7.1 The Three Disappeared, and Then...

in Iroha's bedroom

Iroha: "I wonder where they are... I've gotta quickly find them and save them..."

7.1.1

[black screen]

Iroha: *I became team leader...*

*The day Yachiyo-san suddenly became cold, the day she said she was dissolving the team, and the day I learned of her suffering.*

*That's what I swore.*

*But...*

[flashback to the Memory Museum rumor]

Iroha: "Please, Touka-chan! Don't take them away!"

Touka: "Huuuh?"

"Noooo way!"

"Ehehe"

"See ya, Tamaki Iroha and veteran-san."

"The Strongest here and the others, come with Mifuyu and me."

Tsuruno: "Okay..."

Felicia: "Got it..."

Sana: "I'm going now..."

[black screen]

Iroha: *Tsuruno-chan and Felicia-chan and Sana-chan...*

*They were all brainwashed and taken to the Wings of Magius.*

[Iroha appears]

Iroha: "I've gotta find everyone and undo the brainwashing..."

"And then once again, I'll reform the Mikadzuki House Team."

[Ui appears]

Iroha: "I'm sorry, Ui."

"Your big sister has to go help some people she cares about now."

"Wait just a bit longer, okay?"

[flashback to the Memory Museum rumor]

Touka: "It seems like I'm different from how Tamaki Iroha remembers me."

"So maybe it's Tamaki Iroha, not me, who's wrong?"

**Chapter 7**

**The Eve of Awakening to Paradise**

[in Yachiyo's house]

Yachiyo: "Well, the kitchen is all cleaned up. How is it going with you, Iroha?"

Iroha: "I'm already nearly finished."

Yachiyo: "It's amazing, how sparkling clean the floors are."

Iroha: "Yes, I worked hard."

"I want everyone to receive my feelings when they come back."

Yachiyo: "That's right, cleaning is almost a bit like praying."

Iroha: "Yeah..."

[insert image of five color-coded cherry-blossom shaped coasters]

Iroha: (When everyone gets back, we'll give these to Yachiyo-san...)

(These coasters we all bought...)

(This time, it'll be a symbol of our team reuniting...)

[back to the living room]

Yachiyo: "But anyway, there are way too many things we have to worry about."

"Everyone having been brainwashed, but also the issue of your memories."

"For Kaname-san and the others, they have to think about Tomoe-san..."

Iroha: "Yes.."

Yachiyo: "I wonder how things are over in Mitakihara..."

Iroha: "I sent a message to Madoka-chan..."

"But she hasn't replied at all..."

"I wonder what's going on..."

Yachiyo: "Yes..."

"They might have something troublesome to deal with over there..."

Iroha: "Really, it's such trouble..."

"sigh..."

"I wonder where Tsuruno-chan and the others are..."

[battle]

[We see Tsuruno, Felicia, and Sana in a room; Tsuruno looks dead-eyed]

Tsuruno: "We didn't decide to cooperate with you..."

"Just to sit still in here.."

Felicia: "That's right."

"I came here because I believe you'll make a world without witches."

Sana: "And I came because you said you could free me from my wish..."

"So, please give us..."

Felicia: "Something to do!"

Tsuruno: "Give us a mission that will help free us from the fate that binds us."

Mifuyu: "It's as you can see, Touka."

"The brainwashing from the Memory Museum is still holding."

Touka: "Mmm? Hmmm, do you really think so?"

"Although as far as I can tell, it's as you say, I guess?"

Alina: "Aha"

"I think that's just because of how attractive the prospect of release is."

"It's so effective at changing minds that you wouldn't know they were our enemies up until yesterday."

"Thinking about how humans are like this gives me the shivers!"

Touka: "Hmm, Mifuyu's memories might also be affecting them..."

"They might have been brainwashed more than usual."

"Ah, perhaps..."

"Maybe the Memory Museum targeted the moment when they stopped thinking!"

"If the alpha and theta waves in their brains are slowed down..."

"Maybe you can more deeply brainwash someone!?"

Mifuyu: "However, now that the rumor has disappeared, no matter how strong the brainwashing..."

"We have no assurance that it will not come undone."

Touka: "In that case, we'll stimulate their cell group A10 neurons and make them cling to the idea of release even further."

Mifuyu: "What does that mean?"

Touka: "While they're still brainwashed, we'll have them accomplish something."

"If we do that, their A10 neurons will emit dopamine."

"The harder the task, the more the pleasure they will experience when they complete it."

"With more endorphins gushing out the brainwashing might grow even stronger."

"Ehehe"

Mifuyu: "What about the danger of letting them out of this room? Have you thought about that?"

Touka: "Yeah, after repeated failures the experiment yielded a result."

"There's no method we shouldn't try, right?"

Mifuyu: "That's true..."

Touka: "Uh-huh, so for now, if we're going to choose..."

"Hmmmmmmmmm..."

[we see Felicia, Sana, and Tsuruno in turn]

Touka: "Alright, I choose the Strongest!"

Alina: "I agree."

Mifuyu: "Wait just a moment, Touka."

"What do you plan on having Tsuruno-san do?"

Touka: "Isn't that obvious?"

"The *hatching of the eve* is close, right? We can't stay still any longer!"

"It's so close, but Tamaki Iroha is erasing the rumors."

"Even if we tell her to stop, she won't, will she?"

"With that being the case, there's no need for us to take this slowly, is there?"

"I want to end it quickly."

Mifuyu: "But..."

Touka: "Come on, come with us, Strongest-san!"

Tsuruno: "Yeah, I'll do anything I'm able to."

Mifuyu: "Wait!"

"Touka, Alina, please tell me what you plan on having Tsuruno-san do."

Alina: "It's not very complicated."

"We'll just have this Strongest kill a lot for us."

Mifuyu: "Kill... What on earth will you have her kill!?"

Touka: "A lot of rumors got killed too, you know."

"Ehe"

7.1.2

[insert image of a map of Kamihama with X marks on it]

Iroha: *'Breakup Rule'*

*'Kuchiyose Shrine'*

*'Misery Water'*

*'Nameless'*

*'Memory Museum'*

[more X marks appear]

Yachiyo: *And these are rumors I've erased up until now.*

[in Yachiyo's house]

Iroha: "Hmm..."

"I thought that if we lined up the rumors, we'd be able to figure something out..."

Yachiyo: "Yeah..."

"Either where Tsuruno and the others are, or the Wings of Magius base..."

"From here we can see..."

Iroha: "We can see...?"

mini-Kyubey: "Nothing..." or "Magius's Location!"; I'll pick the second.

Iroha: "Hmm, it doesn't look like anything..."

Yachiyo: "Yeah, there's no pattern to it..."

"For that matter, the rumors we've erased..."

"Thinking about it, this is probably only a fraction of the total number."

Iroha: "But we don't have any leads other than investigating their locations..."

"sigh..."

"Since the Memory Museum rumor went away..."

"Do you think the brainwashing will wear off and everyone will come back?"

Yachiyo: "Depending on the situation, that might be the worst possible scenario..."

Iroha: "You think so?"

Yachiyo: "If the brainwashing wears off among the enemies, we can't know what will be done to them..."

Iroha: "After all, they would even brainwash people using a rumor..."

"..."

Yachiyo: "Let's think for a bit more..."

"At least, tomorrow we can check out Tsuruno's house. I have an errand to run as well."

Iroha: "That's right..."

Yachiyo: "Well, I'll take a bath first."

Iroha: "Okay."

"Ah, Yachiyo-san."

Yachiyo: "Hm?"

Iroha: "Could I take a look at the Kamihama Rumor Files?"

Yachiyo: "Yeah, go ahead. Read as much as you'd like."

Iroha: "Thank you."

[Yachiyo leaves]

Iroha: "..."

[insert image of a locked notebook with Yachiyo's theme, saying The Imaginator on the cover]

Iroha: *This is Yachiyo-san's summary of all the rumors in Kamihama, the Kamihama Rumor Files.*

*The contents and location of the rumors all have neatly hand-written summaries.*

*These are the rumors that she has defeated up until now.*

*And these are rumors that she didn't follow up on.*

*These are rumors that she only knew the name and location of.*

[back to the living room]

Iroha: (I didn't have a chance to see it before, but there were this many?)

(I wonder if there's any rumor where we could encounter the Wings of Magius...)

"..."

"..."

"Huh?"

"..."

(The rumors in this area...)

"Somehow, I feel like I know them..."

[fade to white, then gray]

Iroha: *...*

*...*

???: *Iroha...*

*Iroha!*

[back to the living room; Iroha wakes up slowly]

Iroha: "Yachiyo-san?"

Yachiyo: "You left the file open and fell asleep."

Iroha: "!?"

"I-I'm sorry!"

Yachiyo: "You must be tired."

"You should take a bath and get to sleep, Iroha."

"Instead of working yourself to the point of collapse, you should prepare for tomorrow."

Iroha: "Yes, I'll do that."

"..."