July 2025

  ***

  Ayame arrived back home in her apartment; conveniently enough, this meant she came directly out of the space of many doors through her own front door, thanks to the dimensional key Janus gave her. As soon as the click of the lock rang through the entrance hall of her apartment, tears accumulated in her eyes.

  She played the strong woman who took the entire situation with a smile. The woman who would stand by the side of her lovers no matter what, made a few crude jokes and brought everyone back on track. She was glad that Seika and Miori appeared to appreciate her playing these roles, but in truth, she hurt terribly on the inside, even more so after learning that the one who almost killed Seika and Miori was her ex-girlfriend, Maria Hattori.

  It's my fault…! If I had reported her to the police after she abused me, then maybe…!

  Ayame sobbed quietly in her bed for the rest of the night.

  ***

  “Here, Miss Takanashi. A portal ring back to Madame Bille’s place, a protective charm, and a few arrow spell rings. Strictly for self-defense.”

  The girl standing in front of her, right in the middle of her own living room, was Mana Kanno. She met her before at MagiColle; she was the agency’s youngest author, fifteen years old while writing a pirate story. Also, a witch, as Ayame found out when her and Seika started dating. A dimensional traveler wielding mystic powers, who grew a set of extra ears and a tail not long ago. Only two days ago, in fact.

  “Strictly for self-defense?” Ayame furrowed her brow, looking the young girl in the eyes.

  “Well, it’s only a few shots in total. Not like you could fight with them extensively. The charm will keep you safe if you’re ambushed, the arrows will keep would-be attackers busy, and the portal will immediately bring you to a safe location with a powerful protector.”

  Ayame looked at the little pile of jewelry in her hand and let out a little sigh, weighing the small mound of gold up and down.

  “You’re right, it’s not a lot. But is this necessary in the first place?”

  Mana’s cat ears twitched once before she answered.

  “As you told us, that Dream Empress who almost killed Miss Hitoishi and Miss Takeuchi is your ex-girlfriend. Who knows if she might come for you next time.”

  “I’m not sure she would,” Ayame mentioned with a furrowed brow.

  “Oh? Why?” Mana now asked curiously.

  “She was out for revenge, and as far as she knows, Seika and Miori are dead.”

  “Right, Madame Bille mentioned something like that. And we’re supposed to let her believe that they are dead, yes?”

  Ayame nodded before she responded. “Miyu and Momo won’t make a move, either. No one knows the Dream Empresses’ real identity, so that would just look like the idols suddenly snapped and attacked a random businesswoman.”

  Ayame held a hand on her face and let out a little groan. Annoyingly enough, here in the real world, there were consequences to one’s actions. Miori got away with enacting vigilante justice a few times, but that was only because she was an independent agent with not many ties and without anyone knowing her real identity. The Celestial Sisters, on the other hand, were a very prolific, public entity, with business email addresses, tax identification numbers, passports, and everything else that would turn a short indulgence in vigilantism into a surefire career ender and a one-way trip to prison.

  “Just make sure you keep yourself safe, Miss Takanashi. Your dau- your girlfriends still need you.”

  Ayame furrowed her brow, and the young witch cleared her throat before quickly turning around in a panic.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “Anyway I’m going to leave now, bye!”

  Mana froze in place as Ayame grabbed her by the wrist. After an awkwardly long moment of silence, she tugged on her seized arm a few times, then she put her full weight into trying to pull off Ayame, but the older woman held her in a vice-like grip.

  “Hey, young witch… I think I need you to tell me exactly what you were about to say.”

  Ayame stared at the ceiling while lying in bed, letting the words of the young witch course through her mind. She was going to be a mother to a young girl about to be born to Seika, Miori and their Deogemma partners, that was all the young witch was willing to divulge before she begged Ayame not to mention anything about it to Seika or Miori, as that could change the future – which the girl incidentally came from when she adventured with Mana.

  Ayame remembered Seika mentioning a girl from the future, but as far as she knew, she would adopt this girl. There was no word of Seika becoming anyone’s biological mother. Thinking about this possibility only made her head hurt, so she went outside instead.

  During Seika and Miori’s absence, she checked quite a few things for them to ensure that the boring normalcy of everyday life would be completely intact once they returned to their normal lives.

  There were Miori’s regulars in Snack Starlight. They witnessed Maria Hattori confronting Miori before dragging her sleeping body off, so of course Ayame checked in with them, first. Maybe she could even get some witness testimony to pin Maria’s villain activities directly on her, or so she hoped.

  However, her inquiries were fruitless. The men couldn’t remember the arrival of that woman at all; Ayame theorized that Maria must have put them to sleep afterwards and messed with their recollection of events that way.

  Next she went to MagiColle, presenting the script for volume 2 of ‘My Friend, the Magical Girl’. By now the editorial knew she was dating Seika, but aside from her getting another editor to look at her words with unbiased eyes, nothing much changed. Today, however, the atmosphere was a little tense.

  Naturally, nobody wanted to step on her toes, as they were all informed by Seika’s parents that she had been involved in a car accident that left her hospitalized, so they kept a courteous, professional distance, keeping small talk to a minimum. Watanabe greeted her with a little nod, and her meeting with her new editor went without a hitch.

  Still, none of that helped to quiet the tempest of hurt and hatred inside her, and so…

  ***

  Ayame stared up at the large tower housing ‘Hattori Designs’ in one of the higher-up suites. Her fists were balled, and her teeth creaked as she thought about her ex-girlfriend. The pain she inflicted on her paled in comparison to the anguish she brought by attacking Seika and Miori, and Ayame couldn’t simply stand here and do nothing. Or could she?

  She wore the magic rings Mana gave her on her fingers, and a kitchen knife was tucked away in her handbag. Her swirling mind was almost ready to throw caution to the wind and enter, to attack Maria and pay her back for what she did to her girlfriends, but there was something that tugged at the back of her mind.

  They are alive. If you fail, you are dead. If you succeed, you will be in jail. Either way, you won’t get to see them again.

  She let out a little curse and turned away from the large building, only to let out a shocked gasp as she saw Maria behind her.

  “What’s this? Third time’s the charm? Or have you come to enjoy being whipped?” Maria asked her in a bored-sounding voice.

  Ayame narrowed her eyes and took a step back; it took all her self-restraint to not fire one of the arrow spells she wore on her fingers at that devilish woman.

  Maria, however, simply walked towards the tower, right past Ayame.

  “I’m just messing with you. For what it’s worth: I’m sorry. You weren’t the person I was trying to punish that day. You got wrapped up in something that didn’t involve you.”

  The apology appeared as sincere as Maria was capable to deliver, but it still pissed Ayame off to no end.

  “What kind of apology is that?! Besides, it’s a little late, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe. But something good happened to me recently, so I’m in a much better mood, now. A good enough mood to apologize in the first place. Take it or leave it.”

  Maria dismissed Ayame with a wave of her hand as she entered the large office tower, leaving her behind. Ayame was furious, keeping her raging hatred contained under a neutral expression, but then she realized something. Under all that taunting was valuable information.

  She doesn’t know I’m dating them. And she definitely doesn’t know they’re still alive.

  Ayame furrowed her brow and sunk deep into thought. If Maria truly had no idea that Seika and Miori were still alive, it would be in her best interest to let her believe that for a while longer.

  She was too busy to notice that a young, blue-haired girl with cat ears stood at a nearby street corner and watched her.

  ***

  Mana let out a relieved sigh as she walked away from the office building. She had a hunch that Miss Takanashi wouldn’t simply sit still and wait for everything to be sorted out by others, so per Madame Bille’s request, she shadowed her today. She was almost ready to cast her magic to drag Miss Takanashi away from the villainess to safety if it had been necessary, but thankfully there was no need, and the older woman realized that she shouldn’t pick a fight with the Dream Empress.

  “Time to go home…”

  Mana’s thoughts went back to Marisa in her containment facility, and to Arisu’s visit tomorrow.

  “All of your moms are just as troublesome as you are…”