Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

How could everything have gone so wrong?

The thought looping through her mind as she leaps out of the way of the many arcing swings of Ainosuke’s scythe for the umpteenth time. He moves so quickly that it’s almost like he becomes one with the blade as he spins and twirls with the grace of a trained dancer trying to cut her down. The many traps she had laid around the area having little to no effect on his single minded goal of killing her as quickly as possible. The bullets that she was raining down on his direction had an even lesser effect as he either took them head on or reflected them with ease causing them to ricochet in wild directions.

Her chances of beating him were quickly going from slim to none the longer she engages with him, she’ll have to defeat him with a quick and divisive blow up close.

Her planning is interrupted as he comes crashing down towards the ground blade poised to take her head off, she stops time at the nick of time, Ainosuke frozen in the air with the scythe centimeters away from her neck as she catches her breath, careful not to touch him, she digs through the space in her shield before her fingers catch on the weapon she was looking for. She’ll only get one chance with this attack, but she needs to buy herself some time to look for another way.

The clicking of the gears on her shield signaling the resumption of Ainosuke’s attack as he then gets a faceful of golf club hard enough to hear the snapping of bones in his neck causing him to fly backwards from Homura’s swing before hitting the concrete ground with a sickening sound.

She breathes heavily as she waits to see what he’ll do next, after all it would be foolish to believe that such an attack would actually kill him for good. Her suspicions are proven correct when he slowly picks himself off the ground, head still leaning far backwards from her blow. It hangs there limply before he uses his hands to position it back into place, grinning madly as if Homura hadn’t just snapped his neck with the blow.

“Aw poor Homura, better luck “necks” time.”

She barely even notices the bad pun as she watches as multiple small black threads start wrapping themselves around the base of his neck, as though they were keeping his neck in place for him. It can’t be Ainosuke doing it because there was no indication in her studies that he had anything close to this level of regeneration. And it was also unlikely to be another magical girl assisting him, after all he had already warned everyone else to stay inside soon after she had set off those bombs. Kyubey, who would be the most likely suspect, hasn't appeared again after shooting his head off; so then who or what could be the source of those strings?

“Hey! If you’re going to let your mind wander off now of all times, then let me just free that pretty little head from your shoulders!”

Without even looking she manages to shoot him in the shoulder, causing him to flinch back a little, clutching his arm as the strings return again to wrap around it to keep it together.

She narrows her eyes at the sight, the black coloring of the strings are familiar to her but before she can connect it with anything, Ainosuke throws his scythe at her causing it to spin at her with alarming speeds. She manages to sidestep the attempt keeping her eyes on his affected body parts; she swears that she’s seen that before, but where–

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sudden disappearance of weight on her right side

Time slows down in front of her eyes as she watches her right arm fall to the ground with a dull thud. Her face slowly turns towards the gaping wound where it had once been, blood slowly gushing out of the stump left behind.

It takes everything within her to not crumple forward from the sight, even with the muted amount of pain she can feel, it feels like hell. What she wouldn’t do for Sayaka’s stupidly strong healing capabilities right now, such a power is wasted on a stubborn girl like her.

“I’m surprised you’re still standing, most people would have gone into shock right about now. Surrender now and I promise to let you live.”

Her head is spinning, maybe from the blood loss or maybe it was from the fact that she had so easily been distracted and lost her arm in the process. Her stance is becoming more and more unsteady as she starts to sway, to the point that even Ainosuke pauses his assault. He puts his scythe down as he merely watches her, waiting for her to collapse and finally admit defeat. And why wouldn’t he? His victory is all but assured, this short fight to the death has all but proven to him that he’s dearmed her, that she’ll no longer become a threat to him. Even he has enough honor to not strike down a foe that has been defeated this badly and thoroughly.

Deep down, he is a kind child.

And like all children, he’s foolish beyond measure.

If she was him, she would have cut herself down without a second thought. She would have crushed her soul gem into the finest dust to be sure she would never return. But because he has foolishly spared her in this one decisive moment…

She’s certain she can beat him now.

The dripping of blood falling to the pavement calms her as she focuses on its rhythm, drip-drop, drip-drop, drip-drop, it reminds her of the ticking of a clock, as she lifts her head to look straight at Ainosuke Shindo.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” she chokes out, nausea rising from the depths of her stomach.

He sniffs arrogantly in response, “You still want to fight? I have you utterly and truly defeated Ms.Akemi.”

“No, no more fighting, I can beat you with just one move,” she said coughing, eyes watering while they fought to stay open.

The look of astonishment on his face is quickly smoothed over with one of contempt, “Oh? I could say the same thing, I don’t even need my scythe to crush you at this point, why don’t you just lie down and accept your fate?”

She shakes her head, dots swimming before her eyes, “I still have someone I need to protect and I won’t be stopped by anyone, least of all you,” answered Homura, her dark eyes flashing dangerously even in her mortally wounded state causing even Ainosuke to step back in shock.

He laughs in her face at the absurdity of her words, “What a surprise, I too have someone I need to save,” his eyes glinting with anticipation while raising his scythe up in preparation to strike, “Then why don’t we put our lives on the line for one final draw? My love against yours, I’m eager to prove the depths of my emotions to you, Ms.Akemi.”

Love, huh?

Is that what she feels for Madoka Kaname?

“I accept.”

He smirks at her, his eyes are hidden by the fancy domino mask he’s wearing on his face, but she can tell that they’re one of a predator about to pounce and snap the neck of its prey. She breathes in deeply, her plan is simple if not exceedingly risky, if she fails then there’s a very high chance that Ainsouke Shindo will simply just kill her and any chance of saving Madoka will be zero.

But then again, she has no doubts that she’ll succeed, that thought staying the same as she sees him raise his scythe, ready to dash to her position at a minute’s notice and cut her down where she stands. It’s strange, they have no way to signal when to attack but she feels as though she knows exactly when they’ll both spring into action to land their decisive blows on each other.

She just has to trust him to act.

They stare at each other for what feels like forever, their bodys’ tensing up and ready to strike the other. It was like they were daring the other to be the first to strike, to see who had the resolve to follow through with their clash of ideals.

Or something flowery like that.

Ainosuke is the first to move, it’s blindingly fast, one moment he is standing a good couple meters away from her and the next he’s closing the distance in mere seconds. There’s no time for her to move out of the way and as he passes her like a bullet, she can see he’s smirking as he brings the scythe up to slash her torso, believing that victory was all but assured.

It’s the signal she needs to take a running leap in the same direction, the blade hits its mark and she can feel it tearing into her chest as he passes by her. Her hand managed to close around the cold hard surface of her actual target.

He skids to a halt right behind her, before striking a pose that he probably thought looked cool, but Homura, a little too anemic to fully appreciate it, can only hobble forward a few steps, even more blood dripping onto the concrete ground.

“So much for one move, huh?” crowed Ainosuke, seconds away from gloating about his victory, “Honestly, with all the build up, I’m truly disappointed in you Miss Akemi.”

She blinks the stupor out of her head before standing straighter, her remaining hand clutching her prize like her life depends on it.

“Of course…but…I still got what I came for…you were wide open…Mr.Shindo.”

She can see in the corner of her eye that he stiffens up, before patting himself down for a moment before sighing in relief and Homura knows for certain that he for sure has the grief seed on him. It distracts her momentarily for a second but she forces herself to focus on using her magic to start reversing the damage done on her body. Once again, Sayaka’s gifts would have been a Godsend but she’ll make do, just this once.
“Do you really think that I’d be so foolish as to have something so valuable and let you so easily take it from me?” boasted Ainosuke, hiding his uncomfortable early reaction with his false bravado.

The healing of her wounds finally manages to close up the wound on her torso just enough for her to maintain a clear head as she turns her head slightly to look at him. The stump where her right arm once was, still burns and itches as she starts directing her magic to close up that wound as well.

“No, you were foolish for a different reason,” she replied, lifting her left arm up to reveal the scarlet soul gem clutched in her bloodied hand.

His face blanches at the sight, he’s stunned into silence.

“That’s the difference between my love and yours, you talk a big game about how important love is to you,” she said, inspecting the soul gem’s clear sparkle and luster, completely free from corruption, “And yet, you haven’t truly dedicated yourself to your love after all this time.”

“You–You cheated!” he cried, hate and fury rolling off him like the waves in the ocean. She can tell that the only thing stopping him from cutting her down is the soul gem in her hands.

“Did I? I said I would beat you, and I did, it’s your fault for believing that I wouldn’t stoop so low.”

“You’re a demon.”

“Of course, for her, I’ll become the lowest of the low if that means she’ll be safe,” she said, her eyes boring into him like she could see into his very existence, “I would commit the worst of sins if it means Madoka Kaname can live a normal life, and if that means I will become someone she hates, then so be it.”

He’s silent at her words, his face breaking out into a broken smile, eyes filled with despair as he chokes out, “You’ve truly been driven mad by her, haven’t you?”

“Indeed,” she answered as she brought her fist around the gem as tightly as she could, feeling the crystal under her fingers start to fissure.

Ainosuke starts to double over like he’s been punched in the gut, “What…What are you doing to me?”

“Did you ever wonder why this was called a Soul Gem? Perhaps not, you’re so blinded by your own ego that you never once stopped to question any of this, right?” she said, contemplating whether or not it would be faster to crush it in her hand or to throw it as hard as she could onto the ground, “Based on how long you’ve been in the business, I feel a bit embarrassed for you.”

“You mean…?”

“Yes, Mr.Shindo, this is quite literally your soul I’m holding in my hand.”

“No, I–Stop…it hurts! You’re going to kill me!” The pain becoming too much that he drops his scythe as his arms wrap around him in a desperate attempt to escape the agony.

“That’s the idea,” the flow of blood from her hand increases as she tightens her hold on the soul gem, “I’ll stop if you give me the grief seed.”

“I won’t give up Tadashi no matter what you do, he’s counting on me to save him.”

She sighed, “Do you honestly believe that? Even you can’t be that stupid.”

“I don’t need to hear that from you.”

She sighs again, wincing slightly as she loosens her grip slightly on the soul gem, “You know, there’s only one reason why a magical boy would ever become a grief seed and it’s by–”

“TADASHI IS NOT A WITCH!” screamed Ainosuke.

She stares at him, slightly taken aback by his outburst, “The fact that you knew what I was talking about is proof that I’m right, you know, deep down that once he becomes a witch there is no coming back from that.”

“You’re wrong, I know what I saw all those years ago,” said Ainosuke through gritted teeth, “He’s waiting for me to break it open and save him, I’ve come this far, I won’t give up now.”

It finally clicks for Homura, the strings of black circling around his body, keeping his body still functional after the numerous wounds he had sustained…it’s not a power that Ainosuke Shindo has, he would have said something about it if it was. She finally knows where she’s seen it before, all the times she had failed and Madoka had become a witch of massive proportions, the black threads making up her being would tower before her while they would wrap and absorb her hapless victims. It’s a far-fetched theory at best, but it’s not like she was lacking in time to interrogate him.

“What is Tadashi to you?”

“Like hell I’ll actually tell you,” spits Ainosuke.

She squeezes the soul gem again, and he’s once again doubling over in pain.

“Tell me.”

“He was just a gardener’s son, he meant nothing to me.”

“That’s not all he was,” she said, struggling to stay indifferent to his suffering, “You wouldn’t be so dedicated to him if he really was some nobody as you claimed.”

“Fuck off!”

She presses her thumb on one of the cracks she had made, causing it to fracture even more, his body spasms as he is finally brought to his knees in a facsimile of praying.

“Tell me.”

“He was…He was–is my…very best friend,” he says through gritted teeth, “I…I wouldn’t be who I was…if not for…him.”

“Do you know what he wished for?”

“No! I don’t know!” he wails through strangled breath, “He…never told me, not even when I begged him to…”

Her mind races as the pieces are slowly falling into place.

A grief seed that will never hatch no matter how much despair it absorbs.
Ainosuke Shindo’s most beloved after years and years of fruitless endeavors.
The telltale signs of a witch’s influence keeping him safe even under the deadliest assaults.

A wish left unspoken.
She doesn’t know whether or not to laugh or cry.
This entire trip was doomed from the very start.

The grief seed he had kept with him for this long would be of no use to her in the end.
Such devotion, even when the soul was corrupted beyond repair, the love left behind was strong enough to keep protecting Ainosuke even when the person known as Tadashi had disappeared. All wrapped up in a teeny little grief seed, the potential energy waiting to be released to this very day.

“Ten years worth of energy.” Kyubey’s previous words ringing through her ears, her eyes widening at the implication, who knows how many magical children’s despair had been absorbed, if that grief seed ever hatches…how powerful would the witch that emerges be? Surely not on the same level as Madoka’s but even the emergence of such a monster would have devastating effects on the city alone.

There’s no other way.

She must kill Ainosuke Shindo before the witch hatches.
The witch would have no reason to continue existing, neutralizing it once and for all.
She must, there is no other way.

She steels herself before smashing the scarlet soul gem onto the pavement as hard as she could.

She can hear his screaming as she watches it hurtle towards the ground.

But it never hits the concrete, nor does it shatter into a thousand little pieces.

She curses under her breath at the sight, how could she have been so foolish as to believe that the witch wouldn’t have some other way to protect Ainosuke Shindo? The small shadowy hand emerging from the darkness catching the bauble is proof enough, in fact the shadowy darkness of the alleyway is covered in the same material of a witch’s labyrinth, for once, fear starts to grip her heart, just how powerful was Tadashi’s witch?

Her answer comes quickly with tendrils of inky blackness exploding outwards from Ainosuke’s prostrating form, the continue to rise further and further skyward into the night sky as though they wished to connect with the dark void of space itself before exploding outwards in a starburst of brightly lit colors. More and more tendrils start to expand outwards, with the force of their appearance causing her form to be blown back more and more as the years and years of accumulated despair is finally released onto the city. She’s so shocked that she doesn’t even notice when one of the strands slams itself into her, the concussive force punching into her is so strong that she goes airborne for a moment, looking up at the quickly and steadily expanding witches barrier, many colored particles gently swaying as they fell on the city.

She can’t help but be reminded of flowers being thrown in celebration before her mind goes blissfully blank.

Ainosuke awakens to the sight of his battered soul gem in front of his face, its red glow weakly lighting the chaotic darkness he had found himself in. His hand trembled as his fingers slowly closed around it before pulling it closer into himself to inspect the damages. Besides some barely visible surface cracks, it was like Homura Akemi had done no damage to the gem in the first place. He hears a rustling behind him, instantly summoning his scythe before swinging it in its direction.

The blade stops a mere centimeters from a very familiar face.

The magical boy’s eyes widened in shock, “Tadashi?”

Tadashi smiles at him before turning heel and running off deeper into the dark, chrysanthemums blooming behind his every step. Ainosuke is running after him before his mind even realizes what he’s doing, it’s just like his dreams an endless, hopeless chase for the gardener boy through an infinite labyrinth; but this isn’t a dream, Tadashi really is right in front of him close enough to touch, close enough to hold in his arms forever.

Just a little bit longer and they’ll finally be reunited.

The longer he chases the elusive image of Tadashi, the deeper into the labyrinth he finds himself in, without the trail of chrysanthemums leading him there’s no doubt in his mind that he’d get lost forever in the endless turns and twists of the witches barrier. Tadashi is always just out of sight as he rounds another corner once again, Ainosuke can feel himself getting more and more tired as they continue this chase, but even then he continues to run forward as there was nothing left to lose now.

“Tadashi! Wait! It’s me!” he cries out, perhaps Tadashi no longer recognizes him?

Tadashi doesn’t even stop to look back.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry it took me so long to come and save you, but I’m here now!”

He swears he can hear Tadashi laugh at his words.

“I never stopped thinking of you, you were the only reason I kept going, so please…”

A wall of thorns springs up between them, blocking Ainosuke’s path and allowing Tadashi to escape at long last. He wants to scream, he was so close but even now he still falls short of his goals. He lifts his scythe ready to cut down the walls and walls of thorn branches before he’s interrupted by a bubbly optimistic voice calling from behind him.

“You shouldn’t do that, who knows what lies in the center of this labyrinth,” said Kyubey, trotting up to him and sitting down comfortably.

“I don’t care!” shouts Ainosuke, “I won’t be stopped after coming this far, I mustn’t keep him waiting any longer,” he continues turning back to the wall, eyes filled with convicted determination, as he starts hacking away at the thorns barely even scratching the bark of the plants.

Kyubey stares at him with that disgustingly blank look, “You’ll be entering the epicenter of his pure despair, there’s no way you’ll be able to come back if you go.”

“If Tadashi is there, then I don’t care if I walk into hell itself.”

“Your soul gem could shatter from the sheer pressure alone!”

He starts to giggle in response which then devolves into a fit of manic laughter, the scythe’s strikes against the thorns becoming rougher and uncoordinated, “Why do you care? You took my soul and turned me into a walking abomination, the least I can do now is choose where to die after all this time.”

“You can’t die yet, Ainosuke Shindo, you still haven’t fulfilled your purpose, do you really want to waste your destiny? Think wise–”

Kyubey’s head goes flying off his tiny white shoulders before rolling away somewhere into the dark, his small body taking a moment to crumple to the labyrinth’s floor as if Ainosuke’s scythe had cut so cleanly that it didn’t even realize it was dead yet.

He can’t stop laughing, what a hilarious sight!

He should have done that ages ago, who knew it would feel this satisfying to take that little rat’s head off? As if reacting to his emotions, the wall of thorns starts to sprout blooming blood red roses as if they were just as elated as he was at the revelation. The drab little thorns were now adorned from top to bottom in a million scarlet petals.
He turns to the roses with a manic grin and with a flash, he cuts through the wall like it’s nothing, petals flying through the air like they were celebrating the culmination and apotheosis of the very love that he was soon to experience again.

As he trudged forward, ignoring the thorns scratching his body in single minded focus; he could hear faint whispering behind the forest of thorns. It’s not long before the familiars of the labyrinth had finally caught wind of his arrival and started to swarm his position as they desperately tried to stop him.

Turn back.

He swings right, slicing through the hoard like it was soft butter.

Nothing here.

He swings left, the force of it sending a small group of them flying away.

Don’t come near.

He throws the scythe through the crowd of them, clearing himself a path as he dashed forwards.

Ainosuke…

After finally slaughtering what seemed to be the entire population, he finally arrives before a large empty pool.
It’s just like the one back at the manor, but scaled up to at least a hundred times, easily containing a lake’s worth of water if anyone dared to try.

As he slides down the edge he can see that there is a spire of crystallized material in the center. It’s reminiscent of a sapling reaching for the sky, with its soft green hue casting the hollowed out area in a cool light. The ground crunches underneath the sole of his boots as he cautiously approaches the structure, staying on high alert for any more enemies coming to ambush him. It’s not long until he finally makes it to the structure towering over him, the green glow almost blinding him. He can make out a small faint silhouette suspended in the crystal, the crystal is warm as he places his small hands on it, the rhythmic beating he can feel just beneath the surface reminds him of a heartbeat.

He wants to sob in relief.
He was right.
Tadashi is alive.

Ainosuke can vaguely make out his beautiful face through the glare, he looks so peaceful, like he’s sleeping. He is eternally grateful that Tadashi wasn’t conscious at all during his imprisonment, he can’t imagine how torturous it would have been to have been at the mercy of a witch for over ten years. He then idly wonders where the witch could possibly be, they’re at the center of the labyrinth and usually that’s where–

Get back…

The hair on the back of his neck stands up as he leaps backwards out of the way of a truly gargantuan shape crashing down from the sky. He stares at the thing with a rising mix of fear and uncertainty, this was nothing like the witch he had fought over a decade ago. It was now the size of an apartment building, the writhing mass of black and red strings hurt his brain as he tries to understand what he’s seeing, it’s like the witch is trying to form a new body for itself as though it had come out half-baked.

He’s a little disappointed that after over ten years, the witch was still as pathetic as he had last seen it, right before he had taken its head with one swing of his scythe. At the very least, his reunion will be mercifully quick as he raises his scythe above his head and then smoothly slicing through the bundle of wriggling mass.

Instead of cutting through it cleanly like he last remembered, the blob of a witch is barely scratched before letting out an ear splitting screech, forcing him to cover his ears with his hands as he watches on in horror as it quickly shambles over to Tadashi’s location. The messy strings making up its body quickly start to wrap around the crystalline structure and immediately begin to start squeezing it, fissures immediately being formed all around the object under the force of its grip. All the while, its high pitched otherworldly screaming assaults his mind, compounded on by the squealing sound of glass scraping up against each other under the pressure.

In an instant the spire explodes into a million fractal pieces, with Tadashi’s limp body still suspended in the air as the writhing mass closes in on his form, absorbing all the pieces of shattered crystal into itself as well. Ainosuke feels like he’s going to be sick as he watches the witch chew(?) on the gem it had crushed, along with the boy trapped inside, before then swallowing it where it settles and a slight green light is still visible underneath the miasma.

It’s too dangerous.

Tadashi’s voice whispering into his ear as the witch starts to take on a more coherent form, one that reminds him vaguely of a very large wolf; with it’s long and powerful limbs and razor sharp claws at the end of them, not to mention that it’s sharp maw was decorated with the broken pieces of the spire making up its fangs, a dark ooze dripping down onto the ground before fizzling out of existence. Its many serpentine tails lashing out and smashing the ground, raking the ground and leaving large gouges deeply embedded into it.

The witch eyelessly regards him, like a predator weighing its options when faced with a monster of equal proportions. It starts to pace back and force, gnashing its teeth as though it was still starving after gorging on its previous meal. Its long and lethal looking claws click against the ground as though they were made to be too large for even its own body.

Please…Ainosuke.

He isn’t even able to lift his scythe before the witches jaws suddenly closes in around his body, snapping damn near every bone in his body as he can barely even comprehend what had just happened as it shakes its head back and forth rapidly, as if the amount of force it exerts on him will rip the flesh off his bones. It soon gives up before throwing him into the side of the arena they had found themselves in, his body hits the hard surface with so much force that he can feel it buckle and bend around him before then cracking into a web of cracked lines. Pain shoots up his entire body as he tries to steady his breathing before pushing himself back up to stand, summoning his scythe as a makeshift crutch as he puts his entire body weight on the weapon.

You’ll only get hurt.

He raises his weary head to see its massive claws coming down to crush him and he only barely manages to raise his scythe to block the worst of the attack, the force of the blow makes his knees begin to buckle painfully as he uses his magic to push the witch off of him for a moment before dashing out of the way and not even a second later his scythe has been destroyed by the witch’s assault.

You’ve done everything you could…

He can taste the coppery taste of blood in his mouth as he desperately tries to come up with a plan to avoid being made into minced meat. He can feel the world start to spin as he wonders if he even has a chance to defeat this monster as the witch turns its head to study him before letting out a guttural terrifying howl as its body explodes with a thousand sharp-tipped strings quickly extruding out and beelining towards Ainosukes’s position. He manages to dodge maybe the first couple before he is forced to pull out another scythe and cut through them as it continues its assault. It feels though for every twenty threads he cuts down, another forty of them take their place, and he can feel himself becoming exhausted, body aching as it desperately tries to keep up. It’s only a matter of time before he–

His thoughts are interrupted as a tendril erupts from his chest.

The blood sprays forward and he is deliriously reminded of a red chrysanthemum and wonders how such a beautiful flower could have bloomed from someone as wretched as him. The swarm of other spiteful strings start to congeal into a point that then immediately connects with the original one that had stabbed him through the back. He can feel himself being lifted from the chest and into the air almost reverently and Ainosuke wonders if perhaps this witch had also absorbed Tadashi’s hate with the way that it appears to be toying with him before consuming him as he limply hung there awaiting his fate.

Please, just give up on me, Ai–

Ainosuke suddenly grabs the tendril threading through his chest, the protrusion buckling under the strength of his grip.

“Shut up…” he mutters, as he tightens his grip, causing the witch to start shuffling and whimpering in pain.

“shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!” he screamed, before ripping the strings holding him up in half as he started to fall downwards, the witch, perhaps sensing his newfound second wind, started producing even more threads to try and incapacitate him once again, “I already made up my mind! Nobody gets to tell me what to do! Who do you think you are for disappearing all those years ago,” he shouted, summoning a whole armory of scythes that then spun with such deadly edges that the assault was easily cut down as they continued their descent onto the witch.

The witch sensing that it was in danger, tried to flee but the scythes under Ainosuke’s control swooped down and planted their blades into its large limbs, pining it to the ground as it helplessly struggled in vain.

“We swore that we’d always be together no matter what!” he cried, readying his scythe for the final strike, “Don’t you remember, Tadashi? So I don’t care if you hate me in the end…”, Ainosuke’s body twisting in order to get the best shot of the witch’s neck before then bringing the scythe spinning over his body using the last of his strength.

“Just wait until after I save you!” his blade singing as it slices the witch in half like it wasn’t even there, the witch stands there for a moment, seemingly not even realizing it was dead yet before it starts to disintegrate into a dust-like substance leaving only the boy that Ainosuke Shindo has loved after all this time. Tadashi immediately starts to fall to the ground with the magical boy leaping up to catch him in his arms, a strange echo of a time long since past.

Tadashi was always the one to catch him.
It’s only fair that he repays the favor.

Tadashi is so light that Ainosuke accidentally overshoots their landing and almost falls over from his clumsy mistake. Tadashi doesn’t look like he’s aged even a single day while he was imprisoned, looking exactly like the boy Ainosuke had met all those years ago. And most concerningly of all he doesn’t appear to be breathing, Ainosuke’s mind races as he tries to figure out his next plan of action, and not for the first time, he wished that he had gotten a powerful healing magic when he made his wish, only to dispel any chance that Tadashi could be seriously–

His beautiful green eyes pop open before he starts to weakly cough, causing his chest to rise and fall rapidly.

All of the fear and stress melting off his body as he feels himself start to tear up in relief, “Tadashi? Are you okay? How are you feeling?” he said, wrapping Tadashi’s shivering form with his red cape.

Those green eyes turn to look up at him in wonder, “ai–ainosuke?”

He wants to melt in a puddle at the sight of Tadashi calling his name, it takes everything in himself to not beg Tadashi to call his name again, “Yes–it’s me…I’m so sorry I took so long to come save you,” he sobbed, tears streaming down his face as his arms wrapping around Tadashi’s cold body to embrace him tightly.

His eyes widened at the sudden display of affection, before softening, “did…Did you really come all this way…to save me?” asked Tadashi, like he was still in a daze.

Ainosuke wipes the tears off his face the best he could before answering, “Yes–of course…I’m here to take you home, everything is going to be okay now,” he whispered, face turning a light shade of pink before turning away from Tadashi’s blank face in embarrassment, kicking himself for saying something so uncool in front of him. He had planned and rehearsed what he’d say to Tadashi when they finally reunited and he’s already messing up, God he’s so–

His spiraling is interrupted when Tadashi’s soft hand comes up to touch his cheek, forcing Ainosuke to look down at his beloved’s face, “Thank you. Ainosuke. I’m sorry for being such a bother,” he said with a small smile on his face.

“No! It’s okay–I’m glad…I’m so glad that you’re still alive!” his hiccuping sobs starting up anew, “I’m so happy that I get to talk to you right now!” he said, laughing a little from the joy he felt, tears running down his face and falling onto Tadashi’s face, making it look almost like Tadashi was crying too.

“It feels a little wrong to not have any reward after everything you've been through…" muses Tadashi, looking up at Ainosuke expectantly.

Ainosuke tries to laugh it off, saying, "I don't need any reward, just being with you is enough."

"Alright, then tell me your heart's desire."

"My heart's desire?"

"Yes, please tell me your wish so I can grant you the happiness you deserve."

What is it that he truly desires?

For the past ten years or so, his only driving goal has been to free Tadashi from the witch that had him imprisoned here, now that they're finally face to face, talking to each other, it feels strangely hollow now. Don't get him wrong, he is beyond the moon that Tadashi is safe and back in his arms and yet…he can’t deny that he has very little idea on what they can actually do together once they leave. There is no chance of a normal life if they leave together, not unless Tadashi really can do miracles like he had once believed when he was a child.

He stares into Tadashi’s endless green eyes, before deciding he truly has nothing left to lose.

“Can you…” he starts and stops, licking his dry lips, his anxiety peaking for a moment, before continuing, “Will you really grant me a miracle?”

“Of course, Ainosuke.”

His face flushes red in response as he bends down to whisper his confession into Tadashi’s ear, he knew it was foolish, some would call it blasphemous and that’s why even though they’re alone now, he’s still afraid that someone will hear him pouring his soul out to Tadashi.

Once he finishes, the other boy gives him a warm smile before nodding, “Okay, I’ll do it Ainosuke,” and if to seal his promise, he leans up into Ainosuke’s embrace so that he can softly place his lips against Ainosuke’s very own.

His heart explodes right then and there, Tadashi smiling innocently like he has no idea what he just said and it makes Ainosuke want to cuddle the other boy even harder. To make sure that not even an iota of space is left between them, it’s what he deserves after all this time, after all the years of despair had to endure while holding on to the dwindling hope of ever experiencing this joy again.

Truly, this must be paradise.

Homura wonders if this is what hell is like.

After being knocked out by the blast, she had woken up next to her severed right arm. There was little time for debate as she plucked it off the ground in order to hold the severed end up to her shoulder. She winces and is silently grateful that Ainosuke had managed to so cleanly slice it off, as she can feel the muscle fibers knit themselves back together. The process of growing a new arm is never pleasant, taking up the better part of a month at best, so it was a relief that she only had to make sure that the nerves and muscles fibers gelled together well enough to at least pull the trigger on any of her firearms.

She slowly opens and closes her hand in a clenched fist, noting that her fingers were moving at a bit of a stiffer pace and that she could really feel anything in arm…but she quickly brushes it off, it wasn’t like her body wasn’t already essentially immune to any form of pain or feeling. To her chagrin, her right arm is now quite slow when she tries to move it in anything more than swinging it back and forth. It might just be better to reset the whole thing, she thinks, hands moving upwards to activate her shield.

“Ah, Miss Akemi!”

She shoots at the voice coming in the direction.

The Kyubey that trots up to her is a new one as there was no bullet hole in its cute little head.

“Miss Akemi, I really must ask you to stop shooting at me every time I make your acquaintance. I can’t imagine that the animosity that you feel for my kind is warranted.”

“You said that you wouldn’t interfere in my talk with Ainosuke, you said that you were going to be a neutral party.”

“Of course! Neutral meaning that we are on both sides so that no matter who wins, we’ll remain in your good graces,” he responded cheerily.

“You do know that telling me that before asking me for my help makes me want to help you even less, right?”

He doesn’t even try to pretend to look shocked at her accusation, “Hmm, astute as always Miss Akemi, very well, I need your assistance in stopping Ä̵̜̝͋͌̋̃r̶͉̮͗g̸̥̠̝̗̺͑́̄o̸̱̭͎̯̐̈́̑s̵̛̥̜̝̼̠͑ or perhaps since it’s evolved so heavily since the last time we’ve last seen it, we’ll need to bestow upon it a new name,” it mused as though that was the most important fact about his request.

“Not my problem,” she said, clicking her gear into position to restart the loop, before she can feel her mind explode in pain, it stops immediately when she stops, “What the hell did you do?” she said, glaring daggers at Kyubey.

“We should be asking you that, the witch that was once Tadashi Kikuchi has not once hatched ever since he fell but all of a sudden you show up and now the barrier is growing all sorts of out of control. Perhaps its barrier is messing with your time shield and stopping its function.”

“It’s not my fault,” she huffs, trying to see if she could jump out of bounds of the labyrinth, “Mr.Kikuchi just seems to defy all the rules of being a witch, huh? I didn’t think witches could affect things outside of their grief seed, what do you think?”

He stares at her silently.

She sighs, “I’m leaving,” before walking off.

“That won’t work,” Kyubey called from behind her, watching as she rapidly picked up her pace.

“I don’t care,” she said, reappearing behind Kyubey suddenly before stopping and realizing where she was.

“Well, you should, if you don’t defeat the witch, then you’ll never escape this labyrinth.”

She stares at Kyubey like he grew a second head, “What kind of monster of a witch did you make?”

“He was only a gardener’s son after all, perhaps his strength is tied to Ainosuke Shindo somehow?”

"Fine," she said, before stalking forwards to grab Kyubey by his ears, letting him dangle in front of her face at eye level, "I'll help you, but only if you tell me everything you know about the witch."

Kyubey, unbothered by his current predicament, casually responds with a sigh, "What is there to say? Twenty years ago, Tadashi Kikuchi made a contract with me, he became a magical boy, and then he became a grief seed a couple years later."

"You mean a witch?"

"No, he just hatched, so I suppose he just now became a witch…"

"Is there a point to the semantics?" Asked Homura in a deadpan voice.

"Hmmm…I suppose not."

"So how can I kill it?"

"Oh. It's highly unlikely that you will, actually."

"So then, why. Exactly do you need my assistance again?"

"Honestly, the other Incubators are working on containing it as we speak but at the rate its barrier is growing, it'll have swallowed the entirety of Japan before we can do anything substantial, ruining any chance to turn Madoka Kaname into a magical girl."

Kyubey licks his paws before rubbing his face into it before continuing, "And that's where you come in, your job is to distract the witch or, if you really are as powerful as you say you are, kill it before it gets too powerful.”

"I see," says Homura, before unceremoniously dumping Kyubey's body back onto the ground, it lands gracefully on it’s little legs before running a few paces before her, and as they walk she continues their conversation, “You know, I was wondering when your little magical boy experiment would go nuclear, can’t imagine that this was the result you lot were hoping for.”

Kyubey looks at her curiously, “What gave it away?”

She scoffs in response, “This is quite literally the only place that I have ever seen a magical boy, let alone enough to form a formal community together, if you wanted to make it more obvious you should have hung up some neon signs.”

Kyubey hums in contemplation, “I see, and this bothers you?”

“Not particularly, just curious why here and why now of all times.”

“It is a bit limiting to just contract girls after all this time, after all we’re cutting our energy outputs in half by doing so, but the males of your species go through hormonal changes a couple years later than you females, so it makes the timing quite difficult to get right.”

“So that’s why you chose Okinawa as your testing grounds.”

“Correct, we couldn’t have asked for a better place to run experiments, it’s cut off from the rest of Japan while also having a thriving human population, so if something goes catastrophically wrong, we can very easily keep it from spreading too far and with minimal loss.”

“That would also mean that none of the magical girls from the mainland would notice that something was amiss, thus keeping up the illusion that only girls can be magical girls, right?” responded Homura, noticing a strange flickering out of the corner of her eye, “I should have expected you incubators to be unsatisfied with the energy output, it’s all numbers to you, doesn’t even matter who gets hurt in the end.”

“This can only have positive effects,” reassured Kyubey, “If you think about it, when the magical boy experiments are successful, we can double the amount of energy gained from the human race! Although Ainosuke Shindo still hasn’t become a witch yet, but then the heat death of the u–”

“Will you shut up about that?” snapped Homura before stopping in her tracks due to a boy suddenly standing before her in the middle of their path.

It’s unnerving to see what is essentially a boy version of herself, although there are key differences between them, like the fact he has green eyes while she has a deep purple, the thing that truly resonates with her is the completely haunted and exhausted face he has. Despair is so ingrained into their life that it has simply become the default expression for them, like they could hardly even imagine that hope had once existed.

“Who are you?” asked Homura, hand already on her shield in high alert, “Another magical boy trapped here?”

The boy merely cocks his head to the side, clearly confused and dazed, “Are you…trapped here?”

“Don’t play games with me,” she said, pulling a pistol out of her shield, still hidden, “I need to stop the witch causing the barrier here. You should go find somewhere safe to hide until then.”

“Play…with me…I need to…find somewhere safe,” the boy said before his body started jerking in different directions, like it was a puppet being pulled by its strings.

“Kyubey, what is that?” she said wearily, “There’s no way that’s a human but–”

“Ah, that would be Tadashi Kikuchi, or perhaps would it be more accurate to say that it’s an imperfect copy of him? Ignore it, it seems harmless enough.”

They quickly step around it and continue down their path, but Homura doesn’t even need to turn around to hear the uneven footsteps following her and Kyubey, its indistinct mumbling not making it any less noticeable.

“What…a human…it’s an imperfect…”

It takes every bit of willpower in her body to not turn around and riddle the walking puppet with bullets just to get away from its inane ramblings. Kyubey, like always, is unaffected by the creature following them.

It’s not until a second Tadashi stands before them that she seriously considers grabbing her rocket launcher.

“It’s best to ignore them for now, Miss Akemi,” stated Kyubey, not even blinking at the other shambling effigy, “We don’t want them to be getting violent, right?”

Her throat tenses as she swallows her protests before pocketing her gun again, “Fine.”

“Ignore them…Miss Akemi…want…to be…Fine,” the humanoids mumble in soft whispery voices before continuing shambling slowly behind them as they continue their journey to the center of the labyrinth.

Sometimes there would be no Tadashi for what felt like miles as they passed blocks and blocks of abandoned buildings, their lights flickering on and off and sometimes Homura would swear she could see shadows passing by the windows. Sometimes, there would be a group of Tadashi’s huddled together, as though they were huddling together for warmth, regardless, they would inevitably join the small herd of other Tadashi’s following her.

“What do you think they want?”

“Perhaps, they know that we’re heading to the center and are simply following us there.”

“Okay, but why me? They’re basically set dressing for the witch. Why aren’t they following Ainosuke?”

Kyubey looks onwards, “I didn’t want to alarm you, but there is a high chance that he’s already there and due to you being the last person in contact with him, they believe you’ll take them to him.”

Homura feels sick at the implication.

She stops in the middle of the road as the gears in her head start to turn, “So…You mean…”

“Yes, it’s my hypothesis that they haven’t attacked you because you seem to remind them of him specifically.”

“Please, never say that again,” said Homura, hating literally every word he had just said.

“Why not?” he asked, already taking the lead, “It’s basically made it a cake walk to get to the center and destroy the witch right?”

“No…No, I’m nothing like him,” she denied vehemently, “I wouldn’t waste my life to bring someone I love back like–like…this, this is crueler than death, I can’t believe anyone would want this,” she finished stumbling forward as if the unsettlingly horror behind her had just kicked in.

“Hmmm, if you say so, personally, I must say you have much more in common with Mr.Kikuchi than Mr.Shindo, but hey, what do I know about the “intricacies” of you humans, right?”

Her only answer is a bullet through his brain.

The crowd of Tadashi’s behind her shift uneasily as though they could sense her murderous intent. She has to keep going, this is simply too much…too much for anyone to bear, but she must, she must keep going because Madoka is counting on her right now. She has to return to Mitakihara, nothing good would come from staying here any longer.

The abandoned and cracked asphalt road leads to a subway entrance, and as she descends down the stairs, she can feel strands of string floating past her, and even more alarming when she can no longer hear the clicking of her boots on the concrete and instead they softness of millions of strands of string coating the floor as she makes her way down the tunnels.

The train tracks are covered from top to bottom in the string, the only thing visible is an arrow sign pointing to some unknown location known as “Paradise”, or something, but it’s the only lead she has for now, as she continues into the dark with the light of her soul gem lighting her path, she can hear faint groaning sounds the further along she walks.

The voices get louder and louder and Homura readies her assault rifle before turning the corner to confront the monster. She almost lowers it in shock and horror at what she finds, instead of a monster it’s a hallway of just magical girls and boys strung up in cocoons lined up against the walls, bodies crowded around so close to each other that some have even been stuck to the ceiling. Familiars, incredibly similar to the ones that she had left behind were walking in between the impossibly tight spaces and inspecting their prisoners like they were prized cattle.

The worst part is that instead of the groans of pain that she had first imagined, the captured magical children are instead quietly sobbing in pure joy and bliss. Tears of joy streamed down their faces whenever a Tadashi-like familiar placed their appendages on their heads and cried at the loss whenever they’d leave to attend one of the others.

As she slowly maneuvers her way to the exit she can hear whispers of their thoughts and desires. Whenever one would be answered, another would immediately take its place and the cacophonous stream of thoughts almost makes her brain melt from the sheer amount of it all.

I wish for a prettier body.

I want her to look my way.

Please save me from being a magical girl.

I wish I was better at skating.

I want a big birthday cake to share with my family.

Why can’t I be more interesting?

Can you heal my brother?

I wish I understood Reki better.

I want this happiness to last forever.

Please make me strong enough to protect everything I love.

I just want to go home.

I want a lot of friends that want to have fun with me!

She tears through the string blocking the exit as she finally pushes forward and falls out of that accursed hallway, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tries to get more and more oxygen down her lungs, stomach turning as she tries to focus on her own thoughts. It’s the only way she’ll know how to save what remains of her ego as she had felt herself being dragged under the waves of their unending and all encompassing desire to have their wishes granted.

Is this what Tadashi had wished for?

God, she hoped not, wiping at the spital on her lips, before getting on her feet once again and continuing on her path to paradise.

The concentration of string becomes so large that she is basically wading through the material as she spots a distant light at the end of the tunnel, her strides getting longer and faster, hope filling her chest as she realizes that it was almost over now. She just had to kill the witch and then she could leave and return to Madoka’s side back home at Mitakihara, perhaps this loop can still be salvaged...

What she doesn’t account for is the sound of many, many footsteps approaching her way from the connecting tunnels, it’s not long until an endless horde of familiars come flooding out of the tunnels to congregate and before she can react, the only exit is blocked by an innumerable number of the Tadashi-like familiars, all staring at her with those blank, haunted eyes.

“Why…?” the voice reverberating in her skull, “I have done everything to make paradise on this earth, so why?”

She shoots the nearest one in the head, it keels over like a puppet with its strings cut loose.

She clutches her head as she is assaulted by images forcing their way into her mind, the scene plays as she reaches for a full clip to slot into her weapon.

“Are you ready to be a magical boy,Tadashi Kikuchi?” asked Kyubey.
“Yes, as long as it’s for Ainosuke’s sake, I’ll sacrifice any chance I have for a normal life.”
“Then tell me your wish so I can finish your transformation into a magical boy!”
Tadashi, who couldn’t have been more than ten years old, took a deep breath before shouting out, “I wish to have the power to protect Ainosuke’s happiness!”

The horde descends up on her as she unloads a hail of bullets, everytime she takes down one, another one of Tadashi’s memories is beamed into her head, distracting her as she desperately tries to concentrate on her battle.

“Woah! Are you really a magical boy, Tadashi?” shouted a much happier looking Ainosuke Shindo, “That’s so cool! I didn’t know magical boys were real!”
Tadashi blushes at the compliment, “It’s not that big of a deal, I’ve been learning under Miss Kamata on how to be an even better one, I’m still just a rookie after all.”
Ainosuke shakes his head vigorously before loudly proclaiming, “No way! You’re Tadashi! You’re the best at everything! I bet you’d be the best magical boy in the whole world just like how you’re the best skater in the world!”
Tadashi laughs in response, unable to stop the warm feeling in his chest from rising up within himself.
“Okay, and when you feel like you're ready, maybe we can both be magical boys together!”

It’s easy after a while, they’re not smart and they don’t adapt very well.

“There’s no possible way….how could this have happened?”
“What do you mean, Tadashi?” asked Kyubey.
“Miss Kamata…she just became a witch…I killed her,” said Tadashi with a haunted look on his face, while cradling a grief seed in his hands.
“Good thing she trained you well before she finally witched out, it would have been a shame for someone of your caliber to go to waste.”
“Is this…Will this happen to me one day too?”
“Of course!”

It’s not long before Homura falls into a sort of rhythm, not even needing her time stopping magic after the first fifty of them.

“Tadashi! Tadashi! Look at me! I’m finally a magical boy just like you!” said Ainosuke, showing Tadashi his newly required soul gem, “Now that Miss Kamata is gone, I’ll be your partner now!”
The flower pot he’s holding shatters into a hundred small pieces when he drops it.

Aim and Shoot.

“You…You lied to me!”
“How so?”
“You said that you wouldn’t make him a magical boy, you told me that I had the power to protect him!”
“No, you wished for the power to protect his happiness, and he appears to be at his happiest when he’s by your side.”
Tadashi takes a small step back from the incubator, “So, then…it was all my fault?” Tadashi’s hands coming up to cover his face in despair, “I’m the one who doomed Ainosuke?”

Aim and Shoot.

They’re a formidable team, Ainosuke with his scythe cutting down witches with ease and Tadashi trapping them in place with his strings. Anytime they got any grief seeds from their hunts, Tadashi was always sure to make sure that Ainosuke had his soul gem completely clear of any corruption before he even allowed himself to think about using one on himself.
It was the only way he could make up for his sins.

Aim and Shoot.

Of course, that didn’t mean Tadashi wouldn’t spend every night hunting for witches on his own when Ainosuke was safely asleep in his room. It wouldn’t do to risk the young master’s safety when Tadashi’s mastery of his magic made it almost childsplay to kill them. Some nights are successful, and some nights he comes back to bed with nothing, soul gem darkening at a worrying rate, but he’s able to stave off the worst of the corruption by reminding himself that this is all for Ainosuke.

Aim and Shoot.

“Tadashi…Why haven’t I gotten any taller?”
Tadashi freezes for a moment on the garden path and Ainosuke looks at him with concern.
“I…I don’t know, sir.”
Ainosuke huffs adorably, cheeks puffing out, “I mean, I’m almost ten now and I feel like I should have grown up a little, right?”
Tadashi wants to scream, he instead ruffles Ainosuke’s hair, “It’s alright, I like you just the way that you are.”
Ainosuke’s face turns a cute shade of pink, eyes looking away shyly, “Oh, okay.”

Aim and Shoot.

“Kyubey?”
“Oh! Hello to you too Mr.Kikuchi!”
“Why isn’t Ainosuke getting any taller?”
“Oh! That’s easy! It’s because he’s no longer human.”
“What.”
Kyubey looks at him like he’s stupid, “You didn’t really think that you two were still human after becoming magical boys right?”

Aim and Shoot

“Tadashi! Look!” he said, comparing himself to the rose bush, “I grew!”
“Yes,” replied Tadashi with a strained voice, “I’m so happy for you.”
Ainosuke’s little face splits into a wide grin, “You know…if this keeps going, I’ll be even taller than you one day, Tadashi!”
Tadashi doesn’t have the energy to argue before nodding numbly, feeling the magic he was using putting a strain on his soul gem.

Aim and Shoot.

Tadashi before becoming a magical boy never knew how versatile string could be, he had only seen it as a way to tie errant plants to their poles and fences.
After becoming one, the use of string has become limitless for him.
He can slice through enemies as though they were the flowers he had once trimmed.
He can create shields, impenetrable to even the strongest of blows.
He can even create body doubles of himself to act as decoys to act as another conduit of his powers.
So it was hardly a leap to incorporate his strings into making a body worthy of his young master, it wasn’t perfect, but at least it fooled everyone else, even Ainosuke had no idea.
That’s why he needs even more grief seeds to keep the illusion that everything is fine for just a little longer…

Aim and Shoot.

It’s been a while since Tadashi had run away from the Shindo manor.
He hadn’t been going to school anymore either.
He only returns once a week to check on Ainosuke’s state.
It’s easier to just siphon Ainosuke’s despair into his own soul gem for later cleaning.
He leaves flowers of all kinds on his window sill every time he visits, it’s the least he can do to apologize.

Aim and Shoot.

“Tadashi?”
It takes everything within himself not to turn around, desperately hoping the other would just leave him alone.
Alas, he can hear Ainosuke’s hurried steps behind him until he’s only a few paces away and this is when Tadashi finally turns around.
“Hello, do I know you?”
And in any other scenario it might have worked, if Tadashi had acted even a little surprised at the appearance of a teenaged Ainosuke.
“You’re–You have to be Tadashi, right?”
“I’m sorry.”

Aim and Shoot.

He still avoids Ainosuke, to the point that he doesn’t even visit the Shindo manor anymore.
Ainosuke, on the other hand, keeps ambushing him whenever he’s on a witch hunt.
Sometimes it's to talk, most of the time he wants to fight, slinging cruel words his way faster than he can swing his scythe.
Tadashi was always the better of the two and would escape into the night sooner than later.

Aim and Shoot.

Ainosuke seems to be doing well for himself now.
He has formed a small group with the other magical boys and girls.
It’s a bit chaotic but they all take care of each other, making sure that everyone has enough grief seeds to clean their soul gems.
He seems to be rather…close with a couple of them.
Tadashi is not at all bothered by this.
He has no right to anymore.

Aim and Shoot.

“No one else ages except for me.”
Tadashi looks at him with an impassable face.
“It was you wasn’t it? You’re doing something to me.”
Tadashi instinctively takes a step forward, as if his body was hard-wired to comfort the other boy, his hand already out to hold him.
The slap from Ainosuke should have been expected.
“Well, don’t bother! I don’t need you anymore!
It should hurt more, but Tadashi’s too tired to care for once, “Of course, I’m sorry for thinking otherwise…”

Aim and Shoot.

The last time they meet, it’s in the garden where it all started.
He receives an invitation, one in the shape of a heart with an intricate design.
He arrives at midnight to find Ainosuke curled up in the bottom of the empty pool.
Ainosuke’s slender fingers trace the connected hearts they had painted there when they were children.
His striking ruby red eyes shift to look up at him, instead of his normal angry glare he just looks so…indescribably tired.
Tadashi jumps down to sit beside him and Ainosuke shifts his body so he can lay his head on his lap.
Tadash’s hand rests on his head, gently running his fingers through his hair, all while Ainosuke curls up closer into Tadashi’s body.

Aim and Shoot.

“I didn’t think you were actually going to come…I tried smoking to numb the pain but it didn’t work…”
“You shouldn’t do that, it’s not good for you, Ainosuke.”
“...I talked to Kyubey today...”
“What did he say?”
Ainosuke is silent for only a moment, before sighing, “...Nothing I didn’t already know deep down.”
“Ainosuke?”
“You know, I thought I was being so smart with my wish, I tried to make it so that it could only benefit me, that way no one would get hurt if it went wrong…God, I feel like such an idiot.”
“Ainosuke, what did you wish for?”
“What does it matter now? I’ve ruined it, I ruined the only thing that mattered.”
“Please? It matters to me, because I…I…care very deeply about you.”
For some reason, Ainosuke bursts into tears at his words, “It’s stupid…but I wished for true love. I wasted my only wish on something that doesn’t even exist!”
“How could you say that? It does exist!”
“Then why did you leave me? Why didn’t you want me?” cries Ainosuke, clutching Tadashi’s side tightly as if he’ll disappear once again, “Why don’t you look at me like you used to? Why won’t you hold me anymore? I can’t bear it any longer, this crushing loneliness, it would have been better if I didn’t exist...”
Tadashi stares in horror at Ainosuke’s almost completely corrupted soul gem.

Aim and Shoot.

“Ainosuke. Please know…That I never once stopped thinking of you.”
His big teary eyes look up at Tadashi’s face, and Tadashi is hit with the desire to kiss his tears away, but instead he picks up Ainosuke’s soul gem.
It’s far too gone for a grief seed to save but perhaps there is still something that he can do.
He presses his pale green gem up to the cracking surface of the other gem and watches the corruption quickly engulf his own soul gem.
“Tadashi? What–What are you doing?”
He can feel it, he can feel everything that Ainosuke has been bottling up.
His rage.
His fears.
His despair.
But most of all, he can feel the true depth of his love.
Poor Ainosuke, he should have known that someone as worthless as himself could never make him happy, someone who feels this deeply, he’d only ever be disappointed in Tadashi’s lackluster qualities.
He smiles as the last of the darkness is transferred into his soul gem.

Aim and Shoot.

The process is taxing on the both of them as Ainosuke is knocked out almost immediately after Tadashi finishes.
It’s comforting to know that Ainosuke will never know what became of him, it’s better this way, he thinks to himself as he gently kisses his forehead goodbye.
He climbs out of the pool, abandoning Ainosuke for what seemed like the thousandth time, in order to find a secluded place to become a witch.
It’s not long before he runs into Kyubey.
“I’m surprised, you worked so hard to avoid this fate and yet you willingly took all of his despair into your soul gem? What a waste if you ask me.”
Tadashi ignores him as he trudges forward, ignoring the pain every footstep caused him, ignoring how he had sealed his fate the moment he took the Shindo heir’s hand all those nights ago.
“With the amount of despair you’ve accumulated, where exactly do you think you’re going Tadashi Kikuchi?”
Anywhere, as long as it’s out of this accursed garden.
“Do you really think this did anything? You’ve only delayed the inevitable, he will become a witch one day, despite your efforts.”
God. Does this thing ever shut up?

She nods sympathetically as she aims and shoots again.

He barely even gets half way out before his body finally gives out on him.
Panic fills his body as he forces his hands to claw at the dirt…just a little further, he’s still far too close to Ainosuke…he can’t…he can’t.
But his body refuses to obey him as his body pulse painfully, a surefire signal that he’s about to transform into a witch.
He wants to scream, it’s like something is trying to break out of him, like he’s the shell of an egg and the chick desperately scratching at his insides doesn’t care if he breaks.
In fact it relishes at the thought of his destruction.
Kyubey watches him with those doll-like eyes.
He sits just out of his reach, wisely deducing that Tadashi would try and attack him.
“You should be honored, you’ll be the first magical boy to contribute to the preservation of this universe.”
His soul gem starts to buckle and bend under the force, the glass casing starting to shatter as Tadashi watches on in horror.
He screams in agony as the witch erupts from the newly formed grief seed.

Homura’s chest rises and falls as the last of the familiars falls at her feet, the mountain of corpses surrounds her, covering the floor as she steps over them and makes her way to the exit. Her brain feels like it’s on the edge of exploding after witnessing what can only be described as the witch’s fall from grace, not like she actually cares, but it’ll definitely make fighting the witch a hell of a lot easier to do with the knowledge that Ainosuke Shindo is it’s one and only weakness.

She feels a hand weakly grasp at her ankle, one of the Tadashi doppelgangers still has some life in it, it would be admirable if she wasn’t on a time limit.

“Please…Please don’t…hurt…him.”

Her only response is to forcefully kick her foot out of its grasp before taking aim once more and shooting it through its head.

It’s nice.
The weather couldn’t be better.
Lying together on the ground and watching the moon together.
Hand in hand.
He couldn’t be happier.

Tadashi is sleeping, tightly curled up by his side and Ainosuke can’t help but be reminded of the last time they had last seen each other…
But as soon as that horrible memory appeared in his head it quickly dispersed and returned to nothing.
This paradise has no place for sorrow and past regrets, it’s just the two of them as it always should have been.

Tadashi is cold beside him, but it doesn’t bother him at all.
After all, his own body is just as cold and it wouldn’t do to complain about something so miniscule.
Their bodies are intertwined so tightly that Ainosuke thinks he can feel an inkling of the body warmth that was so cruelly stolen from them.

He never wants this to end.
It’s the only thing he wants now.
Years upon years, he’s been selflessly giving up everything for the betterment of others.
It’s not so wrong to selfishly want this to last forever, right?

He hears the telltale taping of heels coming up behind him.
He tries to cover his ears in a vain attempt to block out the intrusion.
Alas, Homura Akemi always finds a way to ruin his mood with her blank, vaguely judgemental face…it reminds him too much of Tadashi when he had first cut contact with him.

“Ainosuke, what are you doing?”

He sighs, cuddling deeper into Tadashi’s embrace, “What does it look like? I got what I wished for, now if you’ll excuse us, I would prefer it if you left us alone.”

“You’re disgusting.”

He grumbles, “There’s something called privacy, you know it would do you some good to try it out sometimes.”

“I can’t believe that you’d be fooled by such a crude illusion.”

That causes him to sit up and turn to glare at her, “God. What do you even want? You’ve already caused enough trouble, why don’t you just run off back to your Madoka or whatever. Can’t you see I’m happy now?”

“I know what happened between you and Tadashi Kikuchi.”

Rage fills his body at her words, how dare she. How dare this upstart girl even try to understand the bond between him and Tadashi. How dare she say that like she understands their love, the pain that binds them together, stronger than any red string of fate could hope to do.

“You had no right to pry,” he hisses, clutching Tadashi closer to his body as he remembered why she had come to Okinawa in the first place.

“He gave me his memories, memories of when he first became a magical boy, memories of how he hurt you and how deeply he regretted it.”

“Why are you telling me all this? What could you possibly get out of me now?” he cried, hands balling up into fists at the horrible emotions rising in his chest.

“It felt wrong not telling you, you put him on such a pedestal without even realizing what that meant, it’d be wrong to destroy this paradise he made for you without an explanation.”

He starts to laugh, “So you want to take him from me? Now of all times?”

She shakes her head slowly, “No, I’m here to put him down, to give you both the peace you deserved after all this time.”

Something inside of him breaks at her words.
He knows they’re the truth…
But then why?
Why does his heart reject the very idea?

“Is it so wrong? To want to live in this dream?” He hates how weak he sounds, he hates how weak he feels at this very moment. He could try to attack her…but that would mean letting go of Tadashi.

She’s silent at his words.

“Nobody needs to get hurt anymore,” he says in a small voice, desperately grasping for the words to change her mind.

He can hear the clicking sound of her reloading her pistol.

“Is the person who wished for such a paradise, truly so awful that he deserves to be killed?”

She points the gun at Tadashi’s slumbering form, unbothered by his broken arguments, “So you’re okay with him endlessly sacrificing himself for you without end? That there is some justice making the one you love suffer without end? How ungrateful can you be?” She glares at him with more contempt and disgust than he thought was possible in a human being, “That kind of thinking makes you more vile than any witch alive.”

“Please…”

Her finger squeezes the trigger and his eyes are blinded by a bright flash.

And then Tadashi’s body explodes into a wave of darkness, one that blots out the moon and the stars, until nothing remains except for a suffocating, yet strangely warm, darkness.

It’s strange, being the centerpoint of someone else’s view.
It’s like getting the attention of a God that only sees you as an ant.
The full brunt of that attention is crushing, it bears down upon you until you’re nothing more than a fine paste.

It’s nothing like the love his aunties had graciously gifted him. With the marks from their rulers still visible on his arms, they had lovingly tried to fix him, to make something out of their subpar nephew. He still has nightmares dreams about the long hours they’d lock him in the room after thoroughly disciplining him. As harsh as their love was, at least they loved him, unlike his father, who had none to spare his only heir…

In comparison, their love is nothing next to Tadashi’s.

Is this the full extent of Tadashi’s love?
Was this what he had felt all this time?
How…How could someone as insignificant as he was ever hope to return such emotions?

Homura turns to face a direction, “He’s here,” she said, pointing her gun at something in the dark.

The footsteps of someone approaching scares him more than even his aunties.
The dark silhouette of a human approaches them, unbothered and unhurried, like it was in complete control of the situation.
When it steps even closer, it’s clear that it couldn’t be anyone else, and yet it is most definitely not human.

“Tadashi?”

He can feel the cool metal of a gun barrel pressed against his temple.

“Don’t come any closer if you want him to live,” said Homura, turning the safety off as she stares down the witch.

It stops in its tracks, before it lets out a piercing shriek and before he knows it tendrils fly off its body to attack the girl next to him. Her body slamming against the wall behind him as it continues its advancements towards him. Ainosuke falls to his knees unable to or perhaps unwilling to look up and accept the monster in front of him. He can feel its(his?) overwhelming presence, if he(it?) could crush him with the smallest amount of power.

It’s horrifying, not being able to look up and confirm it for himself.

“Ai…nos…uke…”

“Stop it…” it feels like he’s suffocating, like someone is squeezing his neck.

“I…never…stopped…thinking of…you.”

“Stop…”

“Even…after all these years…I…couldn’t forget you.”

“Please…”he whispered brokenly, tears running down his face.

The witch pauses, noticing his distress, before placing a hand-like appendage on his head, patting him pathetically as if trying to comfort him. To his horror, he is filled with a longing to lean into the witch’s gentle caresses, to feel those gentle fingers running through his hair again.

“You’re...Crying?”

He’s unresponsive, eyes on the floor as the tears just won’t stop falling.

“Poor thing…Look how…much…you’re…crying…”

He can feel a change in the air as he the witch tenses up in anger.

“So…Who was it?”

Ainosuke’s small body starts to tremble.

“Was it your friends?” asked the witch.

“Was it your aunties?” asked the witch.

“Was it your father?” asked the witch.

“Was it the world?” asked the witch.

“Was it me?” asked the witch.

“Please tell me so I can destroy them for you.”

“Just stop…No more,” whimpered Ainosuke, mind hanging on by only a thread, “You’ve done enough for me, just go away.”

The witch’s form stills, “I…can’t…you’re so sad…I must…make you…happy.”

“What..What did you just say to me?” Ainosuke’s breath catches in his throat, finally looking up at the remains of his beloved.

“That...was...my only...wish...You...don't need...someone...like...me.”

The indignant rage he feels overpowers his fear for a single, flickering moment, “Don’t give me that bullshit!” he shouted, slapping the witch’s hand away, startling it for a moment, “You’re the one who made me this way! You’re the one who filled my head with empty dreams and promises! You’re the reason why my life has been a never ending spiral of pain and suffering!”

“Ai…nosuke, don’t anger it…You’ll only get hurt.” croaked out Homura from behind him.

“Oh, shut up! Nobody asked you to be here, third-wheel!”

The witch looks at him with an unreadable expression.

It’s an awkward feeling, having to explain his own feelings towards the only person he’s ever loved, “If you really wanted to make me happy…then you’d know that…the reason I’ve fought so hard to selfishly keep everything in my grasp was in order to never lose anyone like I lost you, all so I could meet you again, Tadashi.”

The air goes completely still.

“Haven’t you realized it, you silly puppy? I don’t want paradise, I just wanted to be with you…” said Ainosuke, bearing his heart and soul to Tadashi at long last, and for one shining beautiful moment, it seems like everything will be okay.

Then Ainosuke’s breath is knocked out of body as he feels a strong pressure constrict around his whole body. He’s being squeezed so tightly he swears that his eyes will pop out with how strong the pressure on his body has become. The witch had inexplicably wrapped itself around his body to incapacitate him, causing him to lose function in his arms and legs almost immediately. As he wildly looks around to figure out what was going on he notices Homura has fallen forward, desperately trying to drag her broken body to his side in order to save him.

Ah…

He’d have liked to talk to her a little longer…
If only because he’s sure she would have been interesting to keep around a little longer.

Time seems to be slowing to a crawl as he turns her head to look towards Homura's broken form calmly, “You said you still have to go save Madoka,right?”

She stares up at him in disbelief, he can hardly even believe what he’s saying himself.

“I finally understand how you feel.”

He looks back up at the endless void that must be the witch’s maw, there would be no escape, no last minute rescue. He’s strangely okay with that now.

“Ah. Perhaps this is your revenge after all these years,” he whispered, mostly to himself as he closed his eyes in anticipation for his inevitable fate, "I'm sorry that I never realized...how much I hurt you."

He is then devoured by Tadashi.

Oh.

So this is how he tried to grant his wish.

How wonderful, he thinks to himself.

The pure concentration of despair within Tadashi overtakes him and the last thing he hears is the shattering of glass, and then his body is fully consumed. He doesn’t mind, it was only holding him back anyways, the way it could never truly reach Tadashi even after all these years, it’s better if it disappears for good now.

He can feel Tadashi’s despair.
It’s so potent that he can almost taste it as he is absorbed into his very being.
He can feel himself dissolving, like the very concept of Ainosuke Shindo was disappearing into the void.

And yet…

He can still feel his presence.
Something so faint that he almost missed it.
He stretches out the last of his essence to the other.

So…This is where you were after all this time…
It’s warm, he had no idea that the darkness held such a treasure.
How truly blessed that they can come together now.
He wonders if this is what marriage is like.

An eternal union, bound by endless love and despair.
He can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.
It’s like an embrace that he doesn’t want to ever end…
And he knows now it never will.

His last thoughts are brief.
Perhaps they were Tadashi’s…
Either way, it was the truth.

Thank you for loving me.

And then there was nothing.

Homura watches as the witch starts to pulsate and glow as it swallows Ainosuke Shindo. It then falls to the ground twitching before its body starts to twist in on itself and it hurts her eyes to watch as though this is something she shouldn’t be allowed to witness. The wriggling mass then starts to stand upright for a moment before bending and twisting like it’s trying to escape from something but unable to move as it continues its transformation.

“Fascinating,” said Kyubey, as it walked up to witness the event.

“What’s happening to it?”

“We’re witnessing the first witch fusion in centuries. I didn’t think that we’d get something this promising this soon.”

“What the actual fuck does that mean?” said Homura, too tired to even pretend to be polite.

“Tadashi Kikuchi and Ainosuke Shindo’s witches are now combining into one super witch, essentially, I’m actually not one hundred percent sure if that’s correct.”

“So you mean—”

“Yes, they could possibly create another Walpurgisnacht if they continue.”

“No! Kyubey, we have to do something!” she cried, panic filling her body as she desperately tried to heal her body before the witch emerged.

But he remains silent as the twisting form of the witch nears and finishes its transformation and Homura braces herself to get torn to shreds like it had done earlier.
When nothing happens she cracks open her eyes and sees that it hasn’t moved from its spot at all. In fact, it’s completely still, with the way that’s form actually seems to be swaying in the wind.

“It’s…It’s a giant tree?” she asked, incredulous at the sight.

“Oh. How disappointing,” said Kyubey, “I thought that Ainosuke Shindo’s energy output would have produced a more powerful witch but it seems he didn’t have much saved up in the first place. I’m more surprised that it hasn’t started attacking us yet.”

“Who knows,” she said numbly, refusing to let go of the edge of her shield in case it really did start to bear down upon her.

She walks up to the tree-like witch, its large branches and lustrous leaves are outstretched to the sky, as though it's celebrating something. Its branches are heavy with beautifully scarlet apples, they sway in the wind as the light causes them to shine due to their glass-like makeup. The only dangerous looking thing on the witch is the sleeping snake lying in its branches but it just blinks at her lazily as she circles the base of the tree. Trying to understand why it's behaving so strangely, she places her hand on the witch to see if she can glean anything from its makeup. The only thing she can make out is the faint sound of laughter emanating from the inside of the trunk, they sound young, like two boys who are playing together, unaware of anything outside of their little world.

Ah.

She finally understands.

Why would a witch continue to spread despair if its single wish is continuously being granted?

They’re together now.

Is that not love? Despite their changed forms, it’s enough to just be by the other’s side.

She wonders if she is deserving of something that wonderful as she slowly plants a ring of bombs around the trunk. It wouldn’t do for anyone else to bother them in their paradise so she’ll give them the rest that they both deserve, she’d want the same to be done for her if she ever becomes a witch. Not to mention, she still needs to escape the labyrinth in order to return to her original mission of saving Madoka.

She steps back and lights the trigger.

The witch is silent as it goes up in flames and the barrier immediately falls.

The clear sky contrasts the pure misery she feels as she sees a single grief seed fall to the ground, she picks it up and turns it over in her hands, the emblem on it being two hearts connected in an infinite embrace, she’d think it's cute if she was still sentimental.

“What are you going to do with it?” asked Kyubey, looking at her expectantly.

“I’ll use it in my fight against Walpurgisnacht,” she said, her fingers running over the smooth decor of it. She places it inside her shield for safe-keeping as she searches for a way off this accursed island.

“And then what?”

“I’ll stop you from turning Madoka into a magical girl.”

He gives her a look that promises nothing good for turning on its heel, “Good luck with that.”

“Wait.”

Kyubey stops, before turning back to look at her, “Yes?”

Homura contemplates if she really wants to know before asking anyways, “What will happen to the children you contracted here?”

“Well, you see, since you’ve destroyed the grief seed that they’ve been mainly relying on…I assume that a good majority will fall into despair from that alone, not to mention that Okinawa has a shortage of witches so most of them don’t even really know how to fight and grief seeds will definitely be in short supply.”

Her blood runs cold, “Can’t they just leave? Go to the mainland and find more witches?”

“Well yes, the girls can, the boys however cannot leave Okinawa.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh Homura, you wouldn’t just let your guinea pigs run loose, right? Especially if you don’t know what it’s going to do when it’s not monitored.”

“You mean, I’ve doomed them all to become witches?” she said, feeling sick to her stomach once again.

“Yep! The magical boys were taking too long to become witches, so we told you to come here to take care of business! And once again, you’ve exceeded all expectations, Miss Akemi!”

She wants to kick herself for being such a fool, but she buries it quicker than she’d like, it’s the life of a magical girl, she doesn’t have time to feel sorry for a bunch of people she can’t even begin to save. So she turns on her heel and starts walking to the nearest subway station to go back to Mitakihara, she’s wasted enough time here.

As she scans her IC-card, and gets onto the train car, her phone vibrates and then vibrates some more, she assumes it's due to the witches barrier blocking the phone signal. She flips it on and she almost drops it when she sees that it's from Madoka, it was sent hours ago.

Madoka: I’m sorry. I know I promised.
But…Kyoko…she…got hurt trying to protect me and…
Madoka: Please forgive me, I had to save her.

Homura wants to chuck her phone out the window as the full implication of Madoka’s words.

She’s failed.

She can feel Kyubey’s smug face looking at her from across the seats and she can’t even muster up any will to shoot him again.

And like clockwork she turns her shield instinctively.
And she wonders if she’ll ever escape this accursed trap that she’s placed for herself…
As she opens her eyes again, sitting up from her hospital bed and just staring up at the ceiling.

Yes, it’s for the best that such a disaster will be erased.

Ignorance is bliss after all.

The mantra repeats in her head as she gets to her feet and gets ready for her first day at school, and as she finishes with the rest of her routine, she glances out the window not at all surprised at what greets her.

The sky is a clear blue.
There is hardly a cloud in the sky.
And the temperature is just right.

The perfect weather to start the day with.

She hates it.