"How does it taste?"
Yimi clung to the edge of the table with both hands, watching Madoka expectantly.
"Mm, it's really good."
Madoka offered a compliment and looked down at the cake in her hand with a wry smile.
Nobody had actually told her, but this was Kyubey meat, wasn't it? How to put it—it felt like being pranked, yet the fact that someone was around to prank her was a kind of happiness in itself.
o(*≧▽≦)ツ
The moment the final quest progress ticked to completion, the little cat dashed outside in delight, leaving a trail of her shoe prints stamped across the soil of the vegetable garden.
Because Tomohisa hadn't become the kind of Magical Girl Yimi had imagined, she'd refused to give him any Kyubey meat. And just like that, she was one step closer to going home.
"So lively."
Tomohisa was in the kitchen preparing breakfast as usual. He called out to Yimi in passing: "Don't trample the plants. If you make them angry, they might spit peas at your head."
"Mm." Yimi hurriedly reached out to pat the leaves in front of her.
Previously, afraid she'd sneak off to destroy the bell peppers, Tomohisa had told her that enraged bell peppers might turn red and explode, burning down the entire garden—and then there'd be no one to protect her from Diego while she slept. So Yimi regarded Tomohisa's vegetable garden with the utmost respect.
"Eating dinner at home tonight?" Tomohisa placed a bacon-and-egg plate shaped into a smiley face on Tatsuya's dish, then started making Yimi's.
Madoka had already eaten the pork-floss bun Yimi gave her, so she probably didn't have room for breakfast.
"No, I'm meeting up with Homura for dinner." Madoka bent down to change her shoes.
"That girl, huh..."
Tomohisa already knew everything—looping through the timeline countless times for Madoka's sake, she must have endured so much pain.
"Be home by ten. Call me if anything happens. From now on, leave Mitakihara's protection to me."
"Mm, thanks, Dad."
Madoka slung her shopping bag over her shoulder and headed out, gazing at the sunlight streaming through the window.
Nobody had forgotten her. No matter how you looked at it, this counted as a happy ending. Witches no longer existed in this world, and the fate of Magical Girls inevitably becoming Witches had been undone.
"So we're even now! You chasing me around is just being unreasonable at this point!"
"How are we even? Me lightly tapping your cheek and you throwing a full-force punch at me—are those the same thing? And you think you can just brush that off..."
"'Lightly,' you say? That's real easy for you to claim."
"Ah, if you didn't want me getting payback, then why did you transfer to Mitakihara? You're definitely hooked on this! Weren't you the one who said school was pointless?"
"Ugh, I can't believe you'd say that about me..."
Sayaka and Kyoko rushed past, each brandishing a broom and roughhousing like a pair of boys—except the crack-crack-crack of brooms clashing didn't sound like mere play-fighting.
Those two were still getting along as well as ever.
For reasons unknown, the girls Yimi had modified, along with Homura who'd witnessed everything firsthand as a time traveler, hadn't lost their memories of Witches. Only the chain of events triggered by Witches had been revised.
The Law of Cycles still existed as a divinity. Because of that Lemon, it still had to maintain the laws governing energy—that little rascal Yimi had created something so dangerous without a word. She deserved a good scolding for that.
Kyubey's actions had been far too reckless as well. Claiming it was all for the continuation of the universe, yet it had shown virtually zero regard for risk. If someone with a karmic burden as massive as her own had become a Witch through the normal process, the threat would have been unimaginable. That creature deserved proper punishment.
"Madoka..."
"What is it, Homura?"
"No, it's nothing." Homura sat on the bench, shyly lowering her gaze to her feet pressed neatly together.
Homura was slowly reverting to how she used to be. Why had she instinctively used the word "used to"?
Madoka smiled at her, but deliberately steered the conversation toward a topic Homura wouldn't want to hear: "Come to think of it, I remember all of it now—every single time I met you across those countless loops."
"Mm..." Homura let out a soft hum.
Madoka feigned puzzlement. "But something's strange. I couldn't find a single timeline where Homura and I actually became lovers. Did I remember wrong? Or was Homura hoping for this outcome all along, so she deliberately lied to me?"
"Th-that was... to get Madoka to trust me."
"Is that so?" Madoka looked down at her hands folded in her lap. "You're right, I'm sorry, Homura. You forced yourself to hold hands with me in public even though it disgusted you, all for my sake..."
"It wasn't disgusting!" Homura reached her hand over.
Madoka let out a soft laugh.
Only then did Homura realize she'd been teased.
When had sweet little Madoka turned into this kind of kid?
Then it was Madoka's turn to shyly stare at her feet: "Also, deliberately telling me Soul Gems were actually that thing—that was... a kink of yours, Homura?"
"..."
Homura looked down at the shield she'd used to restart timelines. But she couldn't restart anymore.
"What are you two doing here?" Yimi stared blankly at the two of them sitting pressed together.
Little cats liked sitting close to people too.
She plopped right down on Madoka's lap and peered up at her, baffled.
She'd eaten that thing even cats wouldn't dare touch carelessly, and nothing had happened at all.
Madoka wrapped her arms around Yimi's waist to keep her seated properly. "Did you follow me out, Yimi? Or are you just out playing on your own?"
"I came to, say goodbye." Yimi wriggled her bottom, adjusting into a comfortable position to lie back. "I want to take Xiaobai with me."
"Is that so? You're leaving already?" Madoka rubbed Yimi's tummy, not particularly surprised. "Make sure you say proper goodbyes to everyone."
"I'll come see you again later." Yimi patted Homura, who was staring fixedly at her from the side. "I left a present, at your house."
Homura's heart skipped a beat.
...
With something weighing on her mind, the date was anything but relaxing.
Homura rushed straight to her kitchen the moment she got home. Thankfully there were no signs it had been used, but she spotted something unusual on the table.
A handwritten note, scrawled in messy characters—riddled with spelling mistakes, with black blotches where words had been crossed out.
"You wouldn't let kitty see your Soul Gem, so kitty made a new modification item. Eat it and your Soul Gem won't get corrupted anymore (^_^). The lady at the fruit stand said this one is super sweet. She said she doesn't lie to kids. Try to eat all of it."
"..." Homura set down the note.
She reached out and touched the sugarcane lying on the table.
—
"I'm home!"
Junko returned from work, cheerfully stretching her arms. "I don't know what happened, but our competitor actually backed down on their own. Do you guys want any toys? Today only—I'll buy whatever you want."
"Toys! Balloons!" Tatsuya responded happily.
"That wish actually makes you seem pretty easy to please." Junko glanced at Madoka helping out in the kitchen, somewhat puzzled. "You're home this early? I figured midnight at least."
"No way it'd be that late."
"Fair point. Yimi?" Junko knocked on Yimi's bedroom door. No answer.
She pushed the door open, found no one inside, and looked toward the kitchen in confusion. "Madoka, where's your sister?"
"She went home." Madoka tugged at her father's sleeve.
Tomohisa cooperated, albeit reluctantly. "Her birth parents came to get her. Said they'd lost track of her by accident. I checked them out—they're really good people. That kid will come visit us often."
Junko pinched the bridge of her nose and sat down at the dining table. "You might as well have just told me she's a magical creature who went back to Magic Fairy Castle."
She was merely an overworked adult who'd lost most of her capacity for fantasy. That didn't mean she couldn't sense anything at all.
"Don't worry, Mom." Madoka placed her hand over her heart, head bowed. "No matter where she is, I will always bless her."
...
...
Lonely.
Home alone, Mami Tomoe lay slumped across her table.
The last companion who'd stayed with her—Kyubey—she'd refused to let it remain at her side. Though she hadn't seen it in quite a long time now anyway.
So much had happened. She still hadn't come back to her senses even now. First order of business: find a way to earn Kyoko's forgiveness. Even though that girl no longer needed her standing beside her.
Mami shook her head. "God..."
Walking through her apartment, her foot landed squarely on something soft, drawing a startled yelp from it.
The plush doll that had once nearly ambushed and killed her had somehow escaped from the Law of Cycles. It opened its mouth and clamped down on her toe.