(See the end of the chapter for notes .)

Chapter Text

“Don’t forget…”

“Always, somewhere… Someone is fighting for you…”

“As long as you remember her, you are not alone.”

ONE YEAR LATER…

Darkness looms over the city of Mitakihara, with only the moon and the stars countering it. All is peaceful… until a pink blur disrupts the silent harmony. Passing by the welcome sign, the flash of pink is followed by a dark streak and the revving of a motorcycle.

“S-Stay away from me!”

A pink arrow fires in retaliation at the figure on the bike, who swiftly dodges with a nonchalant head tilt. Another arrow soars through the empty walkway, hitting the motorcycle. Taking the brief window of time before it detonates, the figure leaps into the sky and out of the impending explosion.

It tumbles to the ground before regaining its footing to see a girl clad in white and pink make her getaway. It wastes no time, picking up speed on foot.

Her long flowing ponytail and coat flap through the cold autumn air, Iroha Tamaki is in for the run of her life. One minute she was fighting Witches, the next minute she is being hunted down by a mysterious helmet-wearing man.

No matter how fast she could run, not even her Magical Girl form could keep him from catching up. Her mind filled with constant questions: Who was he? Where did he come from? How does he know about Magical Girls? Why does he want to kill her?

CLANG!

“Kyah!”

Something smashed into the ground, narrowly missing her foot. Iroha instantly turns around, only to see that man getting ever closer even without his vehicle.

Letting out an uncontrollable yelp of bewilderment, the girl looks forward to see a building in front of her. Muttering a silent prayer of hope, Iroha musters all of her strength to jump. She soars into the air and onto the rooftop.

“Haah… hah…” She pants. Dizzily, she topples over onto a radiator to look at her Soul Gem. Blotches of black dance around the warm pink light, no doubt caused by the magic spent to run from her home town to Mitakihara. She digs through her pockets, looking for a Grief Cube…

CLANG!

An object so fast, Iroha couldn’t tell what it even is smashes into the radiator. It instantly begins to dissolve into small metallic cubes as she turns around to see the man finish his own jump to the roof!

“Who… are you?!” Iroha desperately shouts. “W-What do you want from me?! Please!”

No response, just another windup for a throw. Iroha knows he won’t speak up, as she continues sprinting. She leaps across the roof to hear another loud clang, landing onto another building with a roll. Turning around, she sees the man jump just as high as her, making him an easy target.

Taking aim with her arm-mounted crossbow, Iroha lets loose several arrow strikes at him. All land bullseye as they pierce his torso and legs. The figure falls in the gap between buildings, not even letting out a single yell.

Iroha would check, but she knows it would be foolish. She dashes across a couple more buildings before sliding down into an alleyway. Letting out a sharp exhale, she detransforms. Her magical attire expels itself to reveal her school uniform as her head rests on the side of a dumpster.

“Eww…” Iroha groans. The smell is less than ideal, but at this point she’ll take anything to rest on. She digs through her pockets, fishing out her Grief Cube at last. Pressing it to her Soul Gem, she makes a mental note to warn her friends about this later.

“Why…? Why was he after me?” She asks herself, not as if she would get any answers. “I just wanna go back to my sister and-“

Iroha finds herself falling backwards, feeling the dumpster almost disappear behind her as she passes through its dissolving form. All her eyes could see is a rain of cubes around her before slamming down onto the concrete.

Blood lightly spills onto the floor as Iroha struggles to stand, noticing the figure stand just outside the alleyway.

“How…?!”

Iroha scrambles to pick her up her fallen Soul Gem, but the same object he holds whizzes past her right arm, cutting it off.

“Gah!”

It bounces off the wall behind her and cuts right through her left arm.

“Aaagh!”

Iroha helplessly watches as her arms dissolve to the point that she couldn’t tell the remains of herself apart from what was once trash.

Her eyes dart back to the slowly approaching figure of death as she pleads.

“Please, d-don’t kill me! I’ll do anything! What do you want, I’ll give it! Just please… let me go! Please!”

She stares into the helmet as he comes into view, her terrified expression reflecting off of it. She couldn’t see anything past it, no face, and no sign of remorse.

Thrusting his weapon forward, he presses it against Iroha’s chest. The poor girl could only let out a choked whimper before breathing her last breath. Her eyes flutter shut as her entire being decomposes into blocks that spill onto the floor.

All that remains of Iroha Tamaki is her glimmering Soul Gem. The figure picks it up and looks to the sky, letting out a garbled command before disappearing in a flash of light.

The alleyway now lies unoccupied, cubes scattering the area as the shadow of a catlike figure approaches.

“…Intriguing.”