Bonus Chapter at 900 PS
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In early September, the entire market was struck by the unstoppable force of the Madoka Magica phenomenon.
Meanwhile, in a residential complex near the university, Shizuru was hunched over her drawing desk, fully immersed in the latest pages of Initial D. She heard a knock at the door and welcomed a visitor.
"Hey there." Haruto stepped inside, carrying an exquisitely wrapped gift bag.
Shizuru had originally lived in the university dormitories, but after partnering with Haruto for the manga, she had moved out to this apartment to focus on her work in peace. Haruto usually avoided dropping by unannounced to ensure she had her space, so his sudden arrival caught her by surprise.
"What's all this?" Shizuru asked, eyeing the gift box with curiosity.
"Remember what I said? I promised you a surprise as a return gift for the pendant you gave me once the Madoka Magica discs were out," Haruto said with a smile. "Well, here it is." He handed the box over to her.
"A return gift?" Shizuru immediately thought of his promise regarding a signed copy from the Warrior of Love. "You actually remembered that?" She took the box, her face lighting up with joy.
"I remember everything I say."
Haruto watched her, a warm expression on his face. Shizuru was naturally cheerful, and her smile revealed two cute little snaggleteeths.
For the past two weeks, Haruto had been buried under the logistical nightmare of the movie launch, which meant he had slightly neglected Initial D. He hadn't even participated in the recent promotional tours, leaving Shizuru and their editor, Katashi, to travel across the country alone.
Despite his absence from the marketing trail, Initial D remained rock-solid. For two consecutive weeks, it had held the number two spot in Weekly Prime. However, the gap between it and the reigning champion, The Forbidden Gate, was a stubborn margin of a few tens of thousands of votes that seemed impossible to cross.
Haruto understood why. The industry was highly competitive. While Madoka and Initial D were outliers, titles like The Forbidden Gate weren't exactly garbage. It was a top-tier work with a massive, entrenched fanbase. It was only natural for the battle for the throne to reach a stalemate.
However, that was largely because Initial D was currently in a transitional arc. Once the story hit its next major peak, the situation would shift.
Shizuru held the box, hesitating for a moment. She didn't open it immediately, as she felt it would be impolite to do so right in front of him.
They spent a little while discussing the direction of the upcoming manga chapters. .
As they talked, Shizuru noticed the faint lines of fatigue on Haruto's face as he stared blankly at the clouds outside the window.
"You look like you've been pushed to your limit lately," she noted softly.
"I suppose that's true." Haruto quickly adjusted his expression and sat up straight.
Over the last week, he chaired over a dozen high-stakes meetings at Haru-Yuki Animation, making final executive decisions on everything from distribution to production.
"If you need to rest, you can use the sofa," Shizuru suggested.
"No, that won't be necessary," Haruto said, standing up. "Now that we've cleared up the workflow, I shouldn't overstay my welcome."
"You're always so formal," Shizuru grumbled as she watched him head for the door.
"It's not formality. You and I are both high-profile figures in the manga world now. I don't mind the gossip, but I have to consider your reputation. If a reporter followed me here and wrote something sensational, it could be bad for you," Haruto explained. "Besides, if you get a boyfriend in the future, he might have something to say about a guy lingering in your apartment."
Haruto continued toward the door, but just before leaving, he turned back with a meaningful smirk.
"You should definitely open that gift today. If you wait until the day after tomorrow, its value is going to plummet."
After the door clicked shut, Shizuru looked at the box on the table with a puzzled expression. 'Value drops after the day after tomorrow? What does that mean?'
She tore the gift wrap open. Inside was a Blu-ray case for The Rebellion Story. She blinked at the cover. Then, her eyes went wide.
She read the text on the box, syllable by syllable.
"Volume... Two?"
Shizuru's pupils dilated. Volume Two? The conclusion of the movie wasn't scheduled for release until the day after tomorrow! How on earth did Haruto get his hands on it?
Inside the case, alongside the disc, was a signature card.
It bore the name Warrior of Love in bold, elegant calligraphy not a quick scrawl, but the kind of careful writing done with a traditional ink brush.
"What is going on?" Shizuru whispered, her mind reeling. "Are Haruto and the Warrior of Love really that close? He got an unreleased disc and a custom-inked signature?"
A surge of warmth and excitement flooded her heart. If Haruto had given her anything else, she would have been happy, but giving her a chance to see the finale before millions of other fans in the country? That was the ultimate gift for a hardcore fan.
Suddenly, she didn't care about drawing manga anymore. She grabbed the disc and sprinted toward her player. This was a priority.
She might not know how many copies the movie would eventually sell, but she knew one thing.
She was about to become the first person in the country outside of the production staff to see the ending.
---
One day later, the first-week sales figures for The Rebellion Story: Volume 1 were officially released.
First-week sales: 1,423,165 copies.
The number sent a tremor through the animation industry. Producers and directors across the city rubbed their eyes and refreshed their screens.
This wasn't even a lifetime total; it was the result of just seven days. And that was in a market where the product was plagued by massive supply shortages.
Is this show actually going to rewrite the history books? they wondered. If the production capacity actually met the demand, how many millions would this thing have moved?
But the industry didn't have time to process the shock. The following day, the second volume of the movie was released nationwide. Having suffered through the shortages and scalper prices of Volume 1, the fans were taking no chances. On launch day, thousands of people woke up at 4:00 AM, hopped on their scooters or bikes, and raced to the nearest electronics or hobby shops to secure a spot in line.
Bashira had thought she was being diligent by arriving early, but when she reached her local shop, a line of dozens of people already snaked around the corner.
"Hey, you're an early bird too, huh?" a guy in line joked.
"Here for the Madoka finale?" another asked.
"What choice do we have? Haru-Yuki Animation is so small, their distribution is a mess. Production is low, the shops have no stock... I'd rather lose a night of sleep than give my hard-earned money to a scalper for the second volume."
"I wonder how many copies this shop actually got," someone whispered. "I hope this line of a hundred people doesn't buy them all out before we reach the front."
"I just hope there aren't any resellers in front of us. If the owner opens the door and the first guy says 'I'll take the whole pallet,' I'm going to lose it."
The nervous murmurs of the crowd kept Bashira on edge.
After three hours of waiting, the shutters finally rolled up at 7:30 AM. The line slowly began to move. Although she saw a few people buying multiple copies, the shop had stocked up heavily this time.
By the time she reached the register, the Limited Edition sets were gone, but the Standard Edition was still available.
"That will be 6,900 yen, please," the clerk said with a tired smile.
Bashira paid and hurried home, her pace quickening with every step. She tore the plastic off, popped the disc into her player, and held her breath. The screen flickered to life.
The cliffhanger from the previous week, the battle between Homura and Sayaka, turned out to be a brief skirmish. Once Homura's time-stop ended, the Mermaid Witch vanished into the shadows. As Homura realized they were all trapped in an elaborate Labyrinth, her fear turned into rage.
She was furious that someone would dare to desecrate the world Madoka sacrificed herself to create. Someone had become a witch and dragged everyone into this artificial reality. But then, Homura found Madoka.
Her rage melted instantly. In front of Madoka, Homura's stoic facade crumbled. She fell to her knees in a field of flowers, weeping and pouring out her soul, telling Madoka everything she had endured.
"That... sounds like a very sad dream," Madoka said softly, pulling Homura into a warm embrace. "But it's okay. I would never go somewhere so far away that I could never see any of you again."
"How can you be so sure?" Homura asked, her eyes searching Madoka's face with desperate hope.
If this was a Labyrinth, what was this Madoka? Was she a puppet created by a witch, or was she something else?
"The thought of Homura-chan being sad because of me... how could I ever bear that?"
That was the pivotal line of the movie.
As Madoka confessed that she never wanted to leave, that she hated the idea of being alone in a place where no one could reach her, the light in Homura's eyes shifted.
If these were Madoka's true feelings, then the act of her becoming the Law of Cycles, the sacrifice that saved the world, was a tragedy.
It was a mistake that needed to be corrected.
"Is it really something you can't bear?" Homura asked, her pupils dilating.
"I don't want to be apart from anyone. Even if there was no other way... I don't think I would have the courage to do it."
Madoka's gentle voice struck Homura's soul like a lightning bolt.
This was the truth.
And because of these words, Homura knew that the person in front of her was the real Madoka, not a witch, not a minion, and not an illusion. She was the girl Homura had spent a decade trying to save.
Bashira felt a chill run down her spine. It's really her! This wasn't a trick. This was the real Madoka, back at Homura's side, supporting her even within the confines of this nightmare.
Bashira's eyes grew red.
The bond between these two, the depth of the emotions they held for each other... It was overwhelming.
Madoka's sacrifice had left Homura without a purpose. But now that she had heard Madoka say she never wanted to leave, what would Homura do? Would she try to reset time again? Would she use her power to "fix" the past one more time?