"Hey—you're a middle schooler, right? Picking on an elementary kid at your age, aren't you embarrassed?"
"Tch. And where'd you pop out of, Little Miss Model Student?"
Kyoko glared at the girl who'd appeared out of nowhere—and at the small figure darting behind Sayaka for cover.
"This brat of yours just fed me something absolutely indescribable."
Sayaka didn't follow. "You chased her down and hit her because you didn't like her cooking? You're unbelievable."
Yimi's soup had been delicious. Even if it wasn't to your taste, that was no reason to hit someone.
"Wow, easy for you to say when you didn't have to eat it. She takes perfectly good food and turns it into that and feeds it to me—THAT'S what's unbelievable." Kyoko's expression darkened.
Having actually gone hungry for a stretch, she despised wasting food. That was part of it. The real reason was getting blindsided by a mouthful of something so revolting.
Best she could describe: some kind of meat. One bite and all she got was searing wasabi straight up the sinuses. And just when she wanted to spit it out, the boneless chunk turned out to be tough enough to lodge between her teeth, forcing her to swallow reflexively and experience the full flavor all over again.
That, on top of the butt-spanking fiasco earlier—Kyoko was one hundred percent sure this was calculated revenge.
"I'm sorry." Yimi peeked out from behind Sayaka and apologized.
Kyoko's anger hadn't faded. She rubbed her rear, still smarting from the reflected damage. "You're not sorry you did it—you're sorry you're about to get hit again."
Sayaka noticed the gesture and narrowed her eyes. "I don't have proof, but since you've already taste-tested for Yimi… you wouldn't happen to be a Magical Girl, would you?"
"What—Mitakihara's got this many Magical Girls? Then again, Mami Tomoe is the type who's afraid of being alone."
A gorgeous crimson Soul Gem appeared in Kyoko's hand. Beautiful, certainly—but that shape looked strange no matter how you looked at it.
"Oh, so Kyoko with her odd temper is the first one you've run into?" Kyubey finally spoke up from atop Yimi's head, having spectated the entire time.
"Who are you calling prickly?" Kyoko shot it a look.
Sayaka noticed Kyubey too. "You're hanging out with Yimi now? Since when are you two so chummy?"
Kyubey didn't answer. It stood up on Yimi's head and fixed its gaze on Kyoko. "How nice for you, Kyoko. Always on your own, and now you've finally met someone you have something in common with—since you both made wishes for someone else's sake."
"Sayaka?" Madoka looked at her friend, confused.
"Who'd have anything in common with this foul-tempered delinquent?" Sayaka's first impression of Kyoko was already rock-bottom. "You know Mami-senpai? Your personalities don't seem like they'd mesh. Don't tell me you're the junior she mentioned—the one whose ideals didn't align with hers."
That hit a nerve. Kyoko's expression turned ugly, and she transformed on the spot. "What—another one brainwashed by Mami Tomoe? She mentioned some black-haired Magical Girl in this city too. Mitakihara's huge, but doesn't this seem like a few too many?"
"You want to fight? I've never fought before, just so you know." Sayaka looked around, confirmed the area was deserted, and gripped her pendant.
It wasn't some especially flashy outfit. Blue skirt over white stockings with a hint of blue, clean-cut attire completed by a white cape at her back and a Western-style cutlass in her hand. More than a Magical Girl, she looked like a young prince.
Having stoked the fire, Kyubey settled back down on Yimi's head to observe Sayaka closely.
Freshly contracted just last night, never having fought a single Witch—of course she was no match for the battle-hardened Kyoko. She was outclassed on the very first exchange.
When she saw Kyoko swing the long spear at her, instinct told her to block with the blade. What she hadn't anticipated was the weapon going limp on contact, splitting into linked segments. The connecting chain coiled past her sword, and the spearhead punched clean through her shoulder.
"Hss—!" The pain drew tears instantly.
"Weak. You're a rookie, aren't you?"
One exchange was enough. Kyoko pulled back, showing restraint.
"Yeah. So what?" Sayaka channeled mana the way Yimi had described last night and repaired the wound. It was as simple as breathing.
Apparently missing Kyoko's mercy, and sharing Kyoko's short fuse, she raised the cutlass and charged again—burning through mana without a second thought.
"Hey!"
Kyoko barely got her guard up. "That's strange—that hit should've taken you half a month to recover from. Burning mana this recklessly, you'll run dry before you get your hands on a Grief Seed."
Then again, knowing Mami's personality, she wouldn't just stand by and watch a junior's Soul Gem go completely dark.
"After all, she made a healing wish for some other boy, so excelling in that department is only natural. That part, at least, she didn't alter." Kyubey kept commentating from the sidelines.
"Hah? Are you stupid?" Kyoko looked at Sayaka in disbelief. "If you liked him, wouldn't it be better to keep him dependent on you the way he was?"
"Don't lump me in with someone like you!"
Sayaka poured even more mana into her output and cleaved straight through Kyoko's weapon, cutting it clean in half. The slash carved a long gash into the ground for good measure.
This wasn't her limit. She had more to give.
"Are you insane?"
Kyoko leaped back, eyeing Sayaka with a complicated mix of shock and exasperation.
They had no real grudge between them, and here this girl was going all-out like she wanted a death match, hemorrhaging mana at that rate. Surely Kyubey had at least told her how to replenish it?
"What's your name?"
"Sayaka Miki."
Kyoko held a biscuit stick between her teeth like a cigarette. "I hope you don't end up regretting your wish."
She turned and left.
"What's with the been-there-done-that attitude? It's not like I sacrificed anything." Sayaka dropped her transformation.
"I see. Unlimited self-replenishing mana—but your own aptitude is somewhat mediocre. For now, brute-forcing a veteran Magical Girl with pure mana output is about as far as you can go." Kyubey landed on all fours, delivering a frank assessment. "A somewhat wasteful arrangement."
That last part was directed at Yimi.
Sayaka ignored it. As far as she was concerned, winning a fight against a veteran Magical Girl on her very first transformation was already pretty damn impressive.
She rubbed her freshly healed shoulder. "Still, getting hurt in a fight really does hurt. Isn't there some kind of defense or pain-blocking magic?"
"In theory, there should be."
"Sayaka…" Madoka watched her with worry.
Sayaka opened her mouth, then turned away, flushed with guilt. "I'm sorry, Madoka. After telling you not to become a Magical Girl…"
And then she'd gone and contracted.
"It was for Kamijo-kun, wasn't it?" Madoka didn't care about that in the slightest. She took Sayaka's hand. "The sacrifice you mentioned before…"
"Don't worry—I made my contract with Yimi. I didn't have to give up anything. Madoka, you're so kind it leaves me speechless…" Sayaka's gaze drifted past Madoka, searching for the little girl.
No sign of her.
"She vanished in the blink of an eye," Kyubey answered their unspoken question.
So that's why it had landed on the ground.