7.4 The Plan Iroha Thought Up

in Iroha's bedroom

Iroha: "sniff... I won't believe what those feathers said!"

7.4.1

[in Iroha's bedroom at Yachiyo's house; Iroha is in pajamas]

Iroha: (Even if we line up all the rumors that we've erased, we don't have any leads...)

(Even at Banbanzai, we couldn't find any trace of where Tsuruno went...)

(These past few days, we haven't been able to grasp hold of any leads just by thinking...)

[flashback to the alley]

white feather: "No matter how much you call for them and search for them, you cannot save your friends anymore."

[back in the bedroom]

Iroha: "..."

[flashback to Christmas]

Tsuruno: "Check this out, Iroha-chan! We made a flag to advertise Banbanzai!"

Felicia: "I drew the picture, you know! Isn't this pig awesome!?"

Sana: "If I carry it, nobody will be able to see me..."

"So maybe the ad will be like a magic show!"

Tsuruno: "With this, business will be roaring!"

Felicia: "It'll be awesome!"

Yachiyo: "More importantly, shouldn't you improve the food instead?"

[back to Iroha's room]

Iroha: "sniff..."

"I mustn't..."

(I'm the leader, so I need to keep it together.)

"...No matter how much you call for them and search for them, you cannot save your friends anymore..."

"I don't believe that."

"Until I see them with my own eyes, I won't believe it."

"Yes..."

"In the end, we have to contact the Wings of Magius and ask them..."

"To do that, we need to find a rumor..."

"..."

"...A rumor..."

[flashback to Ai-chan's labyrinth]

Ai: >|Aas aa *rumor*|

>|I_kKNOw_TamaKIui...|

[flashback to the Memory Museum]

Touka: "Maybe it's Tamaki Iroha, not me, who's wrong?"

[flashback to the living room]

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

[back to her bedroom]

Iroha: "..."

mini-Kyubey: "Keep it together!" or "You should think about it some more." I'll pick the latter.

Iroha: "No, I'm fine."

"I'll try to forget about it."

"More importantly, I need to think of some way to find Tsuruno-chan and the others..."

[it is now day]

[in Yachiyo's living room, with Iroha, Yachiyo, and Momoko]

Yachiyo: "That Tsuruno and Felicia haven't returned means..."

"There has to be some kind of base where they can live..."

"They can't just wander around randomly forever..."

Iroha: "..."

Momoko: "But investigating that would mean spending quite a long time..."

"So do we have no choice but to contact a black feather or something?"

Yachiyo: "In the end, maybe..."

Iroha: "Um, if that's the case, I have a proposal."

Momoko: "Oh, really?"

Iroha: "Yeah, but I don't know how helpful it'll end up being."

Yachiyo: "I'm just glad that you have an idea. Could we hear it?"

[insert image of the map of Kamihama with various colored X marks on it.]

Iroha: *Why don't we go around once more and erase rumors?*

*They don't even have to be particularly dangerous rumors, we can include rumors that don't hurt people.*

Yachiyo: *In the end, isn't this just to make contact with the Wings of Magius?*

Iroha: *Yes.*

*But this time, we should be as flashy as possible as we go through all the wards of the city.*

*If we do that, our opponents might respond more actively.*

*With this, we might be able to find out where their base is.*

[back to the living room]

Momoko: "So for example..."

"If in the Sankyou Ward, the Wings of Magius appear right away when we fight a rumor..."

"Then there's a chance their base will be nearby."

"Is that what you're thinking?"

Iroha: "Yes, that's why I want to cover as many places as possible."

Yachiyo: "...Okay, why don't we try it."

"Rather than wearing ourselves out thinking, we should go out and do something."

Iroha: "Yes!"

Yachiyo: "And if the Wings of Magius appear, that would be nice."

"We can catch one of them and have them spit out where they're keeping Tsuruno and the others."

Iroha: "That would certainly be a faster way to do it."

Momoko: "Then, my role will be..."

Yachiyo: "You shouldn't push yourself too hard."

Momoko: "Huh? Wait, but..."

Yachiyo: "You haven't resolved things with Kaede yet, have you?"

Momoko: "Uhh, yeah..."

Yachiyo: "You should go be with Kaede."

"For going around erasing rumors, I'll be fine with just Iroha."

Momoko: "..."

"Sorry, Yachiyo-san."

"But, I'll gather grief seeds for you."

Yachiyo: "That will be more than enough."

Iroha: "Well then, Yachiyo-san."

Yachiyo: "Yes, let's go."

"On a rumor-busting tour of all the wards."

Momoko: "..."

[battle]

[at Kaede's house]

Momoko: "You still can't accept it, after all?"

Kaede: "I get it. I get it, okay?"

"I get that I'm caught in the fate of a magical girl..."

"I understand completely..."

"But..."

Momoko: "You're scared?"

Kaede: "Yeah..."

"Even though I know that we turn into witches, nothing up until now has actually changed."

"Fighting... is somehow..."

"Scary now..."

"I'm sorry, Momoko-cha... fuyuu"

Momoko: "Well sure..."

"That's the fate we bear..."

"It's too much to handle all on your own..."

"I think that if I were alone, I would be scared too..."

Kaede: "You too, Momoko-chan?"

Momoko: "Well, I *am* scared."

"But Kaede..."

"That's exactly the reason why we formed a team."

"It's not just to help each other fight witches."

"It's also so that we can sympathize with each other's worries."

"In our case, it just so happens, that might be the issue of turning into witches."

Kaede: "Yeah..."

Momoko: "Having friends who are so quick to understand and help each other..."

"Even if we searched the whole school, we wouldn't find anyone else."

Kaede: "Yeah..."

[Momoko hugs Kaede]

Momoko: "It'll be okay, Kaede."

"You don't have to bear this fate alone."

"Rena and I will be by your side to help you bear it."

Kaede: "Thank you, Momoko-chan..."

Momoko: "Yeah."

"Well, at least, that's what Yachiyo-san told me."

Kaede: "Still, I'm glad..."