Makina had more to say.

"Honestly? Screw him! I hate him so much! If you weren't able to save him on time, that's fine by me because I won't shed a single tear!" she exclaimed, catching her breath at the end of it and tearing up nonetheless. "I… I really… he's just… I thought he was just being nice…"

Makina cried until she exhausted herself and fell asleep at the table. Kari carried her onto the bed, pulled the sheets over her, and put on the table both the flowers and the autographed wasabi pea bag that was long overdue.

Four people made her life a living hell at school. Only Ena was left, and she had to be sweating bullets wondering if it was all a coincidence. First she broke Daisuke's leg, carved Nishida's soul from his body, and then let Tetsuo die a horrible death. She would do it all over again if given the chance.

Damn it.

More than anything, she should be focusing on saving the city, yet those pests just had to invade her head.

"Wait a minute…" Kari muttered to herself.

Daisuke was close to Tetsuo. He might know something about Flare.

"What's wrong?" Rocky asked, hovering above the doorknob.

"You go first," she said, pushing him out.

Before leaving, Kari snapped a picture of Makina's sleeping face for her new phone. Being this close made it tough to fight the urge. She swallowed hard, gazing upon her friend's slightly parted lips and rosy cheeks.

Recalling those terrible pictures of Makina evoked both anger and jealousy. For them to have their way with her was… unfair?

Kari leaned in until their lips were only an inch apart. "If I told you… I've always liked you, how would you answer?"

A fire, different from the rage she had been feeling lately, swelled inside her chest. She wanted to kiss Makina so badly. A special moment that was robbed from her that fateful day. But to do such a thing to her when she had been violated against her will so many times…

Afraid that Makina might wake up at any moment, Kari quickly left the room. For the second time in the night, she ran into Makina's mother, who was enjoying tea with Rocky in the kitchen.

"Leaving already? I was just getting to know your pet," she said, glancing over her shoulder.

"Thank you for the tea, but I'm not a pet! I'm Rocky, an anthem!" He fumed.

"Makina fell asleep, and I don't want to overstay. The porridge was really good. Thank you." Kari bowed low for the first time in a long while.

Mrs. Oikawa walked them to the door and pushed a bento box into Kari's hand.

"Couldn't help but overhear about you asking for us to leave Tokyo. I'll make sure Makina's safe and not fail her as a parent this time. You take care of yourself, too, okay?" The woman smiled.

"I will." Kari nodded, feeling a familial warmth seep into her and flying off as her eyes became hot.

Later that night, Kari flew straight to Suginuma High for some unfinished business. It was the only place she could find a file on Daisuke's home residence. The school stayed open during summer vacation for those who needed supplementary classes, and served as cram school in the evening. With [Incognito] and the school uniform on, no one should be able to recognize her.

"You guys happen to know where I can find Principal Nishda?" She flagged down a couple of boys loitering at the shoe lockers.

They gave her an awkward look.

"You live under a rock? He's in the hospital right now," one boy with glasses said.

"I heard his substitute's a young headmistress from an all girl's school. Hope she's cute," another added.

She forced herself not to smile, elated knowing that Principal Nishida was an afterthought here.

As Kari headed for the faculty office, a clumsy teacher dropped a stack of papers at the midpoint of the stairwell on the way down. She was about to pass right by but did a double take and realized it was Iori Wakana, the school nurse. The two of them looked each other in the eyes.

She thought there was no way Iori could recognize her.

Yet…

"I can't believe my eyes. Kari, where have you been?" Iori exclaimed.

"I'm— I'm just dropping by the faculty office. Excuse me…"

The school nurse ran ahead and blocked her way.

"Wait! I have to know! You're a magical girl, so you must know my little sister! Is Yuria okay?" she asked desperately.

Iori wasn't going to let her go without answers. The longer they stayed, the more they risked drawing attention.

"Can we talk in your office instead?" Kari asked.

The two of them went to the infirmary to speak in private, back to where they had first gotten to know each other.

"When I saw you on social media, I didn't believe it. Then you came to school in that form… Please, tell me. I haven't seen or spoken to Yuria in years," Iori said with a trembling voice.

"Your sister's fine. She's living together with your grandma, but she did also say to stop sending them money and to spend it on yourself instead," Kari explained.

The young nurse's worried demeanor softened.

"Thank goodness she's okay. Yuria just stopped being a magical girl one day and refused to elaborate, but… She's living with grandma now? I'm surprised they made up." Her brows furrowed as she leaned back on her seat.

"Made up? They didn't get along?" Kari asked, perplexed by the meeting she had with Yuria.

"Not at all. Our parents had us live with our grandma from elementary to high school. She… wasn't exactly the kind, old lady you'd picture. More like a witch. But it sounds like they're getting along now, that's good!" She smiled in ignorance. "So what made you come back to school? Getting a head start with classes?"

No way was Kari going to tell her that she came to look up Daisuke's home address. She would just have to come back later.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just here to submit a letter of withdrawal. I should probably get that done. Don't want to bother you any longer either." Kari got up from her seat, but Iori asked her to wait and went to grab something behind her desk.

"Before you go, there's something I should give you. You'll understand when you read it," she said, pushing an old envelope into her hands.

Kari left the school having not achieved her purpose, but she could always return.

"Any idea why [Incognito] failed me there with the school nurse?" she asked Rocky as they flew back to Shuu's apartment.

"I… I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately, but that's never happened before. A passive skill like that should be functioning just fine," he answered, uncertain of himself.

"Chalk it up to another anomaly then." She sighed, then stopped mid flight to read the letter.

Dear Iori,

I'm retiring from being a magical girl. For your sake and mine, please keep this a secret. I only tell you so that you don't go seeking answers on your own, and because you're the only family I have left.

Iggy is dead. Flare killed him. She will kill you, too, if she knew I told you this. I don't want to think what she would do to me afterwards. I also don't want to put Jade or Candy in danger against someone like that by telling them.

I've set up a PO box in Nabari, Nara. You can send me letters, but I won't be writing back.

P.S. Please, please, please burn this after reading.

Love,

Your baby sister.

Kari quickly crumpled the letter and stuffed it into her pocket, fearful that Flare might somehow be able to see it with her omniscience. She would have to bring this up to Jade and Candy tomorrow.

She returned to Shuu's apartment to get some shuteye, but he was wide awake watching the late news network.

"Interesting enough to lose an hour of sleep?" she asked, coming through the door.

"Suginuma… that's your school, right?" Shuu kept his eyes glued to the television.

"Yeah, why?"

The answer came from the TV instead.

Photogenic pictures of Daisuke and Ena were enlarged for them to see as the news anchor explained that the two were found dead tonight. Daisuke had thrown himself off the roof of a hospital he went to, and Ena was discovered hanging in her room by her parents. Both were the result of an apparent suicide.

Immediately after the news segment ended, Kari received a frantic LINE message from Sachi along with a GPS location: HELP ME

A chill crept up her spine.

"I'm heading back out. Let's go, Rocky!" Kari said.

"What? It's late as hell!"

What did it matter to her if Sachi is in danger? she asked herself.

Sachi was another girl who had been trying to ruin Makina's life. Yet despite knowing that, Kari pushed herself to maximum flying speed. Upon reaching the designated location, she was shocked to see a house in flames.

Firefighters were outside trying to put out the fire. A crowd of people gathered in the streets, drawn in by the commotion at this time of the night.

"Is there anyone in there?" Kari asked, descending to the firefighters.

"Magical girls in the business of fighting fires now?" one of them asked, his face covered in soot and sweat. "We only found two badly burned adults, no one else was inside— hey! Where are you going?"

Rocky tugged on her sleeve as they flew up.

"That's not a natural fire. Flare must have done that," he said.

"Why would Flare be after someone like Sachi?"

Just then, she received another GPS location not far from here. It led her to a bridge over a small riverbank. This had to be the spot unless Sachi moved again.

Was Flare chasing her down?

The grass leading down to the riverbank caught her attention. It had been disturbed, like something had slid down. When she checked underneath there Sachi was, back pressed against the concrete wall and hugging her knees. She shrieked as soon as she saw her.

"It's me!" Kari said. "What the hell happened?"

Sachi stepped into the moonlight, tears and snot ran down her face.

"I saw her do it… Flare killed Ena, forced a rope around her neck and made her hang!" She wept.

"That's right. Now I need to get rid of you to protect my precious paradise."

Sachi hid behind Kari as Flare entered from the other end of the underpass. Her footsteps echoed ominously from the dark.

"Why are you after her?" Kari demanded, summoning [Destruction and Ruin] and staring her down.

"You're not seriously protecting her, are you? After you fed a bunch of high schoolers to head hounds, after killing a magical girl?" Flare sneered as cinders enveloping her body lit up the surroundings.

"Then you know I won't hesitate to cut you in half like I did Aiko."

The fiery magical girl shrugged. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Like why we don't have souls. How about a trade. What is that girl's worth to you for a few answers? Kill her for me, no one has to know."

Kari seriously considered Flare's offer, and even glanced behind her shoulder to gauge Sachi's reaction.

"You… wouldn't?" She faltered and took a few steps back.

After a pause, Kari said, "I would."

Sachi tried to take off running, but Kari swung the blade across her back. She slumped forward and fell into the river, carried off by the downstream currents.

Applause assailed her ears. Flare flashed a shit-eating, triumphant grin.

"You continue to surprise me! If you hadn't tried to kill me, we could have made a great team together," she said.

"I didn't kill her to be patronized." Kari growled. "What happened to our souls, and what the hell is your goal with letting the apocalypse hit the city?"

"It was converted into pure power the moment we put on the ring. The only way we can get it back is to summon and kill a god."

For how crazy Flare was, her words came from a place of knowledge and confidence. What terrified Kari the most was that she believed her.

"What do you mean by kill a god?" she asked.

"Exactly what I mean. You witnessed one become stronger after killing enough humans, saw how happy it was thinking it had killed me. Just like how we get stronger from killing them, so do they by killing us."

The broken lady that appeared next to a bunch of head hounds… the scarecrow...

"Then… the scarecrow that turned into an angel-looking thing—"

Flare shook her head. "That wasn't a god. Not yet anyway. I don't have to answer your second question for you to draw the proper conclusion, do I?"

In order to regain her soul, Flare was going to let millions of people in Tokyo die so that a monster could become a god. If any one of them wanted a soul again, then they would need to make the same sacrifice.

Wait… Is that why the magical girls in South Africa ended up killing each other?

"I'm not done yet!" Kari shouted, seeing Flare turning around to leave. "You told Jade to let me die that day. How did you know I was going to be there? Why did you set me up to become a magical girl?"

"You were a test. To see if wearing a dead magical girl's ring would birth a stronger one."

"Well? Did it?"

Flare didn't answer any further. She instead bellowed into the night with a hearty laugh, then disappeared from sight.

"Kari, help!" Rocky called from downstream.

She acted quickly, flying down the river to pick up Sachi's body. As the physical body was lifted onto shore, the soul was left behind in the waters. Ethereal, grasping hands— the same ones that took Nishida's soul— were wrestling Kari for control of Sachi's ghostly remains.

"Apocalypse Power-up!" The increased strength allowed her to wrench the soul away from them, which she then shoved back into its physical body.

"Sachi isn't waking up!" Rocky.

Kari dropped her magical girl form to perform chest compressions and give breaths through her mouth, careful not to cave Sachi's chest in.

She started coughing up water. Her eyes snapped open in terror.

"You… You killed me," Sachi whimpered.

"You're not dead, but it was the only way to trick Flare," Kari explained. "You should be safe now."

Sachi took one look at her surroundings and began to cry into Kari's shoulder. Rocky floated down to pat her on the back in a vain effort to console her. She lost her best friend and was almost killed by a magical girl. What a day it's been.

"Won't Flare know that Sachi is alive?" Rocky asked.

Flare didn't seem to notice the crumpled letter in her pocket. Could it be that that omniscience had conditions for how it worked?

"I don't think we need to worry," Kari said. "For now, let's get Sachi somewhere safe."