They gathered in Homura Akemi's apartment, seated in a loose circle, and listened as Kyoko Sakura recounted her story.
It wasn't the full picture. Just bits and pieces, really. But even those fragments were enough to leave everyone spellbound, as if they were hearing about a world that shouldn't exist.
"Now that's a real miracle. Someone actually coming back from the dead, just like that."
"Way more honest than this little creep over here."
Kyoko reached over the back of the sofa and flicked Kyubey with her finger.
"Dragon Ball War..."
"People with a strong enough desire get chosen?"
"And whoever's left standing at the end... gets any wish they want..."
Homura's lips barely moved as she whispered the words. Her hands were trembling in her lap.
Listening to Kyoko's experience, she felt something sharp twist inside her chest. Envy. Raw, aching envy.
'If only I had been the one chosen...'
Then she could have freed Madoka from this endless cycle of reincarnation once and for all.
"You talk big, but you still lost, didn't you, Kyoko?"
"Oh, shut up. At least I didn't come back empty-handed."
"Haha, that's true. And you made a friend, too! That Jonouchi guy sounds like a really good person."
Madoka's cheerful voice eased the tension in Homura's chest, just a little.
This time, against Walpurgisnacht, the odds might actually be in their favor. This could be the loop with the best chance she had ever had.
Sayaka Miki, who should have been dead, was alive and well. Better yet, she was free from the Soul Gem's chains and could use her powers without any of the old restrictions.
Kyoko hadn't died alongside her, either.
Counting herself, that meant three Magical Girls still standing. If the three of them fought together, defeating Walpurgisnacht was no longer just wishful thinking.
'Forget everything else. I have to make this count!'
Even though she hadn't been chosen for the Dragon Ball War, Homura could see the golden opportunity laid out before her.
In every previous loop, the final battle always came down to just two people: her and Madoka against Walpurgisnacht. The Contract always proved unavoidable, and she'd be forced to rewind yet again, clawing her way back to the past in another desperate attempt to change Madoka's fate.
But this time was different.
She had real allies. Sayaka Miki and Kyoko Sakura.
With all three of them fighting side by side, they could prevent the future where Madoka became a Magical Girl. She was sure of it.
"Man, Jonouchi's cards really are something else."
"If I'd known how useful they were, I would've begged him for another one. Maybe I could've brought Mami back, too."
Hands clasped behind her head, legs stretched out in the most unladylike sitting posture imaginable, Kyoko let out a regretful sigh.
"You really are greedy."
"Just be thankful for what you got."
"I don't need you telling me that!"
"Katsuya Jonouchi..." Madoka giggled. "I kind of want to meet him, too."
The heaviness had lifted from the room. Everyone seemed relaxed. Everyone except Homura.
"Hmm..."
Kyubey tilted its head, still processing.
Kyoko's story was almost too fantastical for the Incubator to accept. Contracts could grant wishes too, of course, but the system Kyubey operated under rested on an ironclad principle: miracles and magic are never free.
Becoming a Magical Girl meant gaining a wish, but the cost always came due eventually.
An entity capable of granting wishes with no cost and no consequences whatsoever...
That was deeply, profoundly concerning.
It wanted to observe. To analyze. To control.
Considering the requirement of "being chosen," Kyubey's gaze drifted toward Homura Akemi. A bold plan began taking shape.
Sayaka's anomalous resurrection had initially set off alarm bells. The Incubators had concluded that such incidents needed to be stamped out at all costs. If Magical Girls stopped becoming Witches, the energy-harvesting model would collapse. The universe required that energy.
But now, knowing that Sayaka's case was a freak accident rather than something reproducible, the urgency faded.
What interested Kyubey far more was the Dragon Ball War itself.
Direct interference wasn't an option. The Incubators' current forms and consciousness couldn't cross into that arena. They needed a proxy. Someone to go in their place.
And the perfect candidate had already presented herself.
Homura Akemi.
Her obsession with Madoka Kaname ran deeper than reason. With the right guidance, the right nudges at the right moments, the Incubators could leverage that devotion to eventually make contact with the Dragon Ball War.
Kyubey's tail swayed gently. The long-standing strategy was beginning to shift.
CRASH!
"Sayaka, it's heading your way!"
"Got it!"
Daily Witch hunts continued as usual. But this time, Kyoko and Sayaka fought as a seamless team, dispatching every target with practiced ease.
"You know what happens the more you use your magic, right? You're inching closer to becoming a Witch yourself."
"Just leave everything to me. You can sit on the sidelines."
"As if. You're not invincible. If a Witch slips past and starts hurting civilians, it'll be too late to fix."
Sayaka could tell Kyoko was only saying that because she was worried, even if she would never admit it.
"Would it kill you to just be honest for once?"
"I am being honest."
Strong Witches still showed up from time to time, but Sayaka could handle most of them on her own now. Without the Soul Gem weighing on her mind, the suffocating dread she used to carry into every fight was gone. She felt lighter than she had in a long time.
Kyoko, though, was a different story.
Every fight brought Kyoko closer to the same cliff Sayaka had already fallen from. And yet she kept showing up, kept throwing herself into danger, kept insisting on fighting alongside Sayaka without a word of complaint. Her heart was too kind for her own good.
Sayaka understood that Kyoko would never let her fight alone. But she couldn't stand the thought of watching Kyoko walk the same road she had.
This girl who had risked everything to bring her back. How could Sayaka just sit there and let her suffer the same fate?
"Hey."
"Make me a promise."
"Huh? A promise?"
Kyoko stared at the outstretched hand, bewildered.
"Right now, there's nothing you or Homura can do to escape this curse. But I'm not going to just stand by and accept that."
"Mami-san, too. Even though she's already gone, I want to save her."
"What are you even talking about?"
"What I'm saying is...!"
"This time, it's my turn to save all of you!"
"As a real Magical Girl!"
Kyoko stood frozen. In that single moment, she finally understood what was keeping Sayaka Miki going. What she was living for.
"Just you wait. I'll prove it. That Dragon Ball War, or whatever it's called..."
"I'm going to get in. Sooner or later. And when I come back, I'll be carrying a wish that saves everyone."
The fire in Sayaka's eyes was unmistakable. Kyoko looked away and said nothing to argue.
"Idiot."
"Thinking that far ahead doesn't change anything right now. You can't just sign up for the thing."
"Worry about Walpurgisnacht first. That's what's actually going to kill us if we're not ready."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She was happy. Genuinely happy that Sayaka felt this way.
She didn't shoot her down. Didn't mock the dream. She understood the feeling better than anyone.
It was the exact same way she had been. Summoned without warning, plunging in headfirst, not thinking about consequences for even a second.
And in the end, it had all worked out. She made a friend. She brought back a gift that could grant a wish.
"..."
High above on a rooftop, Homura Akemi watched the two of them in silence, her expression unreadable.
And perched on her shoulder, Kyubey tilted its head and wagged its tail.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]